Pender County commissioners are set to consider the sale of more than 20 acres in Pender Commerce Park to Coastal Beverage Co. Inc.
The North Carolina beverage distributor has offered to buy the park property, located off U.S. 421, according to county documents. Pender County commissioners are scheduled to
consider a resolution that would accept Coastal Beverage Co.'s offer at the commissioners' Feb. 5 meeting.
The agenda documents state that the entire parcel includes 27.7 acres with a total net buildable acreage of about 20.1 acres. The price per acre is $42,350 for a total of $852,929 for the usable acres, according to the documents.
The sale is contingent upon the approval of the resolution and subject to a 10-day upset bid period process, the documents state.
Coastal Beverage Co. has service centers in Wilmington, Farmville, Pollocksville and Elizabeth City, according to the company's website. Its headquarters is located in Wilmington.
Coastal Beverage Co. has been located at its facility on Harley Road since 1976, sitting on about 11.5 acres of land, according to Tee Nunnelee, president of Coastal Beverage Co.
The company has expanded several times since then, and has "maximized what that property offers us,” he said.
"Our current location has been an incredible facility. We have just grown out of what the land and the facility can do for our needs," Nunnelee said. "It’s really a testament to all the hard work of our employees and a testament to the growing region.
"Those two factors are really why we had to go out and try to find a better piece of property to accommodate the growing needs of our business," he added.
Pending approval of the sale, the company is planning to relocate its Wilmington headquarters to the Pender Commerce Park. Nunnelee said the company is planning on new construction at the site, the details of which were not released Thursday.
"When we started looking around, the Pender Commerce Park was just a natural fit. It’s in a great location, with the I-140 expansion … it just made a lot of sense for use, based on where its located and there has been a ton of work on the infrastructure there. It’s close to a turnkey operation for us."
According to a 2016 company press release, the firm works with a majority of the country’s leading beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverage brands, serving retailers in at least 38 counties.
The release stated that at that time, the company employed nearly 400 people and looked "to grow the sales and delivery footprint in the coming years."
Pender Commerce Park is a 450-acre industrial park located next to the New Hanover County line on U.S. 421, according to Wilmington Business Development's website. Park tenants also include Acme Smoked Fish, a processor of specialty seafood products, and Empire Distributors, which is also a beverage distribution company.
Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that the Pender Commerce Park is a total of 450 acres.