RJ Reynolds Tobacco has agreed to donate a large portion of its former Whitaker Park manufacturing complex to a non-profit redevelopment group, the cigarette maker said.

Facilities falling under the agreement will be donated in the next year to two years, starting with a 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m²) laboratory building on four acres (1.6 hectares) of land. An additional 120 acres of land will be donated to WPDA, which was created by Winston-Salem Business, the Winston-Salem Alliance and Wake Forest University, RJRT said.
Named after former company chairman John Whitaker, RJRT said the plant was the world’s largest and most modern plant when it opened in 1961 on 14 acres of land. RJRT in 2010 announced it was closing the plant.