Business owners, town leaders relish in boomtown Clayton's growth; new development in the works
CLAYTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- Just three months after opening on East Second Street, customers continue to flock to Triangle Coffee Shop.
"It's been full every day and weekends. It's crazy," said co-owner Isis Romero.
Romero and her husband, Danny Parra, are originally from Venezuela, but have lived in Clayton for six years.
"We bought our first house very close to here, and then we started to know the community and we immediately fell in love," said Romero.
Located right across from Town Hall and down the road from Main Street, Romero said the couple often walked their dog in the neighborhood. When they saw the space was available, they reached out, and worked to rezone the property.
Romero, who also works as an architect and real estate agent, is encouraged by businesses opening in town.
"We saw all the growth around and all the opportunities and all the entrepreneurs around here," said Romero.
"On the industrial front, we have almost a million square feet of new Class A concrete tilt, institutional-grade industrial product coming out of the ground today," said Joseph Stallings, the Economic Development Director for the Town of Clayton.
Stallings pointed to the town's location in the Biopharma Crescent and close proximity to Research Triangle Park as key in recruitment efforts.
"We have great access to the labor force. We have a wonderful existing industry base, and we have more land that we can continue to do great projects, and so that's really attractive from an economic development perspective," said Stallings.
From 2020 - 2024, Clayton's population increased 19%, now topping 31,000. The town anticipates it will reach 50,000 residents by 2050.
"The Town of Clayton has almost 10,000 residential units in some form of development process, either under construction and entitlements or waiting to be put into the entitlement process," Stallings explained.
The challenge: making sure growth does not exceed available resources or jeopardize quality of life.
"We make sure that for one, we protect the heart of our downtown through events, through preserving older buildings," said Councilmember Andria Archer.
Archer formerly served as Chair of the town's Planning Board, and explained that residents have shared a range of ideas on what they want to see implemented in the town.
"To continue to prepare for the growth that we all know is on its way, we have, in the last four years at least, put a lot of important plans in place. All of those have included a public engagement piece," said Archer.
She also pointed to dialogue with county and state officials regarding schools.
"Clayton is still Clayton. It's a place where people care about each other, and just because we're bringing in new faces doesn't mean that we have to lose our small-town charm. It can mean that we're just sharing that spirit with more people," Archer said.
