Concord, NC Commercial Real Estate - Retail & Office Space
Concord Commercial Real Estate
I-85 & US-29 Corridors
Industrial & Manufacturing Sites
Concord Mills & Motor Speedway
Description
Concord is the county seat of Cabarrus County and sits 20 miles northeast of Uptown Charlotte, outside Mecklenburg County. Inside city limits, zoning and development review run through the City of Concord's Planning & Development Services department at City Hall, 35 Cabarrus Ave W, under the Concord Development Ordinance, which the city is currently rewriting. The commercial base is broad: Concord Mills and Charlotte Motor Speedway sit near I-85 and US-29, The Grounds at Concord offers large industrial sites, Atrium Health Cabarrus anchors health care, and downtown Concord lines Union Street.
Commercial Real Estate Market Trends
Brokerages don't publish a Concord-only report, but Cushman & Wakefield's Q2 2026 Charlotte industrial report tracks Cabarrus County as its own submarket, with a 6.6% vacancy rate and 2,724,615 square feet under construction. The report says Prime Beverage signed the quarter's largest lease, a 933,774-sf warehouse/distribution deal at 1000 Stanley Dr in Cabarrus County. Manufacturing investment is also arriving: Eli Lilly announced a $1 billion campus in January 2022 at The Grounds at Concord, the former Philip Morris plant, and Red Bull, Rauch North America and Ball Corp. scheduled a September 2025 groundbreaking for a $1.5 billion beverage plant.
Commute & Logistics
Interstate 85 runs through Concord as an eight-lane highway, and US-29 and US-601 are the main surface corridors. The city says Charlotte Douglas International Airport is approximately 30 minutes away, and Concord-Padgett Regional Airport on Aviation Blvd has scheduled service from Allegiant and Avelo. Local bus service is CKRider, which links to the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS); there is no LYNX light rail in Concord, and the nearest Amtrak stop is in Kannapolis. For distribution users, Cabarrus County is served by I-85 at Exits 49 through 63.
Business Climate & Economy
Concord's business organizations are the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Cabarrus Economic Development Corporation, which the city works with to support existing businesses and recruit new ones. Atrium Health Cabarrus, a regional 457-bed, not-for-profit hospital on Church Street North, has more than 4,200 hospital employees. Eli Lilly's project at The Grounds at Concord calls for 800,000 square feet of space and 589 jobs, and the Red Bull, Rauch and Ball plant is expected to generate up to 700 jobs for Cabarrus County, with operations projected to begin in 2028. For downtown businesses, the city offers a Downtown Municipal Service District Grant Program.
Key Commercial Nodes
Concord's commercial activity is spread across several distinct districts:
- Concord Mills — Simon-managed shopping mall near I-85
- Charlotte Motor Speedway — Speedway Motorsports venue on US-29
- The Grounds at Concord — industrial park at the former Philip Morris plant
- Atrium Health Cabarrus — regional hospital on Church Street North
- Downtown Concord — Union Street business district
- Concord-Padgett Regional Airport — Aviation Blvd airport with Allegiant and Avelo service
Leasing & Purchasing in Concord
The first thing I confirm on a Concord site is jurisdiction. Inside city limits, zoning follows the Concord Development Ordinance through City of Concord Planning & Development Services; a parcel outside them may fall under Cabarrus County or a neighboring municipality, and in either case Cabarrus rather than Mecklenburg tax rates apply. Because the city is rewriting its ordinance, I check the current standards before you commit to an up-fit. For warehouse users, I compare newer Cabarrus County buildings on I-85 access and truck circulation; for downtown retail, I check whether the Downtown Municipal Service District Grant Program applies. I'm Yubeen Choi, a bilingual English/Korean commercial broker with eXp Realty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Concord has large industrial and warehouse space in Cabarrus County, including greenfield sites at The Grounds at Concord, regional retail around Concord Mills, and downtown storefront and office space along Union Street.
Inside city limits, the City of Concord's Planning & Development Services department at City Hall, 35 Cabarrus Ave W, administers the Concord Development Ordinance, which is being rewritten. Concord is in Cabarrus County, so City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County rules do not apply.
Cushman & Wakefield's Q2 2026 industrial report puts the weighted average net asking rent for warehouse/distribution space in the Cabarrus County submarket at $8.41 per square foot per year. Its office report has no Concord submarket, and retail and office rates vary by property class, size, and lease structure such as NNN vs gross; I can pull current comparable lease rates for your target size and use.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Concord, North Carolina
- Wikipedia: Concord Mills
- Wikipedia: Charlotte Motor Speedway
- City of Concord: Planning & Development Services
- City of Concord: Economic Development community profile
- Cabarrus Economic Development: Sites and Buildings
- Atrium Health: Atrium Health Cabarrus
- WSOC-TV: Eli Lilly to invest at former Philip Morris site in Concord
- Mass Market Retailers: Red Bull beverage factory breaks ground in Concord
- Explore Cabarrus: Getting Here
- Concord-Padgett Regional Airport
- Cushman & Wakefield: Charlotte Industrial MarketBeat Q2 2026
Location
Yubeen Choi
Real Estate Agent
- Location: Charlotte, NC
- Email: yubeen.choi@exprealty.com
- Phone: (704) 668-1668
