Navy Exchange to build distribution site
Published 10:50 pm Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Navy Exchange Command will become the second tenant in the CenterPoint Properties development on Holland Road.
A distribution center for the Navy Exchange stores will be built just north of a distribution center for Ace Hardware, which made an official announcement Wednesday that it would locate in the CenterPoint development.
A 10-year lease has been signed for 350,000 square feet, Suffolk economic development director Kevin Hughes said.
The Navy Exchange issued a request for proposals to find another location for their distribution center about six months ago, Hughes said. They currently have two warehouses on base in Norfolk, Hughes said, and were looking for a better location in Hampton Roads. The Navy Exchange headquarters is in Virginia Beach.
“CenterPoint offered them the best solution,” Hughes said.
The Suffolk location will serve East Coast stores. Hughes did not have any information on the number of new jobs that could be created with the center.
The Ace Hardware center, on the other hand, will bring 75 new jobs to the city.
Ace will invest more than $14 million on the new facility during the next three years. The 336,000-square-foot center will serve the company’s regional distribution centers, including one in Prince George County.
Both the Ace and Navy Exchange sites will be accessed from Holland Road, Hughes said.