Many Wake Forest residents do not know of South Forest Industrial Park, which is physically separate from most of the town and located well off busy Burlington Mills Road, but it is an important part of the town.
Marla Akridge, president of the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, which operates the town’s economic development efforts, underlined that importance Tuesday night when she spoke to the town commissioners during their work session. She brought along the presidents of two thriving businesses in the park, Robert Earnhardt of Superior Tooling and Keith Moffat of Moffat Pipe.
Akridge wanted the commissioners to know that there is the potential for a townhouse development in the northeast quadrant where One World Way meets Burlington Mills and that there could lead to problems. “It’s hard to mix an industrial park with residential,” she said. Her interest is to keep the park thriving and, as much as possible, only for industry. She said a dialysis facility is building in the park.
The park has 39 buildings with 1,652 employees, and the capital investment tops $4 billion. Akridge and the chamber staff went to all the businesses recently, asking them a number of questions to gain a rough idea of the park’s impact.
There are problems One World Way is the only entrance and exit. Planning Director Chip Russell joined Akridge to outline one possible second entrance/exit, which could be from a frontage road along Capital Boulevard as it is transformed into a freeway. That road would have to have a bridge over the railroad, and the commissioners briefly wondered what federal or state funds would be available.
Commissioner Margaret Stinnett asked why the land at the entrance is not being used as commercial or industrial, and Town Manager Mark Williams said the owners “may be wanting to have the money in their pocket.” The land is now heir property, which often is sold quickly.
When Stinnett asked again, Russell said, “But what kind of environment is that for a residential development with big trucks coming in and out? How long will it be before they’re complaining about the big trucks?”
Someone said the townhouses might fit into the concept of live-work-play in the same area, but Akridge said Class A office space, which is very difficult to find locally, is more suited to live-work-play.
Akridge said the Body Shop officials had looked at the property and the company interested in buying the Body Shop building – the Body Shop is moving to New York City in July – is looking at it also. She said she has queued up five possible purchasers for the Body Shop property according to the dates they expressed interest.
Along with one entrance and exit, there is also the question of traffic. “The intersection of Burlington Mills Road and Capital, that’s a nightmare,” Williams said. Akridge said some companies turn east and go to 401 to avoid the Capital Boulevard congestion.
“The South Forest Business Park is a great asset for the town of Wake Forest. We forget how many businesses are there,” Mayor Vivian Jones said.
