North Carolina business park designated CSX 'Select Site'

The Wasburn Switch Business Park in Cleveland County, N.C., has been identified as a CSX "Select Site," the Class I announced Monday.

CSX Select Sites are development-ready properties along the railroad's network where standard land use and due diligence issues have been addressed. The properties are positioned to meet manufacturers' needs, thereby significantly reducing the time required to build new facilities and bring products to market, CSX officials said in a press release.

The Washburn Switch Business Park is the third North Carolina location to be designated a CSX Select Site.

"The fast-growing metropolitan areas of Charlotte and Asheville, N.C., as well as Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., are all within a 60-mile radius of this site," said Carl Warren, director of ports and industrial development at CSX. "The Washburn Switch Business Park offers one of the best available rail-served industrial sites in this region."

CSX launched its Select Site program in 2012 to improve service to new and existing customers on its network. The Class I partners with site-selection consulting firm The Austin Co. to screen candidate sites and help communities with the application and certification process.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to open the first leg of the U.S. Highway 74 bypass around the north side of Shelby in 2017, which will provide "interstate-quality access just a few hundred yards south of this site," said Eddie Holbrook, a member of the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners.