Trucking firm buys tract in Fort Cherry Development District
A large North Carolina-based trucking firm has purchased a 55.9-acre tract in the Fort Cherry Development District.
Old Dominion Freight Line, a shipping carrier with 261 service locations, paid $4.9 million for the property in a deal that closed on Oct. 31.
“Old Dominion plans to start construction within the next month,” said Brian Temple, president of Imperial Land Development Corp. and overseer of the industrial park in Robinson Township, Washington County.
He said the Thomasville, N.C., company is committed to construct a logistics facility from which it will transfer packages and handle deliveries. Temple said the general contractor is Chase Construction, a 100% employee-owned firm from Nashville, Tenn. He added that Alex E. Paris Contracting Co. of Atlasburg is doing site work for Old Dominion.
Old Dominion, which has a facility in Eighty Four and other locations in Pennsylvania, will operate in Robinson from a tract sitting near the 13-mile-long Southern Beltway, a short distance from the Allegheny County line.
Temple, a lifelong Hickory resident, pointed out that the development zone – only a few years old with further development likely ahead – is located within a day’s drive for 165 million people.
The industrial park spans 875 acres, much of it reclaimed strip mine land that is adjacent to the beltway’s Midway-McDonald exit. The development zone is within view of Fort Cherry High School and Fort Cherry Golf Club.
NAI Burns Scalo, a commercial real estate agency, bought the first property in the zone in early 2023, a 20-acre tract for $2 million. The Green Tree-based company plans to build an approximately 195,000-square-foot space for industrial/warehouse distribution/flex usage.
There is one property available in the first phase of the Fort Cherry project, a 26.4-acre lot that can accommodate a 160,000-square-foot facility.
Temple said Imperial Land Corp. has awarded a contract to Stewart Contracting Inc. of Cecil Township for that tract.
“Within the next month, he said, we’ll start putting utilities and site work in the next phase.”
Temple has extensive experience in development. He had previously been director of community development in North Fayette Township, where he played an integral role in the development of The Pointe at North Fayette, a large mixed-use complex.