Popular grocer picks $200M Triangle project that’s now 70% leased

Sprouts Farmers Market is among a handful of retailers to sign on at the $200 million Westside Bottling project in north Durham, the site of the former Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Warehouse.

The developer, The Ardent Companies of Atlanta, has also landed Shake Shack, Ulta Beauty, Club Pilates, First Watch and Vernis Nail Salon and a handful of other retailers at its $200 million Westside Bottling project as it prepares to break ground next month.

The existing First Citizens Bank will remain at the project as well. 

Jay Douglas, executive director of Ardent, said the firm initially reached out to Sprouts in August 2022. 

“We really thought it was a great fit. And they happened to agree with us due to the way in which it aggregates all of the North Durham area and markets,” Douglas said. “It really fit perfectly for what they were looking for as they continue their expansion.” 

The free-standing grocery store will be approximately 23,000 square feet and located next to the multifamily building. Right now, the Phoenix grocer plans to open during the fourth quarter of 2026.

It continues an expansion in the Triangle for Sprouts. Sprouts confirmed earlier this month its plans to build a second Raleigh location in northwest Raleigh. 

Ardent has hired TSCG as its leasing brokerage. Right now, the project’s 70,000 square feet of retail space is 70 percent pre-leased. Except for the site’s existing bank, all of the retail space will be new buildings. Douglas said his team has been selective in its outreach to retailers in order to “create a tone and tenor for the project.”  

“In my experience, being 70 percent pre-leased prior to starting construction is actually pretty rare, and so we’ve been very happy with the response from retailers to this project and to this part of the market,” he said. 

Ardent has hired Ordner Construction of Atlanta and Phillips Architecture of Raleigh. The firm’s construction budget for the retail is $35 million.

The developer closed on the Durham Coca-Cola Bottling Co. warehouse and land, spending $15.5 million for it, according to Durham County deed records. It also acquired the land the First Citizens Bank is on, paying $1.5 million. 

Altogether, that comes out to about $1.2 million per acre for 3200 and 3214 Hillsborough Road; combined the properties have an assessed value of $17.3 million. The purchase allows the developer to move forward with construction on the 12-acre site and it has already started demolition of the warehouse as Coca-Cola fully moved out in June and into its new facility in Chatham.  

Douglas said the company was unable to salvage or find uses for any of the architecture, structure or equipment from the bottling warehouse. The mixed-use project is named Westside Bottling in honor of the site’s history.

“We are looking at other options as ways to pay homage or tribute to the existing bottling facility. But reusing the existing building was not feasible,” Douglas said. 

And since Coca-Cola took its big exterior sign with them, the developer won’t be able to incorporate that, either.

For the residential piece, there will be 370 multifamily units and 35 for-sale townhomes.  

The apartments will be in a 5-story building with a mix of studio, one, two and three bedrooms while the townhomes will likely be a mix of three and four bedrooms. There is no rental rate or listing price available yet though Douglas said the rental rates will be comparable to other apartments in the area. 

Rates at The Belmont start at $1,499 and The Flats Exchange on Erwin start at $1,685.

The multifamily is being built in partnership with Raleigh developer Dominion Realty Partners.

Full buildout of the project will be in the second quarter of 2027 with the multifamily delivering in phases that line up with the retail phases.

Original article here.