Lake Norman to Uptown Charlotte Living

I have been following the proposed Augustalee development in Cornelius North Carolina for over a year now. There have been some major changes in the past couple of weeks that can change the total outlook of this project.

Recently, the original owners have had some issues with it's lenders and now have lost the opportunity to continue with Augustalee. Here is an article written in the The Herald that explains the lastest news on the project.

The Michigan pension fund that took over the proposed Augustalee project Thursday predicts it can find the new capital and "additional development expertise" needed to "move the project forward."

In a statement released by their Charlotte attorney Friday, Aug. 28, BUILD Fund officials said they also look "forward to working with officials for Cornelius, other state and local officials and Fifth Third Bank."

Fifth Third Bank is the senior lender on the proposed $155 million, mixed-used development, and the BUILD Fund was the second lender until foreclosing on the original developers, Cornelius Bromont and Bromont Investments.

Katten Muchin Rosenman, the Charlotte law firm representing the BUILD Fund, held a foreclosure sale at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at the firms' offices on the 26th floor of 3 Wachovia Center. The BUILD Fund, which already has advanced the development $19 million, was the sole bidder for Augustalee, offering $2.5 million.

Walt Rector and his son, Josh, who own Cornelius Bromont, the original developers, attended the foreclosure proceeding with their attorney, but neither spoke a word.

Cornelius town officials have participated previously in meetings with the Rectors and officials with the BUILD Fund about "how this would proceed," Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said Friday, Aug. 28. He said those meetings have been "very civil," and he knows that the Rectors and the BUILD Fund are working together on other projects in Dallas, Texas.

Tarte compared the Augustalee dispute to a "quarrel in a family," although he noted that "families sometimes divorce."

Bradley Pearce, the Charlotte attorney representing the BUILD Fund, told the Herald after Thursday's foreclosure sale that BUILD Fund officials have not asked the Rectors to leave the project. Pearce said negotiations between all the parties are continuing.

Earlier in the week, the Rectors sued the BUILD Fund, accusing the pension fund of breach of contract and unfair trade practices. The Rectors contend the BUILD Fund breached its loan agreement to provide an additional $4 million by May 13, triggering the events that led to the foreclosure. The Rectors have asked a judge to order the BUILD Fund to pay damages or the $4 million it promised.

Through a marketing firm, the Rectors have refused to comment. Amy Pritchard Williams, the Charlotte attorney representing the Rectors, said Friday, Aug. 28, that she could not comment on the foreclosure sale or the Rectors' suit against the BUILD Fund. Fifth Third Bank officials did not attend Thursday's sale and have refused comment previously.

In its prepared statement, BUILD Fund officials said they are "optimistic" about moving forward despite Bromont's "failure to satisfy certain milestones and inability to raise additional capital needed to complete the project, including the financing of certain infrastructure and required offsite improvements."

The BUILD Fund describes itself as "a commingled real estate fund that provides, among other things, equity and mezzanine debt financing for various real estate developments and projects around the country."

Once the BUILD Fund, the Rectors and Fifth Third Bank officials have reached some understanding, Tarte hopes the developers will come to a meeting of the town's Board of Commissioners "to share their view of the project."

"They might not want to change a thing," Tarte said. "They might want to scale back or they might want to do something completely different."

But the best outcome for Cornelius, he said, is getting Augustalee built as designed. "What other project could we bring to that 104 acres, or anywhere in North Carolina, that will immediately create 1,000 construction jobs ... and pay for $120 million in road improvements?" Tarte asked. "We need and want Augustalee," he said. "It would be unbelievably tragic and unfortunate," if the projects fails.

At the same time, the mayor said the BUILD Fund still faces an economy in crisis and a minimum delay of at least a year. "There's no magic," he said. "The biggest hurdle is finding the funding, which will pay for the debt service to begin building. No matter who they are, the owners aren't going to see any revenue until something comes out of the ground."

Mike Carpino
www.LakeAndTown.com

Regional Roads Committee Supports Augustalee Concepts,
Encourages Mecklenburg County To Approve TIF Financing 

The Regional Roads Committee (RRC) voted May 29 to support concepts for the Augustalee development and to encourage Mecklenburg County to approve Synthetic TIF financing for the project.
The RRC is composed of 17 Chambers of Commerce, as well as transportation and other leaders, throughout the 13-county Charlotte Region. Its purpose is "to harness the regional business community in support of regional transportation planning, focusing particularly on roads, transit and land use planning." The RRC resolution states:
Resolution In Support Of Augustalee & Transportation Improvements

"WHEREAS, Augustalee will be a master-planned, mixed use development in North Mecklenburg generating over 4,600 new jobs and more than $370 million in positive economic impact; and

"WHEREAS, the Augustalee development will dramatically improve transportation in the region by widening I-77, Highway 21 and Westmoreland Road; building a new Exit 27 interchange; constructing Northcross Drive Extension from Jim Cooke Road to Westmoreland Road, as well as a new east-west bridge carrying the realigned Bailey Road across I-77; and

"WHEREAS, these improvements will reduce gridlock on Interstate 77, reduce travel times, benefit air quality by reducing automotive pollution, and include numerous other actions and resources to protect and benefit the natural environment; and

"WHEREAS, the project will help balance the local tax base, generating millions of dollars of new commercial property taxes, and making the local economy much less dependent on taxing individual homes; and

"WHEREAS, Augustalee will enhance quality of life in the Lake Norman region, by providing diverse high-quality retail, restaurant, recreational, hospitality, residential and cultural resources not currently available in the Lake Norman area;

"NOW, THEREFORE, the Regional Roads Committee does support the concept of the Augustalee development and encourages Mecklenburg County to approve the Synthetic TIF financing, and to reimburse the developer Cornelius Bromont, LLC, its ad valorem tax revenues, so that these regionally beneficial roadway projects can be built promptly, when they are needed, rather than years or decades later.

The landscape of the Lake Norman area of Charlotte, NC will be forever changed when they start on this new mixed-use development in Cornelius, NC. If you have not visited the Lake Norman area you really should. The beauty of the Lake and the well planned out Birkdale Village gives people just enough to want to come back for more.

I believe Augustalee will only add to the wonderful lifestyle we already have. Not to mention the much needed road improvements we so desperately need. I have included this recent article from The Charlotte Weekly to keep you up to date on the recent development.

North Mecklenburg residents want roads, and they might finally get them. The developer that wants to build Augustalee, a 2.4-million-square-foot, mixeduse development in Cornelius, is ready to put up most of the money to build them. That means millions of dollars in critical road improvements will likely be completed sometime in the next four years.

 In a key vote last week, the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization agreed to modify its thoroughfare plan and Transportation Improvement Plan to include $90 million in road improvements to be built and funded upfront by developer Cornelius Bromont.

It's arguably the most significant vote taken on the path to secure approvals necessary to build Augustalee, since the Town of Cornelius approved rezoning for the project a year ago. At a special meeting, MUMPO members almost unanimously supported modifying the local thoroughfare plan to include a new interchange on Interstate 77 at mile 27 and the realignment of Bailey Road, which will be extended west at Jim Cooke Road and cross I-77 as a flyover bridge.

If you are waiting for a project that is going to be very important for the landscape of the north mecklenburg area keep on reading. I have been following the process and believe that it is getting very close for this massive development to begin. I have included a recent article by a local Lake Norman, NC paper "The Lake Norman Herald Weekly" that updates the projects status. 

Cornelius' most highly anticipated development recently celebrated another victory in its long trudge toward final approval. At a meeting April 29, the Technical coordinating Committee, an advisory committee for the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization, approved the recommendation of several road improvement projects, including a new interchange on Interstate 77associated with the 2.4 million-squarefoot mixed-use development Augustalee.

The TCC made its recommendation to MUMPO at the organization's April 29 meeting, when the final decision on local approval of the Augustalee road improvements was made. The TCC approved a request by Augustalee developer Cornelius Bromont to amend MUMPO's thoroughfare plan to include a new interchange at mile 27 on I-77 and the construction of Jim Cooke Road, a new flyover that would extend from the sharp curve at Bailey Road just east of the Oakhurst community and westward across I-77. MUMPO's thoroughfare plan doesn't include the interchange, and although it does reflect the Jim Cooke Road flyover, the road alignment Bromont requested differs slightly from MUMPO's plan.

In a separate vote, the TCC also approved adding the new interchange and Jim Cooke Road, as well as another four Augustalee-associated road improvement projects, to the regional Transportation Improvement Plan, the list of priority road improvements that guides the funding and construction of transportation projects.

The TCC presented its recommendation to MUMPO earlier this week, when MUMPO was expected to cast its vote on amending the TIP.Josh Rector, senior vice president of Cornelius Bromont, said the TCC's vote was another approval necessary to move the mega-development project closer to ground-breaking. "It's just one more step in the right direction," Rector said.

Bromont also got a thumbs up this week from the Charlotte City Council, which voted unanimously to endorse amending the thoroughfare plan and TIP to include Bromont's road improvements.

The recent approvals can be at least partially credited to Cornelius elected officials and town staff, who've lobbied actively for Augustalee. TCC Chairman Wayne Herron said the town and residents' support compelled him to approve the road improvements.

"There is a desire from a large number of citizens and elected officials that we do things like this to improve the quality of life for our citizens. Whether it does improve the quality of life, that's a debate we could have," Herron said. "I'm trying to put myself in Cornelius' shoes, because they're the ones making the request. If it was my community, I'd be doing the same thing."

Augustalee, formerly known as The Village at Lake Norman, includes retail, office and residential construction on 104 acres between I-77 and Highway 21, just south of Westmoreland Road.

The project includes $90 million of road improvements Bromont will build and pay for up front. Among the improvements are the exit 27 interchange on I-77 and the Jim Cooke Road flyover, as well as widening I-77 to three lanes in each direction from just south of exit 23 to exit 28; widening Westmoreland Road to four lanes between West Catawba Avenue and Highway 21; widening Highway 21 to four lanes between Westmoreland Road and N.C. 73; and building a Northcross Drive Extension, which would intersect with the new Jim Cooke Road west of I-77 and connect north to Westmoreland Road via a tiein with Eagleridge Way Lane.