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Epic Games has reached an agreement with Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties to purchase North Carolina’s Cary Towne Center.
The 980,000 square foot, 87-acre shopping center will be converted into the new global headquarters of the Fortnite creator in 2024. A source familiar with the matter told FOX Business that the price of the deal was approximately $ 95 million.
According to an Epic press release, the facility will include a mix of office buildings and recreational spaces, giving the company “the flexibility to create a custom campus from the start to accommodate its long-term growth.”
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Epic will begin the development of its new headquarters later this year. Meanwhile, the company will remain at its current headquarters at Cary, Crossroads Boulevard, North Carolina.
“Epic has been proud to call Cary home for over 20 years and has immersed itself in the community, often hiring locally and from nearby universities as the company continues to grow and expand,” the company said in a statement. “While plans for the Epic campus are still in the early stages, the company is already working with the city of Cary on its development and exploring ways in which some of these properties can be used by the community. Epic is grateful to the city and its leadership for how welcoming she has been to the company over the years, and that positive relationship played a significant role in Epic’s decision to look for a campus that will secure her future in Cary for the next few decades. “
Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said the city is “extremely proud that Epic has chosen to call Cary home to its new global headquarters” and greatly appreciates the “recognition of the company for Cary’s existing assets, as well as for unlimited potential area for your growing business. ”
“We look forward to continuing to work closely and in collaboration with the Epic team as they conceptualize their new campus, and we are honored to partner with them in this exciting new development,” added Weinbrecht.
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Turnbridge and Denali acquired the Cary Towne Center in January 2019 in a troubled sale after the loss of three of its main tenants.
“Epic shares our vision of making Cary Towne Center a vibrant community space. This sale is further validation of our value-oriented investment strategy, and the property could not be placed in better hands, ”said Jason Davis, managing director of Turnbridge Equities, in a statement. “After years of changing the Center’s development plans, we are excited that the space will be used to its full potential and transformed into something that the city and the community of Cary can be proud of.
In December 2019, Cary City Council approved a mall rezone order for a mixed-use project that included a maximum of 1.2 million square feet of office space, 360,000 square feet of commercial space, 1,800 multi-family units / residences, and 450 hotel rooms.
However, the city said in a project update last week that the approved development plans “are no longer advancing” due to the acquisition of Epic. However, the city will continue with plans for the Cary Community Recreational and Sports Center.
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Epic is valued at more than $ 17.3 billion after the company raised $ 1.78 billion during its last round of financing in August. The round included a $ 250 million strategic investment from Sony Corp.
“Fortnite” is one of the most popular video games in the world, with over 350 million accounts. Epic also operates the Unreal Engine, a 3D authoring tool for developers.