Link Logistics adds an 878,104-square-foot distribution center in Gastonia

Link Logistics announced the addition of Delta Industrial Park, an 878,104-square-foot bulk distribution building at 1500 Delta Drive in Gastonia, N.C., pushing the last-mile operator's Charlotte holdings into the Gaston County submarket without naming a price or seller. Completed in 2023, the property carries the specification set that now defines class A for bulk: 40-foot clear heights, a cross-dock configuration, eight megawatts of power, excess trailer parking, ESFR sprinklers, LED lighting, and immediate access to Interstate 85 at Exit 14.

The addition brings Link's Charlotte footprint to nearly 10 million square feet of industrial space. "Our investment strategy is focused on adding scarce, well-built assets in markets where population growth and customer demand continue to outpace new supply," said Andrew Goodman, senior managing director of investments at the firm, who described the Charlotte portfolio as a market "where few comparable options exist" and one where Link sees "attractive opportunities for long-term value creation."

Eight megawatts is the line on that spec sheet that carries more than it looks. Forty-foot clear and a cross-dock are the price of entry for a modern bulk box, but a building wired to hand a tenant that much power is a much smaller set, and Link listed the capacity between the clear height and the trailer stalls, a placement that suggests power has moved onto the standard bulk specification rather than staying in the engineering annex.

Gastonia is Link's second I-85 corridor addition inside a month, following a deal weeks earlier for a last-mile building in Suwanee, Ga., also on the I-85 spine, a trade that read as an operator adding scale while a fund sponsor took liquidity on one asset. Charlotte drew separate institutional capital in August, when CBRE IM paid $135 million for a fully leased industrial park sold by a Blackstone affiliate, a purchase PWD placed ahead of a 46.1-million-square-foot lease-expiration wave. "Charlotte's connectivity to major East Coast ports and interstate networks continues to make it a gateway for distribution customers serving the Southeast," said Nicholas Brady, a managing director of investments at Link, who cited Delta Industrial Park's "scale, modern specifications and convenient highway access."

Link's argument that demand runs ahead of supply is the acquisition-side twin of the build-over-buy trade. If construction starts stay frozen, a 2023 building with the power and the clear height holds scarcity today, while an entitlement play underwriting 2028 scarcity waits on a pro forma and a construction calendar. Link is buying the specification rather than the land, which is a wager on rent at the dock.

The number the announcement omits is the price. The announcement runs to clear height and sprinkler type and stops there, so the clearest recent price comp in Charlotte's industrial market remains CBRE IM's August purchase of a leased park. Gaston County should tell us soon enough whether that number holds for a single 878,104-square-foot box on Exit 14.