Updated 9:32 p.m.
Ralph Lauren Corp., as expected, is going to be a large tenant in a potential mixed-use development in southeastern Forsyth County.
According to filings submitted Wednesday to the Forsyth County Register of Deeds, SunTrust Banks Inc. has agreed to provide a $33.8 million promissory note to Carolina Income Properties XV LLC for a mortgage covering a distribution center that Ralph Lauren will lease.
It was speculated for months that the company would be the occupant of a 129.5-acre site within the proposed 567.5-acre business park. That site is on the east side of N.C. 66 between Moore Farm Drive and Interstate 74/U.S. 311.
The scope of the park was presented by Carolina Investment Properties Inc. of Lexington to the High Point City Council. Documents show buildings of 505,000 square feet and 410,000 square feet in the project’s first phase.
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Robin Team, the developer’s president, has represented Ralph Lauren in past expansions in High Point, where it operates several facilities and has nearly 2,369 employees — the city's top employer.
The number of jobs associated with the proposed facility has not been disclosed by Ralph Lauren.
Team could not be reached for comment, but he said in the documents that he expects construction to begin on phase one in June and be completed in the summer of 2015.
The first phase is projected to have a development cost ranging from $50 million to $70 million. The deed filing listed Landmark Builders of the Triad Inc. as the general contractor.
“It is great news for High Point that Ralph Lauren Corp. continues to show its commitment to our city — and in such a dramatic way as this latest major expansion,” Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Commission, said Monday.
Hill said Ralph Lauren previously announced expansions in High Point in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012.
“Certainly, the fact that Ralph Lauren finds that land so attractive lends us hope that other companies will as well,” Hill said. The water and sewer extensions will cover the entire business park, he said.
Carolina Investment unveiled its plans in October for developing land at the northeast corner of Interstate 74/U.S. 311 and N.C. 66 near Moore Farm. At that time, the project was supposed to include up to 350 acres.
In October, the High Point council approved providing $5 million to extend water and sewer service to the site. In exchange, High Point would annex the land, through a previous agreement with the city and Kernersville. Final annexation approvals were completed last week.
The council also approved in recent weeks Carolina Investment’s request to change the land-use map classification for a 438-acre site from future growth area and low density residential to restricted industrial and medium density residential.
That site is bounded by Moore Farm to the north, I-74/U.S. 311 to the south, N.C. 68 to the east and Skeet Club and Tanglebrook roads to the east.
That land is owned by members of the Idol and Dull families and others, according to the site plan.
Posted 4:19 p.m.
High Point's second-largest employer is expanding again.
Ralph Lauren Corp. has signed a lease with Carolina Income Properties for an 800,000-square-foot distribution center on N.C. 66 in High Point, according to Forsyth County records.
Carolina Income Properties will build the center for Ralph Lauren, which signed the lease on April 21.
The center will be located on 116 acres.
Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp., said this afternoon in an email: “It is great news for High Point that Ralph Lauren Corporation continues to show its commitment to our city — and in such a dramatic way as this latest major expansion.”
“Since I’ve been in this job, Ralph Lauren Corp. has announced expansions in the city limits of High Point in 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, and now 2014,” Hill said.
Ralph Lauren employs 2,062 people in High Point, according to News & Record research.