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May. 28, 2005
Taking
University City
up a notch
Development bringing high-priced
housing to area near speedway
RONNIE GLASSBERG
A planned 1,200-acre golf course
community that straddles the Cabarrus-Mecklenburg line will help connect
Cabarrus
County
with
Charlotte
's
University City
and bring in high-priced housing, planners say.
The bulk of The Preserve at
Greyson will be between
Morehead
Road,
U.S.
29 and N.C. 49. Plans include up to 2,000 residences -- including 800
single-family homes, townhomes and condos in seven-story buildings -- two
18-hole golf courses, a hotel, retail shops, more than 50 tennis courts
and a 580,000-square-foot sports complex. Homes and condos will range from
$200,000 to $3 million.
"It really puts
University City
up another notch and really solidifies what we're trying to do in
establishing a
University City
identity," said Charlotte City Council member Greg Phipps, who
represents most of
University City
.
Some planners consider parts of
Cabarrus
County
, including Lowe's Motor Speedway and Concord Mills mall, as a part of
University City
.
The project is split among three
cities: 796 acres are in
Harrisburg
, 400 acres in
Charlotte
and 85 acres in
Concord
, said Greg Mascaro, managing partner of the Mountaineer Land Group of
Harrisburg
.
Mountaineer, the Preserve's
developer, announced more details Friday of the project during a press
conference on a tennis court built across from Lowe's Motor Speedway to
promote the development.
The firm said that tennis coach
Nick Bollettieri -- who has coached Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Anna
Kournikova -- will lend his name to the project as "sports
ambassador." Bollettieri also said he is buying a home in the complex
and would open an Italian restaurant, "Nicky B's."
"These people have the
background and the credentials to make the dream a reality,"
Bollettieri said.
As part of the development's
promotion, Kournikova is scheduled to play tennis today against NASCAR
drivers Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray, in town for this weekend's
races at the speedway.
One of the two golf courses is
under construction and will open in spring 2006, Mascaro said.
Construction on the other will begin next week and open in fall 2006, he
said.
The first homes are under
construction and could be done in six months, Mascaro said.
Of the housing units, 800 will be
single-family homes and up to 1,200 more will be a mix of townhomes and
condos, including some seven-story buildings, he said. The entire
development will be done in five to 10 years, he added.
The developer also has plans to
build the 2.5-mile
Greyson Commons Parkway
, a new road linking U.S. 29 and N.C. 49 west of
Morehead Road
.
Mary Hopper, executive director of
University City Partners, which was formed to promote the area, said the
development helps add upper-income housing -- a missing part of the area
-- and will better connect
Cabarrus
County
and
University City
.
"There are no dividing
lines," she said. "We just merge from one to the other."
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