A Lowe’s Cos. Inc. regional distribution operation will occupy a warehouse to be constructed this year in Roanoke County and create an estimate 70 jobs, according to a joint announcement Monday by the project’s partners.
The new 60,000-square-foot facility will occupy at site within the Valley TechPark located on Technology Drive in western Roanoke County. It’s foreseen as part of a larger business and marketing trend to augment fulfillment of online consumer shopping.
“We’re on the cusp of great leaps in logistics and the delivery of consumer goods enabled by the rollout of 5G and IOT technology,” said Jim Cherney of Cherney Development, partners in the plan with the Roanoke County Office of Economic Development and with Samet Corp., a North Carolina-based general construction contractor.
The new distribution center will be built on an industrial lot owned by Cherney Development and is expected to be operative in early 2023, according to the announcement. Warehouse and delivery workers will staff it.
“I’m thrilled to see this project come to life,” said Jill Loope, Roanoke County’s director of economic development. “There has been a lot of interest in logistics projects over the past year and Cherney’s partnership with Samet has paved the way for the Lowe’s project.”
Lowe’s already operates a system of regional distribution centers classified by the size and purpose of the inventory temporarily stored within them. None are currently located in Virginia, according to the corporation’s website, with the nearest facilities to the Roanoke Valley in Maryland and North Carolina.
Cherney Development, with offices in Roanoke and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been involved in several recent local projects, including creating the Fort Knox Drive-Thru Self Storage on Williamson Road, and renovating commercial and residential buildings in Roanoke’s Old Southwest and downtown.
Samet Corp. to date has primarily been involved in North Carolina projects with several others in South Carolina and Georgia.
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