STEELE CREEK NEWS
Community Meeting
on RiverGate Expansion is November 9
(November
1,
2011) Childress Klein Properties, developers of the RiverGate
Shopping Center, will hold a community meeting on Wednesday,
November 9 beginning at 7:00 PM at the Carolinas Medical
Center-Steele Creek Community Room (13640 Steelecroft Parkway - the
Community Room is at the right back corner of the building) to
discuss plans to expand RiverGate.
Steele Creek 1997
Limited Partnership (the owner of the property) and Childress Klein
have submitted two rezoning petitions to allow development of
additional office and retail space. Much of the property is
currently zoned for apartments.
Rezoning Petition 2011-083 would change the zoning of the
land south of Walkers Branch Drive from Multi-Family to Commercial
Center and allow up to 155,000 square feet of pedestrian-friendly
retail development. This would be an extension of the RiverGate
Shopping Center.
The site plan shows
three small buildings along Walkers Branch Drive, an additional free
standing building at Steele Creek Road, and a row of retail sites
with a variety of sizes along the southern edge of the property.
Only one of the free standing buildings will have a drive through
window, and one must house a medical or general office. Chris Thomas
of Childress Klein said that they are in discussions with a variety
of retailers that are different from those currently in RiverGate.
Potential tenants include an arts and crafts store, a cosmetics
store, and a full line department store.
The variety of retail
will "prevent you
from having to drive into town” to buy supplies for your kids'
school projects or for other things currently not available in
Steele Creek. "The new retail will be complementary to current
RiverGate stores," he said.
The row of stores
along the south edge of the property will have a gap where a plaza
will be built. This plaza will provide access to a greenway trail
that the developers will build to the west approximately 1000 feet
to Steele Creek Road. The greenway trail will be built to
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation standards with an 8-foot wide
asphalt surface. The plaza will not be a focal point for events at
the center. The current fountain area will retain that function.
The new plan also
calls for up to 100,000 square feet of office space west of Steele
Creek Road. The western edge of this section follows the old
alignment of Steele Creek Road, which will be restored up to S Tryon
Street/York Road. The plan also calls for an extension of
Steelecroft Parkway to Steele Creek Road at Walker Branch Drive.
Part of the
area planned for office development currently is zoned for
apartments.
Rezoning Petition 2011-082 requests a change to make the
entire property CC (Commercial Center).
The public hearing
before the Charlotte City Council is scheduled for December 12. If
the rezoning is approved, Mr. Thomas expects construction on the
retail area to begin in spring 2012 with stores opening in 2013. The office
section will be built later.
Steele Creek is
acquiring more and more retail and other services that previously
have only been available to us in Charlotte or Pineville. This
expansion of RiverGate will mean that leaving Steele Creek to find
specialized goods and services will become less and less necessary.
For more information
on the project, please review the rezoning petitions or attend the
community meeting next Wednesday.
To comment on this
story, please visit the
Steele Creek Forum.
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