Mississippi developer wants to build 285 more apartments in north Charlotte near I-485

The land around a north Charlotte highway interchange soon could be filled in with more urban development. If approved, the new project could help fulfill a planning vision going back decades, some local urban design experts say.

The project by Blackburn Communities, a Mississippi-based developer, aims to build 285 apartments near Robert Helms and Johnston Oehler roads.

Blackburn is seeking to win City Council approval for a rezoning petition, and held its first public hearing this week. The earliest a vote could come is later this month. There was no community opposition at the meeting, but a City Council member representing the area voiced concerns over recent “explosive growth” and lack of public open space.”

North Charlotte development plan would transform 182-acre site, improve roads near I-85

The 9-acre site is one of the last major developable areas off Interstate 485 in the Prosperity Village area. New development has been popping up all around, including shopping centers, a dine-in movie theater, hundreds of apartments, plus commercial and office space.

It’s the type of growth you might associate with a part of Charlotte closer to center city, like South End, not a relatively small area directly off a busy highway.

Early plans for the University area

In the 1990s, Warren Burgess, an urban designer who worked with the city, helped design a village-style plan for the area, according to Observer archives. The idea was to have a traditional Main Street feel with open space. Burgess worked on the plan with Walter Fields and Carol Morris.

The idea was to create more of a neighborhood feel with a regular street grid network as opposed to a high-speed off-ramp from the new-at-the-time Interstate 485, said David Walters, professor emeritus of architecture and urban design at UNC Charlotte.

Burgess was able to get buy-in from both the neighborhood and North Carolina Department of Transportation to build a second north-south bridge over the interstate. The plan also included six roundabouts by the interstate to slow down traffic.

At the time, the plan was an avant-garde concept, Walters said.

“It was magic,” Walters told The Charlotte Observer this week, referring to Burgess winning approval for the idea.

Community concerns on open space

Twenty years later, the Prosperity Village area is still developing.

Blackburn’s plans include spacing the apartment across three buildings, according to its site plan. The developer also would extend Barrow Road through the site, creating a connection from the west to Prosperity Church Road.

While not owned by Blackburn, there are four parcels adjacent to the 9-acre site that have the potential to be developed.

Some of this area lacks a sewer line but Blackburn plans to install one. That would open up the possibility for future projects, said Walter Fields, who is representing the developer through the rezoning process.

This area has seen “explosive growth” in recent years, Councilwoman Renee Johnson said. Johnson, who represents the district including Prosperity Village, shared concerns she’s heard from community members who want more public spaces.

Blackburn Communities has responded by converting a portion of the property into a pocket park, Fields said.

Other nearby development

Charlotte developer Beauxwright has started construction on 89 for-rent townhomes near the Blackburn project. It will include several thousand square feet of retail.

A recently-approved rezoning petition calls for 84 for-sale condominiums along Benfield Road, just off the interstate. And a 58-acre site to the south of I-485 calls for 132 single-family homes, 300 apartments and 145,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.