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May. 01, 2005
Shopping center to add variety
Huntersville
Business
Park
will become more inclusive with
planned expansion
DOUG SMITH
Huntersville
Business
Park
was started 20 years ago, long before planners and developers became
enamored with mixed-use development.
Now, it's catching up.
The 700-acre campus on
Gilead Road
off Interstate 77, Exit 23, houses 82 tenants and 3,000 of their employees
in 11 buildings, making it one of the largest of its type in the county.
With so many potential customers
working in the park and so many people living nearby, retail developers
are eager to build shops and restaurants on an approximately 8-acre tract
at its entrance.
"We've had many offers on
that piece over the years, but with Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville
opening last year, we felt the time had come to develop it," said Ted
Lee of Spectrum Properties, which manages the park.
The 50-bed hospital is on
Gilead Road
at
Reese Boulevard
, across Reese from the undeveloped tract.
Bank of America spearheaded
development of the park as trustee for its pension plan, which owns much
of the property as an investment.
Addison Causey, a vice president
with the bank's real estate services team, said he and Lee have an
arrangement with The Ghazi Co. of Charlotte to develop a neighborhood
shopping center there.
"Afshin Ghazi (president)
came to us and made it his business to understand
Huntersville
Business
Park
and the kind of corporate quality we have here," Causey said.
He and Lee liked what they saw
when they checked out Ghazi's earlier retail projects, including ParkTowne
Village at Woodlawn and Park roads in south Charlotte and the Grand
Promenade Village I and Village II off North Tryon Street at W.T. Harris
Boulevard in the University City area.
The park recently signed a
purchase contract with Ghazi and his associate Seth Wilfong for the
undeveloped tract.
Ghazi's company also is working to
redevelop
Charlotte
's old convention center site at College and Trade streets.
Ghazi said he was drawn to the
Huntersville site by the I-77 North area's burgeoning growth.
Lee sees the shopping center
filling in development along the
Gilead
boundary and creating a neighborhood amenity.
With its mix of medical, office,
retail and residential, Ghazi said, "Exit 23 has the most diversity
of all the exits along I-77 and most potential for long-term
success."
He plans to buy the land this
summer, start construction in August and open the 90,000-square-foot
center -- The Mercado at
Huntersville
Business
Park
-- by next spring.
How Presbyterian Hospital
Huntersville figures into the mix is unclear.
The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled
recently that the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services violated
state rules in approving the facility but allowed it to continue operating
while state health and human services officials reconsider their decision.
That casts uncertainty over the
hospital, but most sources in the health care industry doubt it would be
ordered to close.
"I can't imagine shutting
down the hospital -- it would be a blow to that market -- but it wouldn't
affect our shopping center plans," Ghazi said.
His plan calls for a minimum of
seven buildings. No tenants have been announced, but Ghazi expects to
attract shops, restaurants, service providers and possibly a drugstore.
The project -- valued at roughly
$25 million -- is to include a courtyard with outdoor dining and water
features. The aim, Ghazi said, is to create an area where families and
children can gather.
He's quoting an annual lease rate
of $19 to $26 a square foot. The average rate for the north area of
Mecklenburg
is $21.88 a square foot, according to Karnes Research Co.'s fourth-quarter
survey.
DMR Architecture designed the
shopping center. No general contractor has been selected.
Spectrum Properties represented
the business park in the land deal, and The Ghazi
Co.
represented itself.
Ghazi said the shopping center
should help
Huntersville
Business
Park
compete with newer business campuses that tout their mix of shops and
services.
Causey said the park purchased
additional acreage recently to expand by offering space for small users.
He believes it's also a prime location for a hotel and conference center.
The park still has plenty of room
to grow. It totals 960,000 square feet of buildings, and has 300 acres yet
to be developed.
Lee said he anticipates more
development around Exit 23 after Northlake mall opens this fall at I-77
and
W.T. Harris Boulevard
, about two miles north of the park, and the state eventually completes
work on Interstate 485 through north
Mecklenburg
.
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