The Village At Lake Norman – Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction: The following questions have been frequently asked via our website, the news media, and emails to the Town of Cornelius. We are pleased to answer them below. Click on a question to go to its answer. If you have a question not answered here, or other ideas you’d like to share with the developers, please submit your thoughts via our Feedback page.
Question: When is The Village At Lake Norman opening?
Question: Are you really going to widen I-77 and Highway 21/Statesville Road?
Question: I never heard of a developer widening an Interstate. How can you afford to do that?
Question: Why are you doing this – widening the Interstate and highway?
Question: Why not let the Department of Transportation pay for these improvements?
Question: Is it true you are putting in a Target and a Best Buy? That doesn’t sound high-end to me.
Question: Is it true you’re going to get Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom’s? When are you going to announce the signing of leases for stores and shops?
Question: Why don’t you tie the project into the new light rail line?
Question: I see lots of asphalt parking lots on the site plan. Why don’t you go green and have pervious paving, capture stormwater and other green innovations?
Question: This looks like a great project to me. It will add to our quality of life and improve our property values. If we don’t approve this project, it is very unlikely that another developer would give back so much to the community.
Question: I’ve got a question I haven’t seen on this page. How can I get my question to the developers?
Question: I live on Bailey Road in the Oakhurst neighborhood, and I am very concerned about the negative impact this development will have on both the road and the neighborhood. Traffic is already bad here.
Question: When is The Village At Lake Norman opening?
Answer: Based on current timetables, we expect it to start construction in late 2009 and open in 2012.
Question: Are you really going to widen I-77 and Highway 21/Statesville Road?
Answer: That is our intent. Work on roadway improvements is expected to begin at the same time that work on Phase One of the Village mixed-use site begins – currently set for September 2009. We will work on-site and off-site simultaneously so both can be completed and open for service at the same time. We expect to:
• Add an a additional lane to I-77 in both directions from south of Exit 23 all the way to Exit 28
• Build a new Exit 27 at I-77 and Westmoreland Road, improving Westmoreland in both directions
• Build a new “flyover” bridge over I-77, like Westmoreland is now, for Bailey Road, so it will provide improved east-west travel in North Mecklenburg
• Widen 21/Statesville Road to 5 lanes with a landscaped median/turn lane from the Highway 73 interchange to north of Westmoreland Road
• As well as many other transportation improvements such as improving signal timing and adding turn lanes in several locations.
• All depend on the approval and involvement of government officials at local, state and national levels.
Question: I never heard of a developer widening an Interstate. How can you afford to do that?
Answer: It’s not as rare as you might think. The Crosland Group helped pay for major improvements to Exit 25 when NorthCross was being developed. We can only afford to do this using a portion of the new increased property taxes (for our 102- acre parcel only) generated by the new development. This will not be an increase to any other parcel’s taxes. We are still working on those details with the Town of Cornelius as well as Mecklenburg County and the DOT. We currently estimate that all the proposed roadway improvements will cost approximately $56.5 million. We currently calculate that it will take approximately 20 years to pay off this debt using a portion of the new property taxes (from our 102-acre site only) which the Village At Lake Norman will generate. Without that kind of financing to pay for transportation improvements, we may not build this project.
Question: Why are you doing this – widening the Interstate and highway?
Answer: We are not a typical developer. We are trying to design and build a successful high-end, mixed-use project. As one of its many amenities, ease of access is extremely important. Clearly I-77 and Exit 25 have traffic congestion problems, which are a Number 1 concern in the area. We felt this was something we could improve substantially, not only for the benefit of the project, but for the benefit of the whole region for generations to come.
Question: Why not let the Department of Transportation pay for these improvements?
Answer: First of all, they don’t have any money budgeted for it. And second, they don’t know when they will have the funding available. If we wait for state and local government, it could easily take another 20+ years. As a private enterprise, we can do it much more quickly and cost-effectively. Also by starting now, we reduce building costs, because on average roadway construction costs increase annually by 10% to 15%.
Question: Is it true you are putting in a Target and a Best Buy? That doesn’t sound high-end to me.
Answer: It is true that we have spoken to both a Target and Best Buy. However we have not executed any such lease agreement. Large retailers such as Best Buy and Super Target are needed to draw consumers to the project, benefiting the smaller shops and providing everyday services. The retailers selected for this project will indeed be high-end, like those you find at SouthPark in Charlotte. When discussing the Charlotte market with retailers, they feel this project is perfectly spaced from SouthPark such that many of the same high quality retailers will be attracted to our project. But most importantly we know from our over 30 years of development and management experience that small shops do not draw enough customers to support a project on their own without the support of nationally recognized retailers, who tend to advertise much more. You’ll find a very nice Target and Home Depot in central Charlotte next to the new Metropolitan development (the former Charlottetown Mall location) and many other high-end mixed-use developments nationwide for this very reason. The anchor retailers at our development will be dispersed at the corners of the site, with the multi-story condominiums over ground-level, high-end retail shops and restaurants, the luxury hotel and other premiere features in the center of the project clustered around the Village Green.
Question: Is it true you’re going to get Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom’s? When are you going to announce the signing of leases for stores and shops?
Answer: We will not sign any leases until all approvals have been received and our path for development is clear. So we can’t make any announcements until then. Our leasing agents, CB Richard Ellis, are having conversations with some great brands that we will be excited to announce once the leases are signed. Saks Fifth Avenue is one we are pursuing, but we have no guarantees on any of them yet.
Question: Why don’t you tie the project into the new light rail line?
Answer: The rail line does not go alongside our property. However we will have a convenient connector via Bailey Road, which we will be improving over the property we own. As our transportation engineers have explained to us, and several members of the community we have had the pleasure of meeting with, a light rail line’s success is generally determined by having branched connections by roadway and other means to and from the stations. Our project is aimed at improving one of these major connection roads, the new alignment of Bailey road and a flyover bridge across I-77.
Question: I see lots of asphalt parking lots on the site plan. Why don’t you go green and have pervious paving, capture stormwater and other green innovations?
Answer: The project has several underground parking locations to greatly reduce surface parking. Stormwater runoff is being addressed with a special system to filter it. We are also utilizing an underground detention and retention concept which is very environmentally friendly, before our water is discharged into McDowell Creek – not into Lake Norman. We’ll also have several pervious surfaces throughout the project but not its entirety. And we’ll be planting a large number of trees, shrubs and other vegetation to create an enjoyable, green environment. We will have a central heating and cooling plant to reduce energy demand for the project. In addition, we are looking into a co-generation plant for electricity, but we have not fully assessed the economic impact of such a system yet. We are also planning to use concrete and steel construction which creates more sustainable, longer-lasting structures. Although it is true that there may be some turnover among retailers, certainly the retail spaces will be kept occupied and functioning, as well as our residential, office and hospitality parts of this mixed-use project, which should be thriving well into the next century. We will be using “green construction” techniques throughout the construction process as well.
Question: This looks like a great project to me. It will add to our quality of life and improve our property values. If we don’t approve this project, it is very unlikely that another developer would give back so much to the community.
Answer: Thank you for your words of encouragement. Many people in the community have had a similar opinion. We think so too. Please tell your elected officials in Cornelius how you feel.
Question: I’ve got a question I haven’t seen on this page. How can I get my question to the developers?
Answer: Just fill in the quick form on our Feedback page. A copy of every message goes straight to the developer’s email inbox. We’ll post more questions and answers here in the future.
Question: I live on Bailey Road in the Oakhurst neighborhood, and I am very concerned about the negative impact this development will have on both the road and the neighborhood. Traffic is already bad here.
 Answer: This is a concern we have heard from a number of residents in the Bailey Road area, and we share your concerns. Our plan is to realign Bailey Road so that it goes straight across the lower portion of the Village At Lake Norman, then crosses I-77 via a new flyover bridge we would build pending approval by all authorities, linking up with the new Robbins Park on the other side. However this is all fairly complicated, and we do not own all the land which would be involved in the realignment. To give you a greater understanding of Bailey Road's intended function and structure, click here to view a detailed explanation and larger map.
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