528,000 square-feet and building; Harnett County Economic Development reflects on incoming commercial developments announced in 2024

By Faith Hatton, posted Dec 23, 2024 on BizFayetteville.com

It has been a busy year of growth for the Harnett County area, specifically in the way of commercial developments. With a total of 528,390-square-feet of commercial development announced in the year 2024 and coming soon, the area is becoming a hot spot for future industries, businesses and manufacturing.

On Sept. 17, 2024, The Harnett County Government announced that, in collaboration with the I-95/I-40 Crossroads of America Economic Development Alliance (Alliance), they had acquired land for the County’s first Class A industrial park.

The new development, named the Harnett 95 Industrial Center, will feature a 162,000-square-foot speculative industrial building located on 60 acres of property within the City of Dunn.

This accomplishment, according to Harnett County Economic Development Director Stephen Barrington, is the highlight achievement of 2024.

“This park will allow Harnett County to attract and compete for manufacturing companies and other industry sector projects for years to come,” shared Barrington.

Barrington added that other notable successes include:

The Rooms to Go expansion, adding 336,000-square-feet to its 1,450,000-square-foot facility,
The relocation of Revels Turf & Tractor’s operations to the county, a new 30,090-square-foot facility coming 5118 Rawls Church Road in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina,
The opening of the Cape Fear Valley Pavillion, a three-story, 66,000-square-foot building anchored by the new Cape Fear Valley Cancer Center – Lillington
And a Golden LEAF grant of over $550,000 for site development work at Edgerton Industrial Park.

When looking at the current factors bringing new businesses to the area, Barrington shared that having competitively priced and environmentally vetted land and buildings is just a start.

“Harnett County leaders, numerous partners and private sector developers are helping to grow our inventory of market-ready properties,” shared Barrington. “Adding to this, the availability, cost and reliability of utilities and strong transportation infrastructure (roads, air, port, rail) are aptly important. Utility and transportation partners are continuously working to bring new and improved infrastructure to the market.”

The year 2024 also saw the completion of the 7,000-square-foot Terminal at the Harnett Regional Jetport, another piece of crucial infrastructure to add to Harnett County’s offerings.

That development will continue with the acquisition of 52 acres for future hangars at the Jetport. This is in addition to ongoing water/sewer projects within the County.

“Some notable capital improvement projects coming down the pike include a runway lengthening and widening project at the Jetport, construction of new schools and the construction of Hwy 55 Bypass around the Town of Angier. This is in addition to ongoing yearly investments in water/sewer projects and NCDOT’s I-95 road widening project,” shared Barrington.

With a supportive government and community, these expansions and improvements are expected to continue into the new year.

“We are excited about 2025. We believe due to the increase in our available market-ready properties and, in conjunction with our marketing and business development activities, we will have opportunities to celebrate companies who choose to make Harnett County home. We also look forward to helping existing companies grow their footprint,” said Barrington.

To learn more about upcoming developments and to find more information on these projects, check out the Harnett County Economic Development’s website here.

The HCED team: Jade Stone, Angie Stewart, Elizabeth Edwards, & Stephen Barrington.

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