SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted to accept a $485,000 offer to purchase county-owned land from Beacon Partners during their meeting on Monday.

Beacon is asking for the county to sell them 19.85 acres of a 33.25-acre property in the Summit Corporate Center, which is an industrial park located near the corner of Julian and Old Concord roads. The remaining 13.4 acres would remain county land that could be sold in the future.

According to the proposal sent by the Rowan EDC, Beacon hopes to build an 80,000-square-foot industrial facility on the property, which would then be leased out to another business. The business that Beacon plans to lease the building to is an existing Rowan County employer that plans to expand and create another 170 full-time-jobs, according to the proposal.

The purchase offer that the commissioners voted on was for a total of $485,000, or $24,433 per acre according to Rowan EDC Vice-President Scott Shelton. Shelton also said during the meeting that county tax records indicate that the value of the entire 33.25 acres is $1,310,736, or $39,421 per acre.

Since the purchase offer was for a reduced rate, Commissioner Craig Pierce asked what would happen to the purchase if the business planning to lease the property does not end up expanding. Shelton said that if that were to happen, Beacon would most likely no longer be interested in pursuing the land sale.

Shelton also said during the meeting that the EDC intends to ask the commissioners to consider tax incentives for the Rowan County employer during an upcoming meeting.

Land purchase offers are typically subject to upset bid processes, but Beacon asked the county to name the sale an economic development project because of the future jobs the company is planning to bring in. Shelton said that naming it a development project will allow the county to negotiate solely and privately with Beacon.