Apex’s Veridea project breaks ground on industrial buildings, 150 jobs possible

Bulldozers moved onto Veridea Tuesday, marking a visible new phase for Apex’s largest commercial destination and putting two industrial buildings in motion that could eventually support up to 150 jobs.

The buildings, being developed by RXR, are aimed at lab- or research-oriented companies that want quick access to Interstate 540 and the wider Triangle road network. Joseph Graziose, an executive vice president with RXR, said the location gives companies logistics advantages tied to highway access, a feature that could make the site more attractive to employers that move equipment, supplies or employees across Wake County and beyond.

Mayor Jacques Gilbert used the groundbreaking to frame Veridea as a much bigger economic-development play than a single construction site. He said the project would strengthen Apex by adding commercial density, expanding tax revenue and improving quality of life. For a town that has grown rapidly for years, the project’s scale is hard to miss: Veridea is being built as a sustainable mixed-use urban community on 1,100 acres, with plans widely described as 8,000 homes, 3.5 million square feet of retail and dining, and 12 million square feet of office and research space.

That larger buildout is already moving beyond concept drawings. The town says initial infrastructure construction and site preparation are underway along the N.C. Highway 55 and Veridea Parkway borders, a sign that roads and utilities are being laid before the bigger employers arrive. The industrial buildings are expected to be finished by mid-2027, with work on Wake Tech’s campus and the children’s hospital to follow.

Those next phases could bring the biggest economic payoff. Wake Tech approved the master plan for its Conlon Western Wake Campus on Aug. 19, 2025, for a 34-acre site in Apex near N.C. Highway 55, NC-540 and U.S. 1. The college says the campus is designed to serve up to 3,000 students a day. NC Children’s, meanwhile, announced its Apex campus on July 10, 2025, for about 230 acres at US-1 and NC-540. The project is expected to bring about 8,000 jobs to Apex and Wake County and include a 500-bed children’s hospital, an outpatient care center, 103 behavioral health beds and a research and education enterprise.

For nearby homeowners, the changes are likely to be felt in stages. More construction usually means more trucks and more traffic before the jobs and amenities arrive, especially around highway access points. Over time, the mix of health care, education, offices, research space and retail could strengthen demand for housing in west Apex and help push the town’s tax base higher as Veridea fills in.