Epic Games is buying an old mall – with almost a million square feet of space – and plans to convert it into its new global headquarters by 2024.
The deal, first reported by the Triangle Business Journal, gives Epic the 980,000 square foot Cary Towne Center for $ 95 million. The Cary Towne Center is about 2 miles from the current Epic HQ.
Epic Games has been headquartered in Cary, North Carolina since 1999, and has 2,200 employees in its global workforce. The company, best known for developing the Unreal Engine and Fifteen days, has about two dozen subsidiaries and studios in other locations around the world, acquiring or establishing more than half of them since Fortnite Battle Royale launched in late 2017.
Situated on an 87-acre site, the Cary Towne Center, like many malls in the United States, has struggled to remain open as anchor tenants have left or closed entirely thanks to online shopping trends. Raleigh’s WRAL-TV noted that only a few stores remain open there and much of the mall is blocked. Its current owners bought it in 2019 for $ 31 million and then got Cary City Council to approve its rezoning, which would allow the use of offices, hotel rooms and multifamily residences, as well as commercial spaces.
It is not clear how many of these plans will follow with Epic, but because of the rezoning, Epic can start on its new campus immediately. The company said it will work with the city of Cary at a $ 193 million sports and recreation center that was planned for the site. An Epic Games spokesman told the Triangle Business Journal that the campus would include office buildings and recreational spaces.
Epic Games, a private company, reported a $ 1.78 billion round of new financing in August 2020, valued at $ 17.3 billion. The company planned to expand its existing location in Cary, which it has owned since 2015, with a 500,000 square foot facility that would accommodate up to 2,000 employees. Those plans are canceled, reported WRAL.