In Navassa, Samet Corp. is laying the groundwork for a 160,000-square-foot building – the company’s second major industrial project on the Cedar Hill Road site.

In 2023, Greensboro-headquartered Samet completed its first building in the project, a 200,000-square-foot space, and there are plans for a third, 70,000-square-foot structure on the site, according to Brian Hall, Samet’s president of real estate.

The company saw an opportunity to bring new Class A, large-scale industrial space to the Wilmington market, which, Hall said, is lacking similar industrial properties.

“There’s just not a lot of that product in the greater Wilmington market,” he said, “and so we saw a need there … and we’ve seen tenants respond with the 75% leasing that we’ve seen so far on Building No. 1.”

About 50,000 square feet remain available for lease in Samet’s first building, Hall said.

Site work is underway on Building No. 2, with crews grading, performing earthwork, installing stormwater drainage and implementing erosion control to prepare the site for development. Hall said he expects the building to be completed and available for occupancy in the third quarter of this year.

So far, the new building has seen some leasing interest, but no leases have been signed, Hall said.

The second Samet building is one of a handful of industrial projects currently under construction or in the planning stage in the Cape Fear region. While some developments target large industrial users, others aim to cater to businesses that need only a few thousand square feet.

One such small-scale project is Pleasant Park, a light industrial development that recently broke ground in Leland. The project from general contractor DAE Building is slated for just over 6 acres near the intersection of Mount Misery Road and Industrial Boulevard, said Jason Windham of Maus Warwick Matthews & Co., the project’s listing agent.

“Part of what was intriguing about this (project) is the proximity to the I-140 interchange, Windham said. “It gives tenants immediate access to 140 and 74/76, a lot of those regional transportation routes.”

Site work recently started on the Pleasant Park project, and two 10,000-square-foot industrial spaces are expected to be completed in the late second quarter or third quarter of the year, according to Windham. Preleasing has started for the park, along with initial conversations with a few prospective tenants. Windham said some prospects need 5,000 square feet, while others are interested in larger-scale facilities. Plans for the park originally included six 10,000-square-foot buildings, but, Windham said, the park’s development is flexible, depending on tenant needs. After the construction of the first two structures along Mount Misery Road, the back of the property will be a “blank slate” for potential users.

The Leland project follows a template that’s similar to light industrial projects DAE has worked on in northern New Hanover County, Windham said. In the last year, a handful of small- and mid-sized industrial projects broke ground in the Castle Hayne and Wrightsboro areas.

The Pleasant Park project is targeting a range of light industrial service users, ranging from contractors and cabinet makers to HVAC companies, Windham said. Each building will include a fenced laydown yard that’s ideal for outdoor storage, fleet parking or material staging, according to the property listing.

Windham said he sees demand for industrial space in Leland and other parts of the region, where both residential and retail development are growing.

“There’s so much retail development going on in Leland now. Residential is hot there, as usual,” he said, “but with the retail development, it also brings those service industries.”

The U.S. 421 industrial corridor continues to grow and evolve. One of the largest projects in the corridor is Wilmington Trade Center, a 13-building master-planned industrial park, with structures ranging from 84,000 to 1 million square feet.

The project’s Building 4, a 153,000-square-foot structure, is slated for completion this month, while site work recently began on Building 7, another nearly 153,000-square-foot building.

Meanwhile, Edgewater Ventures, the park’s developer, is actively pursuing permits for Buildings 5 and 6, which will each include nearly 153,000 square feet, according to Chris Norvell, principal with Edgewater Ventures. Work is also wrapping up on infrastructure that will support the park’s second phase of development.

Space is filling up in the park, with California-based Glass Warehouse leasing just over 55,500 square feet in Building 3, and American Tire Distributors, a North Carolina-headquartered wholesale tire distributor, leasing nearly 110,000 square feet in Building 4.

John Gavin, an associate broker with Cameron Management, said he sees continued momentum in Wilmington’s industrial market.

“Demand for 10,000- to 20,000-square-foot spaces has risen noticeably, reflecting growth among both local and regional users,” Gavin said. “Investment in the small-bay industrial segment continues to expand, with new business parks coming online and further strengthening the region’s industrial footprint.”