Another hurdle has been cleared in the process of beginning a long-planned development on the Gaston-Lincoln county line.
Last week, the Gaston County Board of Commissioners approved a development agreement with Lincoln County and Riverbend Preserve LLC, which is led by The Shaw Tate Group.
The Riverbend Preserve site spans hundreds of acres and has been planned for years.
The project is expected to include significant amounts of residential and industrial development.
Donny Hicks, executive director of the Gaston County Economic Development Commission, said he has been working for a decade to unlock the site for development.
“The infrastructure there required years of work on road, water and sewer access,” Hicks said.
By the numbers: The N.C. General Assembly has granted more than $18.5 million to Lincoln County to extend water and sewer infrastructure to the Riverbend Preserve site, county documents state.
“The site totals about 900 acres and includes significant frontage on N.C. Highway 16. The Riverbend Preserve land in Gaston County is better suited for residential development,” Hicks said, “while the Lincoln County portion is better for industrial uses.”
What they're saying: “We’ve been working on this for a decade and if we were to go back and start this over, I don’t think we could come out with a better option than we’ve created," Hicks told the county board last week.
Childress Klein is working with Shaw Tate to lead the industrial portion of the project. Lincoln County documents state the project is expected to add 2 million square feet of industrial space in the county.
Chris Daly, industrial partner at Childress Klein, said it will likely be 2025 before water and sewer becomes available at the site.
Childress Klein is targeting that time frame to develop the first industrial building at Riverbend Preserve.
The public approvals process for Riverbend Preserve has been playing out for many months. Gaston County rezoned over 400 acres earlier this year for Riverbend Preserve, while Lincoln County rezoned 262 acres for the effort last year.
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