Take off the dark suit and knock off the funeral music, development of the Great Meadows industrial megasite in western Burke County is not dead yet.
Even though the site has been pushed to the background of the county’s public industrial development plans, it has been selected as one of five most competitive industrial developments sites in western North Carolina by the state’s N.C. SelectSite Readiness Program.
That program is a site-development initiative designed to help communities prepare properties for advanced manufacturing recruitment.
The designation came in the Executive Report released last week and prepared for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), which evaluated 18 sites in western North Carolina.
The 30-page report was developed by the consultant groups Global Local Strategies, Ardurra Group, and ECS Engineering. After site visits late last year, the group narrowed the roster to five that were determined to be most promising for state-backed readiness investment.
When asked about the potential impact of this designation, N.C. Rep. Hugh Blackwell said he has been working with the Economic Development Partnership to keep Burke County in the forefront of its plans.
Asked about the practical impact of the designation, Blackwell said, “What it means is that as (the Economic Development Partnership) receives inquiries from businesses and industries that are looking for a location, they will stress the availability of those five sites.”
Noting that additional funding is needed for acquisition of the site and its development, Blackwell said, “If there is a large fish on the line, if something significant is possible, then the involved parties will come to the Legislature to seek money for development.”
Blackwell said if he could design his own ideal business for Great Meadows, it would be a high-wage company with perhaps 150 employees which also shoulder a significant property tax burden for its building and the high-tech equipment used there.
The Drexel and Burke Industrial Park projects were also surveyed by the consultants.
The SelectSite report outlines Great Meadow’s current development status, identifies what remains unfinished, and provides a clearer picture of what the state and local economic development officials believe must happen before the land becomes truly market-ready for a major industrial tenant.
The Great Meadows profile in the EDPNC report lists the location as approximately 570 acres, with roughly 110 acres described as “contiguous and developable.”
That distinction matters.
In Burke County, the project is widely discussed as a 1,353-acre tract, a figure tied to the full landholding that has been debated in rezoning hearings, conservation planning, and state funding discussions.
But the SelectSite report’s numbers suggest the portion that could realistically support an immediate industrial footprint is substantially smaller than the total acreage often cited in public debate.
The report places Great Meadows roughly one-third of a mile from Interstate 40 and adjacent to the Norfolk Southern rail line. These are key factors in why local officials have pursued it so aggressively. Additional evaluation criteria included worker availability, proximity utilities, and overall market attractiveness.
“The Great Meadows Megasite is in an ideal location,” Burke Development Inc. President and CEO Alan Wood has said in public comments.
WHO CONTROLS THE PROPERTY NOW
The EDPNC report lists Great Meadows as privately owned by Great Meadows Inc., but under option by Burke Development Inc. (BDI) and the McDowell Economic Development Association.
The report lists an asking price of $35 million and states that Burke County has secured funding to cover approximately 75% of that amount.