📰 Today’s Local News from WSPC 107.3 FM & 1010 AM
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📅 Thursday, July 24, 2025
🕙 Your mid-morning briefing from Dave Andrews in the WSPC newsroom
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🏗️ Spec Building Study Highlights Economic Growth Opportunity
- Albemarle city officials recently reviewed a new Spec Building Feasibility Study aimed at improving the city’s competitiveness in industrial recruitment.
- Lindsey Almond, Albemarle’s Economic Development Director, says the study supports the city’s strategic vision: “The study represents the next logical step in advancing that vision by evaluating how we can increase our competitiveness and better respond to industrial recruitment opportunities.”
- The study was provided at no cost through the city’s partnership with ElectriCities, which offers support for public power communities like Albemarle.
- Crystal Morphis of Creative EDC presented the study’s findings Monday night and emphasized the importance of available industrial space: “Around 80% of companies either directly say they want a building or prefer a building. If you don’t have quality industrial buildings available, then you do miss out on a lot of opportunities.”
- Albemarle reportedly missed 67 recruitment opportunities in 2024 alone due to a lack of available industrial buildings.
- The study recommends a 100,000-square-foot spec building at the Albemarle Business Center that could be expanded to 200,000 square feet.
- Estimated project costs:
- $1.8 million for grading and site preparation
- $2.5 million including contingencies
- $6 million for constructing the shell building
- Wilson, NC, was cited as a successful model for revolving spec building programs, landing multiple companies per structure.
- No action was taken by City Council at this meeting, but the findings will help inform future decisions.
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