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Mark Owens, the CEO of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., said that about half of his company’s project pipeline involves advanced manufacturing companies that require larger sites for their operations.
The on-again, off-again economic development project at Forsyth County’s undeveloped Tanglewood Business Park is back.
During the county commission’s Thursday meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution seeking $1.5 million in grant funds from the Golden LEAF Foundation that would be used to design, engineer, clear and grade the business park, which is located in southwestern Forsyth County, south of Tanglewood Recreational Park, 2 miles from I-40.
The county owns the property, which is just outside the municipal limits of the Village of Clemmons. Greater Winston-Salem Inc., the county’s chamber of commerce, is marketing the site.
Forsyth County identified Tanglewood Business Park as an economic development site 15 years ago in 2009. Six years later, the county began pre-development activity on the site in response to the county’s economic development partners noting the lack of available sites as a potential threat to business recruitment.
Since then, the county has been working on due diligence items, which include an environmental study, title work, a boundary survey, and preliminary engineering and design plans. A $25,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation in 2022 assisted with those efforts.
In February of 2023, the county also received and accepted a $2.4 million state grant from the Clean Water and Drinking Water Reserve that allow utility connections for the business park.
In 2019, the proposal to develop the business park with Beaufurn LLC, a furniture manufacturer, fizzled out after citizens from Clemmons opposed it. The county had to buy back a 14.5-acre tract that it sold to Beaufurn in a deal that ended up costing them north of $500,000.
Forsyth County officials motivated by the site’s potential offer of economic growth and a fair share of potentially high-paying jobs say that things will be different now.
Officials with the Village of Clemmons expressed disappointment with communication from Forsyth County officials on the project in February of last year, but county officials said during Thursday’s meeting that they have been in contact with Clemmons leaders about recent developments.
After Thursday’s meeting, the county’s community and economic development director Kyle Haney said that the county has negotiated protective covenants over the undeveloped 169-acre property, and that they are looking for a use that best fits the community.
“We’ve had projects that have reached out for the site that we’ve said we’re not interested in because we didn’t think it met what that site needs,” Haney said.
“One of the concerns of the community with this site is truck traffic,” Haney added. “So, we’re really focused on how much truck traffic is coming in.”
Some examples of what the property could potentially host are corporate research and development facilities based around sustainable energies, corporate training campuses or high-tech cleaning manufacturing facilities, according to Haney.
Mark Owens, the CEO of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., said that about half of his company’s project pipeline involves advanced manufacturing companies that require larger sites for their operations.
The point of the Golden LEAF grant for Tanglewood Business Park, Owens said, is to have sites “in a variety of sizes ready right away.”
“Sometimes investors choose to construct speculative buildings prior to a company investment, other times, the company identifies developable land and builds from the ground up,” Owens said. “Having both options prepared makes us more competitive and that is the purpose of this grant at Tanglewood Business Park.”
There has been explosive growth in the area around the property in recent years, among what other growth Greater Winston Salem lists as 1,800 new jobs and $639 million in capital investment within the last three years.
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Mark Owens, the CEO of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., said that about half of his company’s project pipeline involves advanced manufacturing companies that require larger sites for their operations.
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Forsyth County, Greater Winston-Salem Inc. again set sights on Tanglewood Business Park – Winston-Salem Journal
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