A huge mixed-use development in southeast Durham is moving forward after a $20 million land sale.
Charlotte-based Beacon Partners has closed on 119 acres along Highway 70 and Leesville Road on the edge of Brier Creek, per Durham County deed records. The land is for industrial buildings that will be part of Durham Gateway, a 300-acre development that also calls for up to 1,750 residential units plus office and retail space.
The $20.4 million land acquisition comes five months after Beacon received rezoning approval for the development from Durham City Council.
Josh McArdle, director at Beacon, said the 119 acres will hold 1.28 million square feet of industrial space built out in two phases. The first phase will have two to three buildings.
Phase one construction will start by the beginning of the fourth quarter with delivery anticipated at the end of 2027. McArdle said that phase two’s timeline will be dependent upon tenant demand. Phase two will have two to four buildings.
The industrial piece will be on the western and southern portions of the development site, which sits along the north side of Highway 70. The space will be built for distribution, manufacturing and life sciences tenants with suite sizes ranging from 20,000 to 850,000 square feet.
The land for the development is owned by Stephens Enterprises, which put the land up for sale in January 2023. McArdle said the Stephens family has been long-term partners with Beacon on other projects so it made sense to pursue the land for this project.
McArdle said the location was attractive because it is a rare find in that it is a large assemblage and enables the company to deliver industrial supply in a submarket that doesn’t have much in the pipeline.
The South Durham vacancy rate for warehouse space was 1.38 percent in the third quarter of 2025, per Triangle Business Journal Space data. Overall in the Triangle, the warehouse and industrial market is strong with high demand for space. The region's vacancy rate was 7.9 percent in the third quarter.
Durham Gateway is a joint venture with HM Partners and SFRE Holdings. Advanced Civil Design is the civil engineer. Merriman Schmitt is the architect.
Ann-Stewart Patterson, Austin Nagy and John Hogan of CBRE are handling the leasing and marketing for the industrial park.