Donny Hicks spent well over three decades trying to find a way to unlock an approximately 365-acre site between Gastonia and Lowell for development. In late 2020, a high-profile industrial developer from the Kansas City area saw potential in the site that Hicks, executive director of the Gaston County Economic Development Commission, had tried to pitch for years.

NorthPoint Development has now delivered several large industrial buildings totaling 2.4 million square feet at Gateway85, the park where several big-name tenants have signed on. Ongoing development of the park, which is expected to include at least another 1 million square feet, has helped spur momentum in Gaston County’s industrial market.

Hicks, his team and a number of other local officials visited the park on April 11 for the grand opening of Newell Brands’ 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center. The building is Gateway85’s marquee project to this point and one of the largest industrial facilities in the Charlotte region.

Along with Newell, Amazon.com Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service have signed on to occupy two other completed buildings at Gateway85, the Charlotte Business Journal reported last year.

Buoyed by momentum at Gateway85, Gaston County’s industrial market has exploded in recent years with new development due to its land availability and proximity to Interstate 85. According to a first-quarter report from Avison Young, Gaston County has the most industrial space under development of any submarket in the region at 3.7 million square feet.

Hicks spoke to CBJ about the Newell project, NorthPoint’s efforts at Gateway85 and how it has elevated Gaston County’s place in the Charlotte-region industrial market. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

You worked for decades to try and find a way to unlock this site for development. How has it stacked up to your expectations?

I think it has really exceeded our expectations. When we looked at this in the past, we didn't have as big of a warehouse market. When we looked at it 10 or 15 years ago, it was with an eye on a single-tenant industrial park. You see how much work had to go into making this happen with grading and infrastructure. Without these large buildings to spread that cost around, it would be tough to do.

This really exceeded our expectations from a couple of standpoints. One, the amount of square footage they're going to build on the site. No. 2, the ability to lease and to sell it quickly, to get tenants. I think the volume of activity they have generated is beyond what we would have expected.

These first few tenants are big-name companies. How does that help anchor industrial activity?

I think it helps a lot. People obviously know the tenants that are in here, all high-quality tenants that are looking for quality employees. Their ability to quickly ramp up and get the facility started and get people employed and get the workforce they need, I think is critical to helping recruit the next company to the park.

How does having this site activated round out your industrial offerings in the county?

I think if you were to go back and look at the county's history, we were a really big player in the single-tenant industrial market. We were chasing the one-offs, the one company that's going to build their own building. We had a lot of foreign direct investment, which we are all proud of. But we didn't really have any warehouse space. We wanted to create some balance in our offerings. The single-tenant market is obviously much smaller and it takes a longer time to locate companies than the warehouse market. Plus, we have companies that had warehouse needs that we weren't able to accommodate. I think it just brings more balance to the market and more opportunity.