Merritt Completes Raleigh-Durham Industrial Campus
Merritt Properties has debuted 42 Crossing, a three-building, 213,800-square-foot light industrial campus in Garner, N.C.
The firm purchased the project’s 22-acre site for $2.9 million in 2022. One year later, Five Star Bank issued a $28 million construction loan, public records show.
Providing multi-bay and incubator spaces, the three buildings measure 65,000, 120,000 and 28,800 square feet. The newly completed property features 18- to 24-foot clear heights, as well as rear-loaded docks and drive-in capabilities.
READ ALSO: Industrial Development Pipeline Shrinks
The property’s incubator warehouses range between 1,800 and 3,600 square feet, providing small-bay industrial space. The facilities provide two offices, climate control and at-grade drive-in access.
Located at 6100 N.C. Highway 42 in Johnston County, 42 Crossing is less than 3 miles from Interstate 40 and some 7 miles southwest of U.S. Route 70, which connects North Carolina to Arizona.
Merritt Properties’ portfolio includes more than 21 million square feet of office, warehouse, industrial and retail space throughout Maryland, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. The company began its expansion in The Tar Heel State four years ago.
In 2020, the firm broke ground on Merritt Capital Business Park, a 452,500-square-foot industrial campus in Wake Forest, N.C. Two years later, Merritt bought 142 acres of land in Cary, N.C., with plans to construct a 13-building, 738,750-square-foot light industrial park dubbed Merritt RDU Business Park.
Raleigh-Durham’s industrial fundamentals
Raleigh-Durham’s industrial vacancy rate stood at 5.4 percent in June, according to a report by Avison Young. This marked a substantial increase from the figure of 2.2 percent registered in 2021.
Back then, a strong demand pushed construction starts to skyrocket in the metro, reaching nearly 6 million square feet that year—representing 8.5 percent of total inventory at the time—the report goes on to show. Despite an increase in stock, the advertised asking rental rates rose by 61.7 percent since 2023’s first quarter.
Developers broke ground on 78.7 percent less industrial space in the first half of the year compared to the same period of last year. Increased construction costs, debt scarcity and higher vacancy rates influenced the decline.
Some 1.3 million square feet of industrial space have come online across Raleigh-Durham since January. Another recent delivery was Scannell Property’s 249,000-square-foot Durham facility. The building was the first to be completed in Durham 85 Industrial Park.
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