Wood: BDI making progress on megasite

As Burke Development Inc. (BDI) President and CEO Alan Wood explained Thursday, progress on endeavors of this size is often incremental, and there is more work to do in preparation for marketing the site to potential tenants.

That work begins with completion of due diligence.

Some of the preliminary steps — such as evaluation of a wetlands area (which won’t be developed) and cultural and archaeological testing — have been completed.

Next up are soil testing, topographical mapping, and early-stage site design. Much of the work will be paid for with grants BDI received for that purpose last year.

“We have put out a request for proposals for an engineering firm to complete the due diligence and start some site design work,” Wood said. “I’m not talking about grading. I’m not talking about physically touching anything on the property. It’s just things like the soil borings that we have to do that’ll give us an idea of everything, what the topo looks like and what the grading will look like, and the maximum size of development that we can put on the site.”

“We’ll look at what the traffic patterns will look like, and then we’ll be able to go to DMV and have discussions with them about what ingress and egress to the site would look like, and how do we mitigate any traffic issues. So, all of that comes after we get a site evaluation finalized.”

The more BDI knows about the property, the easier it will be to present information to a potential industry. Wood said the idea is to proceed slowly with infrastructure, since companies often have specific requirements.

“We want to build as much flexibility into it as possible,” Wood said.

The Burke Board of Commissioners approved conditional industrial zoning on the site at its September meeting, clearing the way for BDI to proceed with the project.

No money has changed hands yet. The 1,353-acre site is still owned by Spruce Pine-based Great Meadows, LLC, although BDI holds the option on the land.

The General Assembly allocated $36 million for the purchase of the site and infrastructure installation in September 2023. Approximately $22.5 million is earmarked for acquiring the land and the rest for infrastructure.

That isn’t enough money to cover the entire cost of either aspect.

Wood wasn’t comfortable estimating how much more money it would take, or whether the money would come from the General Assembly or a potential tenant of the site.

“I can’t answer that question right now,” Wood said. “Suffice it to say, there’s not enough money at this point in time to go forward with the purchase without procuring some additional funds.”

He did say there’s a bigger gap in meeting the cost of infrastructure than the purchase price.

Wood has described Great Meadows as a “unicorn,” the only site of its size with easy access to Interstate 40 in the western end of the state.

Wood hopes to attract a multi-billion-dollar industry to Great Meadows. Such a company could produce more than 1,000 jobs and increase the county’s tax base by as much as 30%.

Opponents of the plan — many of whom live in the surrounding area — are worried a potentially harmful industry, such as lithium-ion battery manufacturing, would damage the environment and lower property values.

The area’s top environmental nonprofits, Foothills Conservancy, Lake James Environmental Association, and Catawba Riverkeeper came together to produce a list of recommendations to safeguard the environment, and the county took their suggestions into account when placing highly restrictive zoning conditions on Great Meadows.

Still, the project seems to have some political adversaries. Newly elected county commissioners Brian Barrier and Mike Stroud have previously voiced opposition to the site, and commissioner Phil Smith was the lone board member to vote against conditional zoning. The trio would hold a 3-2 edge if it votes as a block in the future.

For now, though, the megasite is advancing, albeit slowly.

“We will proceed forward with the planning until we’re told otherwise,” Wood said.