RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – A vacant Nortel campus covering 95 acres in Research Triangle Park will turned into an office and life science campus, its owners say.

Trinity Capital Advisors, which acquired the land along N.C. 54 near I-40 and I-540 in 2018, says it will invest $100 million to create “Park Point.” The firm purchased the site for $37 million.

Recruiting life science firms will be a primary focus, the developers note.

The news comes as office vacancy rates have delined to record lows, driving rents to record highs, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE Raleigh.

And Park Point could be a hot project.

“Situated on a 95-acre parcel, this former Nortel Networks Campus is 100% vacant but represents a unique redevelopment opportunity,” CBRE reported with Trinity Capital bought the land. CBRE was involved in the sale.

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“Park Point provides both accessibility to all points in the Triangle and excellent visibility along the heavily trafficked highway corridors of Interstates 40 and 540,” CBRE added.

Park Point is the latest in a series of development projects across the Triangle ranging from Durham and RTP to the projected Downtown South in Raleigh. Big projects also are underway near Pittsboro in Chatham County.

Trinity says after a current redesign is completed that property will become available in the third quarter of 2020.

“With the Park Point project, we are not only growing our footprint in this dynamic region, we are also taking advantage of a distinctive opportunity to expand into the life science market,” said Jeff Sheehan, partner at Trinity Capital, in a statement.

“We believe Park Point will help answer the demand and meet the needs of the burgeoning life science and creative office markets. This unique campus environment is missing in the Triangle market. Users across the country are eager for the type of engaging, creative workspace we plan to create.”

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Ben Kilgore of Raleigh’s CBRE office said after the sale was announced that the site could appeal to large and small firms.

“This is a very unique asset and great investment opportunity that is ideally positioned as an adaptive reuse project which can accommodate further development, given the size of the site,” Kilgore explained. “Once the property is repositioned, the new owner will be able to create value by leasing the available office space. It is expected to attract a variety of users from small firms to large corporate users desiring to control a full building.”

Trinity Capital says the rede velopment will create a “highly amenitized campus” including:

  • athletic fields
  • walking trails
  • on-site service
  • state-of-the-art fitness center,
  • conference and training center
  • more than 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor gathering areas

Trinity Partners and Cushman & Wakefield Raleigh-Durham will handle leasing efforts.

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