By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A company wanting to buy land for a project in Granite Quarry could bring $10 million and as many as 70 jobs to Rowan County.
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners will hear about the project at 6 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Rowan County Administration Building.
Commissioners then will schedule a public hearing about proposed economic incentives for the company.
According to a memo by RowanWorks director Robert Van Geons, Cold Storage LLC plans to build a 100,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse to store a variety of frozen foods.
If it builds this warehouse in Granite Quarry, the group would invest $10 million in the county and employ 40 people, with employment expected to grow to 70.
“This is a competitive project, with the company considering multiple locations,” Van Geons wrote.
Cold Storage is interested in a 114.3-acre property owned by the county on Heilig Road.
In lieu of the standard annual incentive grant, RowanWorks is requesting that the county consider selling 22 acres of the property for the company’s offer of $15,000 per acre, for a total of $330,000. It also asks that the county grant a “right of first refusal” for 23 adjacent acres, which Cold Storage has requested for future expansion.
In addition, RowanWorks requests that the county consider sharing the cost of a local grant match for infrastructure with the town of Granite Quarry.
According to Van Geons, the town has said it is willing to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to fund about $1 million of necessary water, sewer and road improvements at the site.
“In addition to serving this operation, the proposed infrastructure improvements would dramatically improve the marketability and increase the value of the remaining 90 (or so) acres of county-owned land,” Van Geons wrote.
The grant would fund 75 percent of these improvements, and Granite Quarry is asking that Rowan County share the cost of the 25 percent local contribution. The town and county each would contribute a maximum of $125,000.
The county would keep an estimated $205,000 from the sale of the Heilig Road site as well as the improved value of the remaining property, Van Geons wrote.