Concord listed as potential site for ICE warehouse. City says it’s unaware of plans
The city of Concord says it hasn’t been notified of plans to open a federal immigration detention facility there amid questions raised by a national news report.
Concord, located immediately to the northeast of Charlotte, was listed among 21 cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement has or is considering purchasing a warehouse to convert into a detention center in a New York Times report this week. The report, which cites property records and Department of Homeland Security documents, estimates the Concord facility would have 1,500 beds.
The Cabarrus County city is the only North Carolina community on the list reported by the Times.
The city posted on social media Friday morning it was “aware of rumors in the community that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency may be looking at a location within Concord or Cabarrus County for a detention facility” but that “the City has not been contacted and is not aware of any plans from the agency.”
Concord Mayor Steve Morris told The Charlotte Observer he “was not aware of anything at all” until he started getting questions about the Times’ article.
“There’s been no communication, no awareness at all on the city’s part … I’m anxious to learn more,” he said.
Asked whether the city’s planning department would have any oversight over a potential ICE project, Morris said his understanding is that “the federal government does not have to comply with our local zoning regulations.” The mayor said he’s also got questions about “sewer allocation” for a possible facility, given the city already has “a lot of projects waiting on hold for sewer capacity.”
Cabarrus County is also “not aware of any plans” for an ICE site in the county, spokesman Jonathan Weaver told the Observer. Cabarrus County Commission Chair Laura Blackwell Lindsey and spokespersons for Gov. Josh Stein did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Indivisible Cabarrus County, a liberal activist group, is organizing a protest at 7250 Weddington Road on Sunday. The group claims that’s the proposed site of an ICE warehouse.
Cabarrus County property records show the owner of the Weddington Road site is MP I-85 Bonds Industrial LLC. The registered address of the company is in Boston at the offices of the real estate investment company AEW, according to North Carolina Secretary of State records. Asked about plans for an immigration facility on site, a spokesperson for AEW said the building is not for sale and that its owners don’t intend on leasing it to the federal government to house people detained by immigration enforcement.
Greensboro faced similar questions in early February after documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union included a proposal for an ICE facility at a former school in the city, The Assembly reported. The city of Greensboro and the property owners said in statements at the time the federal government had not contacted them about the proposal.
ICE has accelerated arrests and deportations in North Carolina and across the country since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. U.S. Border Patrol said it detained hundreds in and around Charlotte during a November operation that sparked protests.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 11:28 AM.
