WestRidge Business and Retail Park “will be built out within the next five to seven years,” according to External Relations manager Holly Childs.
Childs said that, as of right now, WestRidge “is home to … a 100,000- square-foot FedEx Ground distribution center … regional corporate offices for both Steptoe & Johnson and MVB Bank, an additional 15,000 square feet of flex office containing engineering and construction offices, [and] an additional 30,000 square feet in available corporate office space.”
WestRidge also houses “the 30,000-square-foot Agile Center of Excellence (a software factory) for Leidos, a Fortune 500 company,” said Childs.
WestRidge’s official website features a “Why Morgantown” section outlining the “key economic indicators” that WestRidge will thrive in Morgantown.
The website states: “[WestRidge’s] prominence in both of the recession-resistant sectors of higher education and health care employment is one reason for the stability in our area. The WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research calls for ‘continued healthy growth’ for Morgantown well into the future.”
WestRidge is using that call for action to expand its sector. Childs said WestRidge will soon accommodate a Menards location, “as well as the State of West Virginia’s first Bass Store,” which will have a “glass boat tower.” These two additions are scheduled for openings in 2021.
Additionally, Childs said that “WestRidge will soon begin construction on 137,00 square feet of space for a premium tenant line-up of new stores … that will also open in 2021.”
Childs said WestRidge will continue to expand for the next five to seven years.
“WestRidge is a massive mixed-use project of 1,000 gross acres, so there will be additional phases of development in each area,” Childs said.
WestRidge’s official website states, “a total of more than 500,000 square feet of premier office space is planned.” This does not include space allocated for future construction of shopping and entertainment venues.
“WestRidge … will have tremendous economic impacts on [the area] in terms of generating new jobs and further increasing and diversifying the region’s economy,” Childs said.
“Given our current pace of development,” the expansion may not be fully satisfied until between 2025 and 2027, she said.
“WestRidge is absorbing very quickly, and the market demand for new, premium quality office and retail development in the Morgantown region has been unbelievable,” Childs said.
By the end of 2021, Childs expects WestRidge to house over “400,000 square feet of new retail, as well as over 150,000 square feet of corporate office and flex space.”
For more information on WestRidge, visit the business park’s website at westridgewv.com.
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