Burke leaders say new industrial space is critical to compete

The proposed industrial shell building at Burke Business Park is being marketed as a 101,494-square-foot, job-ready facility on about 17 acres at 1175 Unix Drive, just off Interstate 40 at Exit 96.

Designed for advanced manufacturing, the building will offer 30-foot clear heights, nine dock-high doors, one drive-in door, up to 20 megawatts of available electric service and room to expand to roughly 180,000 square feet, according to marketing materials.

It is listed for sale at $11.2 million and says the building could be available in the third quarter of 2026.

For residents, though, the real story is not the square footage. It is what the building says about Burke County’s future.

County officials said last fall that Burke has not seen construction of a new Class A advanced manufacturing facility in more than 30 years, and that the lack of ready-to-use industrial space has hurt the county’s ability to compete for large projects, job growth, capital investment, and higher wages.

In other words, this building is meant to fix a problem local leaders have been talking about for years: Burke County has had the workforce, the location, and the industrial heritage, but not enough move-in-ready inventory to make the first cut when companies move fast.

That matters because Burke County residents are starting from a tougher economic position than much of the state. The county’s median household income was $60,131 in the 2024 American Community Survey, compared with $73,958 statewide.

Burke’s share of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 21.8%, compared with 37.1% statewide. At the same time, manufacturing remains Burke County’s largest employment sector at 7,350 jobs, and the county’s average annual wage was $49,138 as of 2025Q2.

The county’s economic overview also says Burke’s cost of living is 8.7% below the national average, which means wage gains can stretch farther here than in higher-cost markets.

The Burke Business Park property was purchased in 2005 through a five-government partnership involving Burke County, Morganton, Valdese, Drexel, and Rutherford College.

The park earned ElectriCities Smart Site designation in 2018, meaning it met shovel-ready standards tied to utilities, access, and due diligence. In 2020, local leaders broke ground on a 500,000-gallon water tank, which county leaders called a final piece of infrastructure needed to recruit users.

In 2023, the park landed its first major private industrial project, when UNIX Dr., LLC announced plans for a 500,000-square-foot distribution center expected to create 100 jobs.

By late 2025, county officials described the park as an 83-acre industrial site with water, sewer, electricity, and natural gas on site, within a half-mile of I-40 and already home to a privately held 500,000-square-foot distribution facility.

— AVN