December 15, 2023

Council OKs buying 300-plus acres near I-95, U.S. 64 for $15.2M

The City Council earlier this week unanimously voted to authorize, for economic development purposes, buying 336 acres of land for $15.2 million just west to northwest of the city in Nash County.

Roberson said that the land was consolidated through options and is off the interchange of I-95 and a U.S. 64 that at some point in time will become Interstate 87.

“The traffic that is there and what gets developed at that particular site will have a tremendous impact on the city of Rocky Mount going forward, probably for three to four decades, as we speak,” Roberson said.

Roberson also said that while there isn’t a specific agenda in terms of what will be developed at this point, “We in Rocky Mount need to create live-work-play spaces.”

Roberson said, “It was our thought that, internally, that we were not going to be able to accumulate that 300 acres and have site control over it without exercising the options.”

Roberson also said, “I do not believe the city of Rocky Mount will be holding the property for very long. I mean, if we hold it for longer than two or three years, I will be very surprised.”