Ahold Delhaize USA Breaks Ground on $860M Distribution Center

Grocery retailer Ahold Delhaize USA, along with its companies ADUSA Distribution and ADUSA Transportation, held a groundbreaking ceremony this week for an $860 million distribution center in Burlington, N.C.

The automated facility will add more than 1 million square feet of fresh and frozen capacity to support Food Lion and several other grocery brands. The site is expected to begin operations in 2029.

Last month, Ahold Delhaize USA and funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance agreed to invest $475 million to develop the distribution center. The grocery retail group entered into a triple net, long-term lease with the Blackstone entity, which will own the facility and cover the entire construction. Under the deal’s terms, Ahold Delhaize has the option to acquire the property once the development is completed.

The project is a milestone in Ahold Delhaize USA’s long-term investment to modernize its supply chain, drive long-term growth for its U.S. brands and strengthen its East Coast logistics network. The Burlington site, the largest industrial investment in the city’s history, will be the fourth Ahold Delhaize USA distribution center in the state. The other North Carolina facilities are in Salisbury, Butner and Dunn. The company has had operations in the state for more than 60 years.

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Ahold Delhaize USA is a division of Dutch-based global food retailer Ahold Delhaize. In addition to Food Lion, other grocery brands include The Giant Co., Giant Food, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. It is the largest grocery retail group on the East Coast and the fourth-largest in the U.S., serving 26 million omnichannel customers each week.

Distribution center details

The Burlington Distribution Center will provide a wide range of grocery categories to its stores, including fresh produce, dairy, meat, seafood and frozen foods. The 1.1 million-square-foot facility, the largest distribution center in the company’s network, will incorporate modern automation and sustainability features to enhance operational efficiency and minimize environmental impact.

The Tippmann Group, which specializes in constructing temperature-controlled food plant and cold storage warehouse facilities, will lead construction of the Burlington site. WITRON will provide automated technology and integrated logistics solutions for the distribution center. More than 500 jobs are expected to be created over time at the facility.

State, county and local officials have approved incentive packages for the project. The North Carolina Department of Commerce provided a $250,000 performance-based grant from the state’s One North Carolina Fund for the creation of the first 120 jobs. The Burlington City Council approved a $21.5 million incentive package and Guilford County Board of Commissioners agreed to incentives that could reach $17.9 million, according to the Triad Business Journal. TBJ reported the city and county packages are conditional on Ahold Delhaize USA meeting certain investment and job creation thresholds through 2033.

Piedmont-Triad location

The development is situated on N.C. Highway 61 near the Alamance and Guilford County lines. The location will enable deliveries to the Piedmont-Triad market and beyond via interstates 40, 85 and 840, benefiting from evolving industrial market trends in the Southeast. Burlington is located about 22 miles from Greensboro, N.C.

The property is southeast of Rock Creek Center, a mixed-use industrial park in Whitsett, N.C., with tenants including Amazon, Lenovo, FedEx, Duke Energy, Ralph Lauren and American Express. In December, Buchanan Capital Partners and Crow Holdings Development formed a joint venture capitalizing a 423,852-square-foot, speculative industrial development within Rock Creek Center that will have two 211,926-square-foot buildings. Completion is slated for early 2027.