Downtown Mooresville New Development Master Plan

Hats Off to Mooresville

Last Friday evening my wife and I had the pleasure of getting a peek at the first draft of the Town of Mooresville's new downtown development plan.

To begin with, we were both inspired by the depth of vision and the degree of professionalism brought to bear on this project. We find it admirable that Mooresville planners and citizens are working not only to preserve the town's architectural heritage, but to continue that tradition into the future. Mooresville's goal is to maximize and beautify the downtown area, and they are doing a great job.

To this end they have employed the firm of Sottile & Sottile, experts in Urban Analysis and Design, out of Savannah, Georgia. Principals and staff from this firm had been here all week, working with planners, holding public meetings, and opening their office to townspeople to drop in with ideas. The quality of the draft plan was phenomenal, and it was heartening to witness the spirit of cooperation between all the parties through the process of shaping Mooresville's future development.

The plan is actually an extension of an initial "face lift" completed on the downtown "core" in 2005. We can all see the tremendous improvements made by this operation. The next phases will include both areas immediately north and south of the core plus the Mill District further south.

The presentation by Christian Sottile was quite fascinating. The language of urban design is interesting in that it is at once descriptive and flowery and at the same time logical and analytical. We heard about how the "bone structure" from the first formation of the town is still intact. We looked at historical maps and photographs and learned that old Mooresville was, in times past, more populous at the center. He showed us the strategic positioning of Mooresville in it's larger regional context and the benefits of being "well connected " to neighboring cities. The next step being, to enhance these "gateways" making travel easier and more pleasurable.

We think one of the more intriguing ideas that emerged was to create an inviting environment between the RR line and rear entrances to the buildings facing on Main St. Inspired by attractive alleyways in other cities, they dubbed this area "Main Lane". Overlay renderings helped us to see how utilities could be cleaned up, terraces created, trees and attractive street lights added, and parking changed to created a usable and enjoyable walkway. All this is in keeping with restoring the pedestrian nature of a Main Street seen in days gone by.

The most ambitious and large scale component of the entire plan will be converting the beat up old Mill district into a hot new trendy multiple use; living, working, and shopping destination. No joke, this is do-able. I have seen it happen many times in other places. In our case, it starts with building a web of interconnected streets joining mill buildings, mill village and the downtown core. Next, add a series of parks, bike paths, kids playing, ice cream cones. And finally, cover everything with a heavy wash of Americana cute and "Voila!" - you get the idea. It's going to be nice.

A summary of Big Ideas emerging from the process: Strengthen the core, define transitional areas, integrate the mill district, expand the gateways, high priority on new residential, parking strategies, adding and connecting parks, and planning for transit. Builders and Developers, as well as local residents should see many opportunities emerging in Mooresville's ambitious plan for their future. Anyone interested in more details can visit the planning department in Mooresville to look, learn, and add their two cents to the ongoing planning process. Speaking of pennies, if the town of Mooresville was a stock, my recommendation would be to "buy".

Please feel free to contact me for any of your real estate needs. We have a great team and the service we offer for both buyers and sellers is just tremendous. It is our goal to exceed our client's expectations at every level. There are lots of good deals out there at the moment, so if you believe in the future of this area as strongly as we do, it may be time to get off the fence and check out some of the possibilities. Just pick up the phone and give us a call!

Take a look at all Mooresville Real Estate

Langtree Development

Langtree at the Lake...............Wow!

In my Newsletter this month, I want to show you what is planned and developing for Mooresville right at 1-77 and exit 32.

It's big, it's beautiful, and it's happening right now. Three phases will cover 167 acres with 650 high rise condominiums, 300,000 square feet of commercial office and retail, and acres of recreational including; golf, boating, and everything in between- you name it. There is over a mile of waterfront in these developments. Work is starting this very month on Phase I shown in this illustration and is scheduled to be finished in Fall of 2009.

One of the things I like best about Langtree is that, like a village, most of these condos, offices, and amenities are within walking distance. That means you can live there, have your business there, play there, shop or have a great meal at Ruth's Chris Steak House just footsteps from your front door. And, if you stub your toe getting off your boat, the Lake Norman Medical Center is only five minutes away. Langtree is going to be the most high end, high tech, luscious development on or near the lake. I'm impressed.

Now, what I refer to as condos in Phase I are really more like high rise "palatial estates" with 10 foot ceilings, top grade material and workmanship, lavish appointments, water views, the whole bit. The little ones (not so little at approximately 1800 to 2100 sf) start at $650,000.00 and the big ones go for up to $2.5 million.

Whether you actually live at Langtree or not, we are all going to enjoy the Gucci grade shopping, fine dining and many other new work or play opportunities it has to offer. Langtree at the Lake is one gorgeous project. Without fear of exhausting my superlatives, I will go as far as saying that it will become the "Jewel" in the Queen City area crown.

Feel free to contact me for more information on this or any other project in the area. If you are looking to buy or sell, I would be happy to represent you. We do a top notch job on all our listings and have also helped many buyers to make this area their home.

King and Karen Carty

704-528-9889

Keller Williams Realty

For Other Developments on Langtree:

King's Landing
Royal Pointe
Oak Harbor
Carsons Place
Alexander Island
Waterside Landing
Bridgeport
Langtree
Sailor's Lair
Lakeview Shore

Take a look at the new k-12 Charter School very close to the Langtree area: http://www.pinelakeprep.org/

And take a look at my website for real estate near Pine Lake Preparatory School: http://www.kingcarty.com/

Troutman Exit 42 I-77 Development

Exit 42 off the I-77 Freeway is developing fast. Here are some of the coming attractions:

- Troutman Commons: a 39 + acre commercial development including retail stores

- Troutman Town Center: Another 59 acre retail park, behind LOWES

- A major 42 acre office complex/ Corporate facility

- A new Wal-Mart, scheduled to open in approximately 2010

- Weather's Creek Station: a 211 acre mixed use development, containing retail stores, at least 11 sit down restaurants, approximately 400 apartments, 50 +/- single family homes, maybe a theater, and probably a hotel predicted to contain 150 rooms. Plans are still in development as far as which stores, so the details on this are yet to be forthcoming.

- Two 3 story hotels, one is a Country Inn and Suites (70 +/- rooms), the other yet to be determined

- At least six other retail, commercial, and hotel projects around LOWES Home Improvement Center located on out parcels that were created by the LOWES project.

- Fast food like Wendy's and McDonald's, planned to open later in 2008

- Two residential projects which have been satellite annexed to the town of Troutman are: 156 homes in Georgia Mills, and a Land Craft project on Westmoreland Road which contains 229 lots.

- Other residential projects that have not been annexed by the Town of Troutman, but remain in the county, are in the works.

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King Carty
Keller Williams Realty
(704) 528-9889
Lake Norman, NC Real Estate
Mooresville, NC Real Estate
Troutman, NC Real Estate