Lake Norman Real Estate and NC Homes for Sale

You know you live in a community that is growing significantly when there is a weekly column in the Charlotte Observer's Lake Norman section called:  Red Dirt Alert:   Development in the Lake Norman Area.  Knowing not only what is being constructed now, but also what is in the pipeline, is very important when considering where to purchase a home; whether it's your personal residence or an investment.  It is also important to understand growth trends and where the next "hot spots" are in the greater Lake Norman area.  I decided it might be helpful to actually provide you with a list of the most talked about projects around Lake Norman.  Because this is such an extensive list, I am going to start with the Mooresville Troutman area in this blog and then follow-up with the other communities surrounding Lake Norman.  

Before I provide the list, I  want to give you a very brief overview about our growth and development  so that you can put everything in perspective.  ( I will definitely discuss traffic, growth and development issues more throroughly in future blogs). 

The bad news is that since our growth surge started in the 1990's, developers have been building without comprehensive land use and traffic plans so our communities suffer from insufficient roads and infrastructure.  The good news is that, "better late than never " seems to be the philosophy of our towns' leadership.  Mooresville is currently working under a revised Strategic Plan which, for the first time,  combines land use and transportations plans in the same discussions.  . "Design priciples will guide developement to ensure more attractive gateway areas, streetscapes, neighborhoods and commercial centers" said Jinni Benson, one of Mooresville's land use consultants."   Mooresille is also workiing in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Transportation with the overall goal to "improve connections and provide travelers choices".  They are also working with adjacent towns in an effort to avoid further unilateral development that may in fact aggravate another town's traffic flow.  Progress!  

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PIPELINE FROM SOUTH MOORESVILLE TO NORTH TROUTMAN 

1. The area around Exit 33 and the now-under-construction Exit 32 is truly one of our new "hot spots":

• Langtree at the Lake,  a spectacular $800 million dollar, 125-acre residential and commercial development on Langtree Road near the future Exit 32 was approved in December '06, but not without a bit of neighborhood outcry. It will include a 12-story 250-room Embassy Suites with a convention center, a retail village, an additonal 4-story hotel, a par-3 golf course, a four-story boat storage building and condominium buildings with staggered heights of four to six stories that will be priced at $600,000 to $2 million.  At least 100 people have already reserved condos according to developer Rick Howard.  The first phases are expected to be finished in Spring/Summer 2009.  For more information:  www.langtreeatthelake.com   

• Legacy Village, also at Exit 33, is being described as an Urban Village that will cater to the professionals who work close by at Lowe's Headquarters or the Lake Norman Regional Medical Center.  It will have 108 homes, lofts, condos above retail stores.  Construction has begun and is expected to be completed in 3 years.  www.legacyvillagenc.com

• A 112-room Hilton Garden Inn, an upscale hotel, is slated to be built on Langtree Rd.  The $11 million five-story hotel will have 25,000 square feet of meeting space, banquet rooms, a restaurant, bar, in-house catering, free Wi-Fi Internet and LCD televisions in every room.

• At Exit 33 work has begun on the  Watermark Plaza shopping center, a 12,000 square foot building fronting Williamson Rd. adjacent to the Lakewood Veterinary Hospital. For more information:  www.bvbproperties.com

• Across the street from Watermark Plaza is going to be the Williamson Road Business Park which already has a Dunkin' Donuts but other tenants have not been finalized

• On Highway 21 just north of Exit 33 and surrounding the intersection of Waterlynn are several developement in the works:  162 condominiums by Coastal Ventures-Mooresville LLC and  Waterlynn Place, a 47-acre development which will include 312 apartments, 70 town homes, 15 single-family homes and 75,000 square feet of office space.  Underway further west on Waterlynn Road towards NC 115 is Waterlynn, a community of 295 single-family and 106 town homes which are under construction and will be competed over the next 3 or 4 years.

     2.  Moving north in Mooresville on the lake side are the following:

• The Mooresville Town Square, located at the northeast corner of Williamson Road and Brawley School, 
• is already well on it's way.  It was created, according to the builder, to offer a different type of atmosphere than you have so far in Mooresville...a more upscale, community feel.  The $65,000 project should be completed in 2008.  An Aveda salon and spa, Coldwell Banker, and several restaurants are already well underway or completed.

• More retail and commercial structures including several restaurants are under construction in the same shopping center as the Harris Teeter on the northwest corner Williamson Rd and Brawley School.

• Further down Brawley School Road at Stutts Road:  29 acres have been released by Iredell County to Mooresville for zoning authority.  All that is known at this time is that a commercial development is being proposed that will include a Bloom grocery store.

• Construction has already begun at the corner of Perth Road and Highway 150 on the 86-acre development which will include Bryers Creek a subdivision of single -family homes of various designs and prices starting in the $200,000's and a retail center including a Harris Teeter Grocery Store.   This will be very welcome by residents on Perth Road as they will no longer have to drive on the 150 to get to a grocery store! 

• Smaller in scope than the Langtree at the Lake, Pomenade on the Lake is located next to Queens Landing on the NC 150.  The proposal includes a hotel, condos, conference center, spa and retail space. To my knowledge this has not been approved. 

• Magnolia Bay subdivision  is being developed in two phases for a total of 32 Charleston-style homes on the south side of Cornelius Road.

      3.   Mooresville City Limits:

• Heading East on NC 150 towards the Town of Mooresville, Waterford Plaza is underway across from Randy Marion Chevrolet.   It will be a Class A office and retail building.

• Lakefield Corporate Center, located on Oates Rd of NC 150 near I77, is a 100-acre business park and retail center in the works.  The retail area, Shoppes at Lakefield,  will include 20,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

• Heading East in the Old Mooresville area the Rocky River Subdivision was recently approved by the Mooresville Town Board.  The subdivision of 236 homes is in two pieces on either side of NC 3; about 56 acres north of Rocky River Road and about 50 acres south of Williford Road.  The developer has agreed to provide greenways, pedestrian connections to a neighboring new school stie and to grade 7.5 acres for a public park. 

• To me, one of the most exciting projects in the entire area is  The Mooresville Mills.  The developers plan to transform the former Mooresville Mills factory site into an Urban Village-type mixed use development with residential, retail and office space.  The town of Mooresville has agreed to partner with developers on parts of the project.  Personally, I am a strong supporter of the revitalization of the wonderful Old Main Steet Downtown area of Mooresville.  This project is not only vital to the area but also extremely exciting!  The small, historic Mill houses are already making an effort to establish a conservation overlay zone to protect the charm of  the Mill Village (www.mooresvillemillvillage.com).   I see this area as a long-term gem!   Take a look at the virtural tour of the new project at www.mooresvillemills.com !

• Just when you are probably thinking our growth is all about homes, retail and commercial  along comes a 100-acre Mazeppa Road Park in northeast Mooresville.  Phase 1 will include 8 tennis courts, a four-field softball/baseball  complex, four basketball courts, a lake, walking trails, a BMX and mountain bike trail, a picnic shelter and a dog park.  Future phases which are still in the planning stages, will include a five-field soccer and football multi-use complex, a recreation center, an exercise court and an amphitheater with a covered band shell.  The town of Mooresville has already bought the land! 

• Thanks to a dedicated group of skateboard enthusiasts,  a Skateboard Park is now moving forward in Mooresville.  It will be located at West Iredell Road/NC 3 on land behind the Police Station.  The first phase will include grading work, a concession area, parking, lights and a concrete pad on which to put $105,000 worth of donated ramps.  The second phase will be a bowl skating surface and areas that mimic urban and street spaces for skates to practice their tricks.  This has truly been  a team effort and they hope to get off and rolling very soon.

        4.  TROUTMAN BRACING FOR POPULATION BOOM...Community lures commuters from Charlotte, Winston-Salem.  One of the hottest areas of growth right now is the area north of the NC150 including Troutman.  Developers who have run out of land possibities on the Brawley School Pennisula are finding this to be the next "hot spot" for the lake area. Now a small community of about 2000, it is expected to jump to at least 6000 over the next 5 years.  Most of the development is being planned around their two I-77 exits: Exit 42 and Exit 45.

•   Exit 42's first big news was that a Lowe's Home Improvement store surrounded by 5 retail/commercial outparcels are on the way across U.S. 21 from Wilco.  North of Lowe's will be another commercial area with about 10 to 12 lots called The Charles Center.  Arby's is the only tenant known so far.  All around these projects developers are buying up property so lots to watch for in the future.  This area around Exit 42 is fast changing from rural-residential to highway commercial.

• The last undeveloped I-77 exit between Charlotte and Statesville, Exit 45 is now the site of a massive 900-acre mixed-use development east of the I-77 between Exits 45 and 49a .  Larkin,  the largest development in Statesville's history, "will change the face of Iredell County and close the border gap between Statesville and Troutman" according to planners and local officials.  Builder GS Carolina of Charlotte's proposal calls for 3,750 residential units, 1 million square feet of retail, a 500-room hotel, 250,000 square feet of office space and a 100,000-square-foot wellness center.  About 180 acres will be maintained at public space.  Larkin is expected to have an active adult community within the project....Wow!  www.gscarolina.com/carolinacommunities.htm

• Crescent Resources, the real estate development arm of Duke Energy, is proposing a 500-home subdivision on 505 acres in southern Troutman at the northeastern tip of Lake Norman called Falls Cove

To get the scoop directly from Kathryn Thier, author of the Red Dirt Alert you can go to www.charlotte.com and search Red Dirt Alert.  I used much of her material for this article and want to credit her accordingly!

If you have any news I've missed please pass it along!  In the meantime, I will work on my development updates for Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Sherrills Ford, and Denver.  Questions?  email me!