CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new CommercialSearch study shows Charlotte is eighth in the nation for industrial space under development.
The report says roughly 11.5 million square feet of new industrial space is currently under construction.
This comes on the heels of Siemens Energy's announcement earlier this week that its Charlotte location will expand, building the company's first power transformer manufacturing facility in the country.
The expansion will bring in millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs to the area. It's just one example of the manufacturing industry boom in Charlotte.
However, many homeowners who live near industrial sites say the boom is too loud.
"It's so much noise all the time," Kimberly Helms, a homeowner who lives near the Rapid Commerce Park, said. The future manufacturing and logistics site is currently being built on Rhyne Road.
The 146-acre site is just on the other side of the woods from Helms' house.
Helms said the noise from construction is driving her and her neighbors crazy.
"We don't stay outside as much as we used to because it's a lot of racket out here," Helms said.
Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari said the boom in the manufacturing business is great for jobs.
"Industrial site construction is definitely something that is high on our priority list of things to accomplish," Bokhari said.
However, he thinks city leaders need to figure out where the large warehouses fit best.
"That's a problem that we have to balance because not doing it is just as much not an option as not contemplating how the neighbors around it feel," Bokhari said.
Helms thinks the boom shouldn’t bleed into people’s backyards.
The Charlotte City Council approved the Rapid Commerce Park a year ago. A 100-foot buffer will separate houses from the manufacturing and logistics facility.
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