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Major Business Park to be Developed Off Hwy. 16 ; Could Spur Job Growth in Area

December 8, 2009

The Denver area has some good news to celebrate as a gloomy economic year draws to a close: a major business park will be built off Optimist Club Road near the Highway 16 Bypass.

The park is designed to bring jobs to Denver and could become the catalyst for an economic transformation of the community as more people find work locally and don’t have to drive outside the county for employment. Construction is expected to begin next spring.

Airlee Park at Ingleside will be the largest business park in east Lincoln and will be more than four times larger than Balsom Ridge or the Denver Business Park. At 231 acres, it will be more than 100 acres larger than the Denver Industrial Park, the current largest business park in East Lincoln.

“Depending on the size of the buildings, we would expect 20-25 companies in the park representing over 2 million square feet of space,” said Barry Matherly, executive director of the Lincoln Economic Development Association (LEDA).

“This will primarily be an industrial park but could support back office or call centers. We think it will be ideal for motorsports and international companies,” said Matherly.

The county will relocate the Optimist Club Road convenience site to another location to make the area more attractive to business prospects.

Airlee Park at Ingleside will be developed by Boucardon LLC of Mooresville on land owned by the David Clark family of East Lincoln. The park is the realization of dream of the late David Clark Sr., who envisioned a park on the same site nearly 30 years ago. The project was sidetracked after Clark was paralyzed from injuries in an auto accident.

Airlee Park will stretch from NC 73 to Optimist Club Road along new Highway 16. The park will be developed in four phases by LB Builders, the exclusive builder within the park.

“Opportunities for growth in Lincoln County made this site attractive for our company,” said Leon Bouwens of LB Builders. “There is a demand for industrial property on the western side of Lake Norman with convenient access to Charlotte, and this property is well situated to fill that need.”

“Lincoln County has created a very friendly environment for companies like ours to do business. We are already impressed with the level of cooperation that we have received. We believe that the timing is right, and the location couldn’t be better for Lincoln County’s next major business park,” said Don Peterson, an associate in the business.

David Clark, Jr. is also enthusiastic about the business park.

“Allison, Walter, Caroline and I are excited at the prospect of helping to create a Class A business park in our community that will increase our tax base and bring jobs at a time we desperately need them. It will be especially satisfying to us knowing we are helping achieve a vision of our father,” said Clark.

“We are confident Boucardon LLC, with assistance from the Lincoln Economic Development Association (LEDA), will make Airlee Park at Ingleside as successful as the Lincoln County Industrial Park on Hwy. 321. We are also appreciative and grateful Boucardon has chosen to use the same name our father intended for his park.”

LEDA has been working on a park in this location since 2002 noted Barry Matherly, executive director.

“Although we would have preferred this type of high-quality park sooner in east Lincoln, it seems the current timing works very well with the access off new NC 16, pending completion of the new wastewater plant, new East Lincoln Medical Center, future YMCA, upgraded Lake Norman web site ( www.lakenormaneda.org ) and recently announced NC Commerce Tier 2 status.”

Tier 2 status makes the county more attractive for economic development with additional tax incentives made available to developers.

Matherly said that Beth Yarbrough with Allen Tate Realtors worked to make the land transaction a reality.

“Residential and corporate clients alike are choosing Lincoln County because of the convenient proximity to Charlotte and Lake Norman, combined with low taxes, business incentives, great schools and general quality of life,” said Yarbrough. She said she is very optimistic about this project and the outlook that it projects for Lincoln County.