The Harris Teeter near Exit 30 is scheduled to open with a sneak preview Feb. 5, then regular hours Feb. 6.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson’s Exit 30 area remains a work in progress, but the new year will see completion of several big projects, bringing the town new shops, restaurants and offices – and an estimated 300 to 400 new jobs. Starting with the Feb. 6 opening of a new Harris Teeter grocery store, shopping center names such as Davidson Commons and Harbor Place are likely to replace planning lingo such as “the Southeast Quadrant” and “the Northeast Quadrant.” Here’s a look at what’s coming in early 2008.

Davidson Planning Director Kris Krider said he thinks “50 percent of the vision for Exit 30 will either be completed or under construction” by the end of 2008.

All the growth has not been without controversy. It was a frequent topic during last fall’s local election campaign in town and the associated traffic, construction and the initial unfamiliarity of the roundabouts have been sore points among some residents for the past couple of years.

(At right, an aerial view taken by Planning Director Kris Krider last summer looking east on Griffith Street at the roundabouts.)

But other residents, including some who have moved into homes near Exit 30, say they’re looking forward to all the changes. Already, shops, offices and small businesses along Exit 30’s network of new roads are drawing people from in and beyond Davidson.

Town officials have targeted the area for commercial development as part of a long-range plan to reduce the town’s reliance on revenues from residential property taxes, which they say do not cover the full cost of local services. In addition, they say growth at the exit could help bring new jobs to a town where local job opportunities have been few and far between.

“I would say by the end of the year, there’ll be 300 to 400 new jobs because of the activity out there at Exit 30,” Mr. Krider said. It’ll be interesting to see what the economic benefits are in terms of sales tax volume and impact on the property tax. We won’t start seeing that until next year, but the improvements will generate a lot of new property taxes in town.”

He said the town hopes that some of the new revenues from the projects can go toward local projects – from roads and sidewalks to new parks – “that residents have been clamoring for.”

(The town and Ada Jenkins Center are planning a job fair on Jan. 26 to provide information about the developments and give Davidson residents a chance to learn about job opportunities.)

There’s some concern among residents and businesspeople over whether new businesses and offices at Exit 30 will affect commerce on Main Street. Town officials and some developers are optimistic the effect will be minimal. And they also say that having more businesses within Davidson could reduce car trips residents make into neighboring towns.

“My hope is that by having some of your basic needs in town, specifically the Harris Teeter, people will feel that they can do a lot more of their daily shopping in Davidson, instead of hitting all of the ancillary businesses in Mooresville or Cornelius,” said developer David Stewart, whose company owns or manages commercial property both at Exit 30 and downtown. Mr. Stewart is not worried, for example, about the prospects for his Stowe’s Corner retail and office building, planned for the site of the former Stowe’s Exxon on South Main Street. (He hopes to start construction on that building in March.)

By shopping in Davidson, “You’re not spending money elsewhere and you’re not getting on the interstate,” Mr. Stewart said. “I hope from a merchant perspective that it works for both Exit 30 and downtown.”

We talked to company officials, scanned corporate websites and other public notices, and interviewed town officials for this article. Some of the information is also in Mr. Krider’s December planning update.

To follow along on the town’s Exit 30 master plan map, CLICK HERE>)

HARRIS TEETER AND DAVIDSON COMMONS

The 90,000-square-foot shopping center at Griffith and Jetton streets is scheduled to officially open in February.

Cornelius-based Aquesta Bank has already opened a full-service branch in the center (its second). (See our Jan. 16 item, “Bank is first Davidson Commons tenant,” about the bank’s grand opening.)

The Harris Teeter with a Starbucks coffee inside is scheduled to open on Feb. 6. The store will have a sneak peek for residents, which the company is billing as “A Taste of Teeter,” on Tuesday, Feb. 5, from 5:30-8 p.m.

The Matthews-based grocery chain has appointed Jerry M. Furr 2d as store director. He moves to Davidson from the Mountain Island Marketplace store on Mount Holly-Huntersville Road. Altogether the store will have 125 employees, spokeswoman Jennifer Panetta said this week.

With the Davidson store opening, Harris Teeter will close its Exit 28 location at noon on Feb. 5. (The Charlotte Observer quotes Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte as saying that a Fresh Market store will replace the old Harris Teeter.)

The Exit 30 Harris Teeter is much larger – at 56,000 square feet – than the Exit 28 store and will have more services. “We just needed a larger location that would allow us to provide an expanded variety of products that our shoppers expect from us,” Ms. Panetta said. And Davidson “is a great area,” she added.

In addition to the Starbucks coffee counter, the new store will have a pharmacy, cheese and wine departments with an on-site wine consultant, and a full-service meat department. It will have a seafood counter, flowers, sushi, a DVD rental kiosk and international foods.

Other opening week events are planned on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9. (Details are available in Harris Teeter’s media advisory about the opening.)

75 PERCENT LEASED

Davidson Commons is owned and managed by Edens and Avant, a real estate firm based in Columbia, S.C. A spokeswoman said the 93,000 square-foot center is about 75 percent leased. Two-story buildings along Jetton Street will have retail shops and offices, though construction on of interior spaces there has only just begun and most won’t open until spring.

Here’s what’s been announced so far, besides Harris Teeter and the bank:

Monkee’s of Lake Norman, a high-end women’s clothing and accessories shop; Davidson Chocolate; Post Net, an office, copying and mailing center; Just Fresh bakery/café; Ming’s Asian Bistro; Great Clips; Signature Cleaners; Savvy Nails; and Family Eyecare.

2 HOTELS COMING

A pair of hotels is in the works for the Exit 30 area.

Late this spring, the 128-room Homewood Suites Hotel is scheduled to open. The five-story building is on the north side of Griffith Street, at the first traffic circle off the highway across from Davidson Clinic.

Boris Bunich of Beacon IMG, a spokesman for the project, said the hotel is expected to open on April 20 “give or take a few days depending on inspections.” The hotel’s website is taking reservations for bookings after May 12.

He said the rooms are actually suites, which are larger than hotel rooms and include kitchens.

Mr. Bunich described Homewood Suites as “upscale extended-stay brand of Hilton Hotels.” The Davidson hotel will have five meeting rooms, an indoor pool, free wireless internet access, complimentary breakfast, a business center, putting green and in-room flat-panel LCD TVs.

Across Griffith Street, developer Jatin Desai is expected to start construction in March on the Sheraton Davidson & Convention Center, on Davidson Gateway Drive.

Mr. Desai is hoping for a March 2009 opening. Plans call for a 223-room hotel with a 10,000-square-foot convention center, along with a restaurant and two separate office buildings. Site and construction plans have been approved by the town and Mecklenburg County, according to Mr. Krider.

The Sheraton project will include the first North Carolina outlet for Shula 347 Grill, an upscale steakhouse chain named for former Miami Dolphins football coach Don Shula.

HARBOR PLACE

The Homewood Suites is one piece of Harbor Place, a massive project encompassing 35 acres on the north side of Griffith Street east of I-77. (see map) Charlotte-based developer Childress Klein is building a mixed-use office park that will include 400,000 square feet of Class A office space, shops, restaurants and upscale townhomes. The developer’s website says plans include a 9-acre peninsula park (on Lake Davidson) and “a tree-lined avenue opening on a village green.”

Mr. Krider said retail spaces in the first phase of Harbor Place include a bank wealth management office, a Subway sandwich shop, an unnamed Asian restaurant, and Red Bull, another chain restaurant. Childress Klein’s spokesman did not return emails or phone calls this week.

Harbor Place includes residential developments called The Brownstones and The Townhomes, both being developed by Davidson resident and developer Robert Tremblay. The 29–unit Brownstones (including 5 affordable units) are on Harbour Park Drive. Mr. Krider reported in December that 70 percent of the units have been sold. The Townhomes is an upscale 15-unit residential project on Jetton Street north of Griffith.

THE PINNACLE CONDOS

One of the more controversial projects approved by the Town Board last fall was The Pinnacle at Davidson Gateway, mainly because of its height. Developer Chris Kennerly is planning a six-story, 60-unit luxury condominium building on 4 acres on Peninsula Drive, off Davidson Gateway Drive.

The plan, which has received Design Review Board approval, also includes two 30,000-square-foot office buildings and eight affordable housing units. Mr. Krider thinks construction could start late this summer.

MORE RESIDENTIAL

The Davidson Commons master plan includes a residential component that recently changed hands. Davidson developer Martin Kerr recently bought the rights to develop homes next to the Children’s Community School and Harris Teeter from Mr. Stewart’s Harris Associates. Mr. Krider said current plans call for 48 units, about half single-family homes and half apartments.

Near the Exxon station at Griffith and Jetton streets, another project called Little Gate is under construction. It includes small, single-family homes and one affordable unit. Also part of that project is a proposed 2 to 3-story mixed-use building across Jetton Street from the Davidson Commons retail shops and offices.

GATEWAY DRIVE

A couple of projects are in the works or planned for Davidson Gateway Drive, near the Davidson Clinic.

Davidson-based developer Ken Andujar is building a 20,000-square-foot office building right on Davidson Gateway Drive.

Meanwhile, a two-story “urban market” and service station has been proposed by RushCo, right at the first roundabout off the highway, at Davidson Gateway Drive and Griffith Street. The project is sometimes referred to by local planners as Rusher Oil. According to Mr. Krider, RushCo has submitted site plans to both the Planning Department and Mecklenburg County. The project is close to approval and could come up for a Design Review Board vote in February.

DOCUMENTS

The Town Planning Department has put out a master plan map of the Exit 30 area.

Read Harris Teeter’s press release with details about the Feb. 5-6 store opening. (PDF, requires Adobe Reader software)

RELATED STORIES

Oct. 17, 2007, DavidsonNews.net, “Exit 30 is Davidson, too, not a disaster” (a commentary Ann Fox about her neighborhood)