A New Jersey-based developer has emerged in recent years as one of the most active players in Charlotte's industrial market.
The Silverman Group first entered the market several years ago as the developer of Concord Airport Business Park. Now, the developer's footprint has spread throughout the region, with more activity coming down the pipeline. Yesterday, a group of Silverman executives celebrated the official start of one of the region's largest industrial deals: Silverman's build-to-suit project for Macy's Inc., which will operate a 1.4 million-square-foot fulfillment center in China Grove.
The Macy's project is on about 200 acres along N.C. Highway 152. The site is just off Interstate 85's Exit 68 and was initially expected to be home to a large speculative project from Silverman, which the developer announced plans for last year. That changed when the build-to-suit deal with Macy's arose.
Rowan County has emerged in the last 18 to 24 months as one of the region's hottest industrial submarkets. Silverman's intended speculative development, which would've been well over 1 million square feet, was one of the first big spec projects to choose Rowan County. The developer viewed it as a natural next step in its plans in the Charlotte market.
"We've done a lot on the I-85 corridor, and I think this was the next new frontier to be able to get a big tenant like this," said Blake Silverman, president of The Silverman Group.
Silverman's portfolio has touched several different areas of the Charlotte region.
Silverman bought two buildings and a development site at Rock Hill's Legacy Park East in 2020. Both of those buildings have since been leased to single tenants. Scentsy, a distributor of fragrance products, occupies the 460,800-square-foot building there, while electric vehicle company Arrival leased the 193,750-square-foot existing building. Silverman broke ground earlier this year on a 122,300-square-foot speculative building on the development site.
Silverman developed a 421,900-square-foot building near Charlotte Douglas International Airport called Charlotte Intermodal Logistics Center. That building, which delivered in 2020, has been fully leased to two tenants.
After embarking on those projects and developing many buildings at its Concord industrial park, Silverman has begun to think bigger. The Macy's project will be one of the region's largest industrial buildings. Silverman is also now working to rezone a 235-acre site in Statesville, which could accommodate a significant amount of industrial space.
Moving forward, Silverman's projects could look more like the ones in Statesville and China Grove than its earlier projects in the region.
"Originally, the first building was like a 400,000-square-foot spec building, and that was a huge building at the time," said Blake Silverman of his company's first project in the region. "Now, the buildings get bigger and bigger. We're almost at 1.5 million square feet here, so you need bigger and bigger sites. So the way we look at the world, in North Carolina and other places, is just being able to get as big of a site as you can, the ultimate flexibility for your tenants."
The Macy's project is Silverman's 12th industrial development overall in North Carolina. The developer's portfolio spans throughout the eastern U.S., with assets as far as Florida to the south and Iowa to the west, according to its website.
Silverman appears to be particularly focused on the Southeast industrial market. It intends to continue exploring opportunities in the Charlotte region and is open to newer frontiers within the market, as was the case with its China Grove project.
"I think we're just opportunistic," Blake Silverman said. "We find good sites and continue to build on them. When that dries up, then unfortunately we'll continue to find other places. For now, there continues to be new land and new places (in the Charlotte region). We're in Greensboro now. So things come to us and we continue to build out. There is never an end in sight. We like to keep going."