Rendering shows how the newly renamed Augustalee development would look. (SOURCE: Cornelius Bromont)

The $516 million Village at Lake Norman mixed-use development proposed off U.S. 21 in Cornelius is still awaiting government action on promised road improvements. But developer Cornelius Bromont LLC is moving ahead with plans for a 2012 opening of the first retail stores. And on Wednesday, the developer announced a new name for the project: “Augustalee.”

The project was approved by Cornelius’s town board last April. The 3-2 vote came after the developers promised to help with at least $80 million in roadwork – including widening I-77, adding a highway exit and improving other roads.

The development of condos, upscale shops and offices would transform 104 acres of mostly farmland formerly owned by the Cooke family. As the developers looked for a name for the development, they turned to the history of the site and the Cooke family.

Augusta Lee Chester Cooke and husband Jim. (Cornelius Bromont photo)

“We had intended all along to develop a refined, distinctive name for the project, with the hope of honoring the vibrant history of the Cooke family, who owned most of the 104-acre site and farmed it for over 100 years, since before the town of Cornelius existed,”  Josh Rector, senior vice president of Cornelius Bromont, said in a press release.

“The name Augustalee was created after a lengthy process of researching the rich history of the property,” Mr. Rector said. He said Augustalee is a combination of the first and middle names of Augusta Lee Chester Cooke, the grandmother of the generation of Cookes from whom the developers bought the land.

“She was a very warm, caring Southern lady. She lived on the farm and took care of her large family. We chose the name because it conveys the warm, gracious, Southern hospitality which this project will exude,” Mr. Rector said.

2012 OPENING?

Augustalee will be built on land between I-77 and U.S. 21 on the south side of Cornelius. The developr is proposing to build a new exit 27, widen both I-77 and U.S. 21, and improve other local roads.

Cornelius Bromont is a partnership of Bromont Group of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Carlsen Douglas Development of Cornelius.

In a press release Wednesday, Cornelius Bromont said it’s on schedule to open the first retail stores at Augustalee in fall 2012. Since winning Cornelius Town Board approval last spring, the developers said, they have completed other milestones, including:

• Obtained financing to purchase the site and begin design work.
• Begun negotiations with major tenants, including big-name hotels and potential office users.
• Continued working with regional, state and federal transportation authorities in hopes of winning approval for the road work, which is a condition of the town approval. (We) “have had nothing but positive feedback from them – our planned improvements will clearly benefit everyone involved,” the developers said in their press release Wednesday.

More information on the project is available at www.corneliusbromont.com and at www.augustalee.com.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

May 20, 2008, “Developer buys land for Cornelius project”

April 23, 2008, “Cornelius board OKs village project, 3-2″