I-485 Development (Prosperity Village, Riverbend, Crosswind, etc)

[Third Strike]

There really wasn't any other place to put this, but I thought it might be a good idea to discuss some of the development proposed near and around I-485 (sans the development near Ballantyne and Providence, since they both have a respective topic).

 

A massive new development has been proposed near Albemarle Road, off I-485. It will consist of mainly single family homes, but will have a concentration of retail and offices near Albemarle. This development will be next door to the new Novant Hospital:

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/planning/Rezoning/RezoningPetitions/2015Petitions/Pages/2015-101.aspx

 

Here's another development, Riverbend. This one will be off NC 16 near I-485 in northwest Mecklenburg, and will be mixed use:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article14667311.html

 

Then there's Prosperity Village, which is going for a more urban approach. Think Birkdale or Baxter:

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Land%20Use%20Planning/ProsperityHucks/ProsperityHucksAreaPlanDraft.pdf

 

With I-485 finished, I guess we'll see more development like this spur up along the interstate perimeter. Would you say this development is good for Charlotte/Meck? Or is this just more senseless sprawl?

 

 

[15895]

There really wasn't any other place to put this, but I thought it might be a good idea to discuss some of the development proposed near and around I-485 (sans the development near Ballantyne and Providence, since they both have a respective topic).

A massive new development has been proposed near Albemarle Road, off I-485. It will consist of mainly single family homes, but will have a concentration of retail and offices near Albemarle. This development will be next door to the new Novant Hospital:

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/planning/Rezoning/RezoningPetitions/2015Petitions/Pages/2015-101.aspx

Here's another development, Riverbend. This one will be off NC 16 near I-485 in northwest Mecklenburg, and will be mixed use:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article14667311.html

Then there's Prosperity Village, which is going for a more urban approach. Think Birkdale or Baxter:

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Land%20Use%20Planning/ProsperityHucks/ProsperityHucksAreaPlanDraft.pdf

With I-485 finished, I guess we'll see more development like this spur up along the interstate perimeter. Would you say this development is good for Charlotte/Meck? Or is this just more senseless sprawl?

IMO "sprawl" in Mecklenburg is great. Technically, we're adding density. And Mecklenburg residents Seems to be more integrated into urban lifestyles. Plus it's more tax payers.

I Also think we have a very healthy growth of center city residents to balance off sprawl. I wouldn't be surprised if center city, 3 miles out from Trade/Tryon, would be the most populated town in the metro area if it were its own city by around 2020.

Its better Mecklenburg suburbs grow ar the expense of non-Meck suburbs. I consider sprawl anything outside of Meck.

[DEnd]

IMO "sprawl" in Mecklenburg is great. Technically, we're adding density. And Mecklenburg residents Seems to be more integrated into urban lifestyles. Plus it's more tax payers.

I Also think we have a very healthy growth of center city residents to balance off sprawl. I wouldn't be surprised if center city, 3 miles out from Trade/Tryon, would be the most populated town in the metro area if it were its own city by around 2020.

Its better Mecklenburg suburbs grow ar the expense of non-Meck suburbs. I consider sprawl anything outside of Meck.

 

Your opinion is wrong.    Detached Single Family Homes are subsidized by higher intensity development.  While what I saw of these new developments are a bit better than your average sprawl, they are for the most part still sprawl.  All three have problems and do nothing to encourage transit use.  Of those however Prosperity Village is by far the best, it just needs an integrated mass transit corridor, which I know is asking a lot for a wedge. 

Edited July 8, 2015 by DEnd

[Prodev]

How is prosperity village better? It's a suburban grocery anchored shopping center with fast food & bank drive-thrus. It's about as car dependent as it gets. It's great that there's an area plan that depicts Birkdale Village, but that's not what's happening there and it never will. There are 3 and soon to be 4 grocery stores within 1/4 mile of the interstate exit and the best retail anyone can hope for is probably an LA Fitness, Walmart Neighborhood Market and a CVS in the future.   

[15895]

Your opinion is wrong. Detached Single Family Homes are subsidized by higher intensity development. While what I saw of these new developments are a bit better than your average sprawl, they are for the most part still sprawl. All three have problems and do nothing to encourage transit use. Of those however Prosperity Village is by far the best, it just needs an integrated mass transit corridor, which I know is asking a lot for a wedge.

Suburbs are going to keep growing. I rather keep it in Meck.

[Windsurfer]

Suburbs are going to keep growing. I rather keep it in Meck.

 

Yes, but the goal posts keep getting pushed out. Poplar Tent (Cabarrus County) is EXPLODING. Some of that is the ease of access through Prosperity Rd. Exit at 485.

[js4life]

Poplar Tent was exploding long before I 485& you can make a strong argument that this growth would occur even without 485. Quick access to I-85, Concord Mills,The City along with low taxes,good schools are attractive to many& that's OK

[Windsurfer]

,The City along with low taxes,good schools are attractive to many& that's OK

Everyone has their opinion. I guess that's okay.

 

I've long owned land in western Cabarrus County. The taxes have tripled, so 'increasing the tax base', hasn't helped me nor my neighbors one iotta. I WAS going to preserve my land through a conservancy but why now? What's the point when my land is surrounded by developments like "The Farm" that certainly DO sell themselves on ease of access to Charlotte via 485. And, yes there were developers building along Poplar Tent before, but not like now. It's downright depressing. I went to a couple of meetings when the City of Kannapolis approved annexing in some tracts nearby. They just laughed when people expressed concerned about the feeder roads going into 485 or Davidson. Their responses was, "It's NCOT's problem".  How's that for planning. By the way there's a lawsuit somewhere against these weird annexations. Kannapolis is 4 miles from some of the new developments. The town limits, in places, are only several yards across in order to incorporate these places. 

 

And, as you gather, I'm against sprawl, and Cabarrus County is the poster child. I-485 is just enabling it too.

[DEnd]

How is prosperity village better? It's a suburban grocery anchored shopping center with fast food & bank drive-thrus. It's about as car dependent as it gets. It's great that there's an area plan that depicts Birkdale Village, but that's not what's happening there and it never will. There are 3 and soon to be 4 grocery stores within 1/4 mile of the interstate exit and the best retail anyone can hope for is probably an LA Fitness, Walmart Neighborhood Market and a CVS in the future.   

 

I'm less concerned with what is being built than with what the infrastructure is being built for.  And don't get me wrong the plan for Prosperity Village absolutely could be better, even being car dependent.  What it has that the others lack is good connectivity to it's surrounding neighborhoods (yes that is one thing that could be improved), it uses roundabouts at some of it's main intersections (again something that could be improved), and it even has some transit planning (again something that could be improved).  It's residential lots have relatively small street frontages, which is critical for reducing the tax burden of infrastructure. There is a plan for multiple types of housing, from apartments, to townhomes, to detached single family allowing to some extent greater income diversity for the area. 

 

What Prosperity Village needs is multiple routes to surrounding "centers", which is a long standing city wide planning issue, and not the fault of the community planners.  And like I said the one thing it really lacks is planning for a mass transit corridor. 

 

Prosperity village may never be a great national retail location, however it will have a chance to be a great neighborhood retail location, much like Park Road Shopping Center.

 

Suburbs are going to keep growing. I rather keep it in Meck.

 

Believe it or not I don't mind suburbs, If the rest of the plans were as well done as Prosperity Village I'd only have one major complaint about them.  The issue I have with being inside Mecklenburg is that the city and county need much longer term transit planning.  As it is Prosperity Village will either be stuck with on road bus service, a street car, or will need a subway, where as if a ROW were reserved for light rail, or BRT costs could be cut significantly for high quality mass transit .

[archiham04]

I'm not sure if it has been recognized on here or not (in another thread perhaps), but the infrastructure built at Prosperity Village is truely a radical departure from a typical interstate interchange and has lofty ambitions that the folks on this board should appreciate.  Its design is intended to be the best case response to harmonizing green field, planned, dense, urban development with the restrictive traffic movement and safety standards in place for the Department of Transportation.  Like it or not, Propertity Village is about as good as it gets for outer belt urban growth.

[AuLukey]

I drive through that new interchange every day and I have to say it is the most pleasant interchange I've ever experienced.  The traffic flow is impeccable (aside from the occasional roundabout newb that has no idea how to navigate them.  Almost got hit today.)  The problem I have with the area plan, is that they have already deviated from it.  The ABC store being built along one of the roads has a large parking lot and is pretty set back from the road.  I'm majorly disappointed in this as I was hoping for more street-front/pedestrian friendly development a la Griffith Street next to Exit 30 in Davidson.

 

Someday Charlotte will see it's ideas through and actually enforce zoning... I just don't get it.

[southslider]

But did the ABC Store require rezoning? It may have been a "by right" development. Those don't require any consideration of an area plan.

[MilZ]

So ironically the ABC store should be the most car oriented building there then.

[AuLukey]

Speaking of the ABC store, the state is widening the section of Prosperity Church Rd alongside of the ABC's store parking lot leading up to the 485 roundabout.  Road closure/construction started on the 10th and should last until the 22nd.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong; but wouldn't it have been more cost effective to have done this when they rebuilt the road a few months ago?

[Spartan]

Logistically speaking yes. However, the widening is to install a concrete median that was a development requirement imposed by NCDOT so that their driveway on PCR is right-in-right-out only. It's not possible to know all future development requirements with road construction projects, so the work goes to the developer since he came after the road project.

[southslider]

Speaking of roadway construction on top of recent construction, Ridge Rd will soon be widened between PCR and Benfield.  This is another development requirement, though this time by the City, instead of NCDOT, tied to the new Publix and apartments.   Oh, and extending Benfield to PCR will soon start construction, but that's a City project.  Except maybe immediately along Publix.

[AuLukey]

Thanks Spartan, I had no idea that's what they were doing, I thought it was an actual widening in terms of number of lanes.  Makes more sense now and is significantly less irritating now that I understand. 

 

I can't express how excited I am about this Publix, I hope it is designed in a less suburban/strip-mall style and is somewhat urban in design given the area plan.  I couldn't find anything relevant on Accela.  Anybody have the scoop?

[HopHead]

Looks like TopGolf is headed to the I-485 and Arrowood location in Southwest Charlotte after all... This will be a nice entertainment boost to that area.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article36074226.html

[SouthEndCLT811]

Looks like TopGolf is headed to the I-485 and Arrowood location in Southwest Charlotte after all... This will be a nice entertainment boost to that area.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article36074226.html

Working off Westinghouse my lunch breaks just got a little longer

[AP3]

Rezoning for the property at the intersection of Prosperity Church and Johnston Oehler, across Johnston Oehler from the Bi-Lo (the vacant pads in the development with the mixed use builing with Anytime Fitness/Pizza Hut, etc.).  

Site Plan:

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/001-016/2016-001 site plan.pdf

[archiham04]

WOW... 2016 petition Number already  my how time flies

[Third Strike]

 

Construction for the new Novant Mint Hill Hospital has began. The first smaller building should be completed by next Summer, while the larger building will be completed in June of 2018. This is also next door to the proposed Crosswind development, which should see a rezoning petition next month.

[AP3]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article58414253.html

 

Looks like Plaza Midwood/Belont aren't the only neighborhoods getting mixed-use storage facilities.

[KJHburg]

Corning selects site for new HQ.  This is good news for the Riverbend Village development at I-485 and Hwy 16 in the Mtn Island Lake area. Good corporate jobs and should really ignite the development of that project. I have heard they have a grocery store anchor, a movie theater anchor and some smaller retailers signed up already. http://wfae.org/post/corning-optical-picks-site-i-485-38m-hq

[SgtCampsalot]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Corning selects site for new HQ.  This is good news for the Riverbend Village development at I-485 and Hwy 16 in the Mtn Island Lake area. Good corporate jobs and should really ignite the development of that project. I have heard they have a grocery store anchor, a movie theater anchor and some smaller retailers signed up already. http://wfae.org/post/corning-optical-picks-site-i-485-38m-hq

Neato, not too shabby.

As for the Prosperity Village area, I work around there, and it is such a fascinating example of half-well-done urbanism with a suburban twist. So much parallel parking where it doesn't matter, and no parallel parking where it does. So many little buildings with pretty good sidewalk presence right next to a sea of parking lots for Harris Teeters, etc. Eh, c'est la vie.