Merritt breaks ground on 150-acre RDU Business Park
The first phase brings 201,250 square feet across three buildings to Cary, with delivery set for the fourth quarter of 2027 and no leases announced yet.
Merritt Properties has broken ground on RDU Business Park, a 150-acre light industrial development in Cary three miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, starting with the 31-acre West Phase: three single-story buildings totaling 201,250 square feet. Connect CRE's report notes the buildings are being marketed for preleasing and does not say whether any leases have been signed, so Merritt is committing 201,250 square feet to a fourth-quarter 2027 delivery with no tenant announcements in hand. It is a conviction call on airport-adjacent industrial demand: put the steel in the ground near RDU and let the location do the leasing work.
The full park is planned for up to 13 single-story buildings totaling 790,527 square feet, with layouts from 8,600 to 108,225 square feet, while additional phases will be developed as market demand warrants. Even before later phases move, the construction underway lifts Merritt's North Carolina portfolio to more than 1.35 million square feet across six business parks.
If the Raleigh-Durham distribution market is still absorbing space when the first buildings deliver in late 2027, Merritt has a head start on the next leasing wave; if not, the phased plan limits the exposure to a 13-building pipeline that can be slowed as demand dictates. The near-term test is whether a tenant signs before the first steel is out of the ground.
The Wrap