Beacon Partners Plans 1.2 MSF Research Triangle Project

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Beacon Partners is planning to build a more than 1.2 million-square-foot industrial campus in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area. At full build-out, Apex Gateway would feature four speculative buildings and a 163,900-square-foot facility that will house the Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Co.’s headquarters.

Apex Gateway will be developed in two phases on 132 acres at the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and N.C. Highway 751 in Apex, N.C., on the Chatham County side of the Chatham/Wake County border. According to documents filed with the town, the four speculative buildings will be 135,000 square feet, 175,500 square feet, 371,900 square feet and 359,600 square feet. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the first quarter of this year and the project is slated for completion by 2024.

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As for the build-to-suit facility, the developer intends to break ground on the future home of Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in the second quarter of 2023. The company is an independent holder of a contract for products from The Coca-Cola Co. and also has distribution rights for Dr. Pepper brands and Monster Energy drinks. The move to Chatham will allow it to be more centrally located in its service area, which includes portions of Wake, Orange, Durham, Chatham, Granville, Person and Vance counties.

M. Hager Rand, current president of Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Co., announced the company’s relocation plans last summer. He said, in a prepared statement, that the new facility will feature enhanced sustainable building specifications that will yield zero landfill waste and create as little environmental impact as possible.

Expanding its Triangle footprint

Late last year, Beacon Partners expanded its Triangle footprint with the acquisition of two properties in Sanford, N.C. One of them is the current home of the Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Co., comprising a 32,114-square-foot distribution center and a 8,686-square-foot flex building located at 1605 Hawkins Ave. The second purchase was 5100 Rex McLeod Drive, which includes a 100,800-square-foot distribution building in the Central Carolina Enterprise Park on U.S. Route 1.

Following these purchases, Beacon Partners currently owns and operates more than 1.9 million square feet of assets in The Triangle area. An additional 2 million square feet, including Apex Gateway, are planned or under construction. The developer has already started work on a $32 million, 306,000-square-foot build-to-suit industrial development at the 120-acre Cash Corporate Center, also located in Apex. The tenant was not named but the site is expected to house about 220 workers in a distribution center and offices, according to town documents.