Lake Norman to Uptown Charlotte Living: North Carolina: Mooresville: Langtree At The Lake

Langtree at the Lake and Larkin development may get millions in stimulus money.

The Lake Norman region has been waiting patiently for the new Langtree at the Lake development to begin construction. However, tax issues have plaqued the project and prevented any construction.

Well here comes the government to help bail out both the Langtree project and Larkin development. Here is an excerpt from our local newspaper that gives hope for the projects to start moving dirt again.

An Iredell County government financing authority agreed last week to let the planned Langtree at the Lake and Larkin developments seek state approval for a combined $41million in "recovery zone bonds."

The bonds are part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, intended to help reignite the economy. States approve and allocate the bonds.

The developments would obtain private financing for the bonds, so taxpayers wouldn't be at risk if the projects fail, officials said. Still, the county and state have to make sure the projects are fiscally solid enough to be able to obtain the financing, and the developments will create lots of jobs.

Members of the Iredell County Industrial Facilities & Pollution Control Financing Authority unanimously agreed last week to allow the developments to ask the state to approve the bonds.

Larkin is seeking $25million in bonds. The mixed-use development will encompass 1,000 acres off Interstate 77 Exit 45 in Troutman. A boulevard will extend the development north to Exit 49A in Statesville.

Larkin is expected to create at least 1,100 jobs in its first five years, Larkin officials told the authority.

In December, Iredell County gave Langtree at the Lake the go-ahead to seek $9million in the same type of bonds. The developer was back last week to request an additiona $16million, after more bond money was projected to be made available.

The project, at Interstate 77 Exit 31 in south Iredell, is expected to create about 1,900 jobs from 2012 through 2015, Russ Rogerson, executive director of the nonprofit Mooresville/South Iredell Economic Development Corp., told the authority.

The N.C. Department of Commerce and the N.C. Local Government Commission will next consider approving the bonds. The Iredell County Board of Commissioners also will have to schedule a public hearing.

While living in the Lake Norman area for the past 10 years I have seen the landscape change in many ways. I am very excited to see that a development that has been in the works for years is finally coming to fruition. Here is a recent article I read that will keep you updated on the Langtree at the Lake development.

Despite the spring rains, Interstate 77 Exit 32 in south Iredell remains on track to open this summer, a state transportation official said.

Barring weather delays, the long-anticipated interchange will open July 15, said engineer John Cook of the N.C. Department of Transportation office in Statesville.

"Even with all the weather we had this spring, they're still on schedule," Cook said last week of general contractor Rea Contracting of Charlotte.

The $21 million project includes a third interstate lane both southbound and northbound between the new exit and existing Exit 33 near Mooresville.

Interstate paving is finished southbound but not northbound, Cook said. "The main thing is the paving, and we're doing that at night," he said.

Signals have been installed on Langtree Road at the new exit, Cook added.

The state promised the new exit years ago as an incentive to lure the national headquarters of Lowe's Companies Inc., the home improvement retailer accessible from Exit 33 and N.C. 115. Lowe's is paying to build a road straight to its headquarters from Langtree Road near the new exit .

Work started on Exit 32 in March 2007.

The exit leads to Lowe's in one direction and to the planned $800 million Langtree at the Lake mixed-use development in the other direction.

Langtree Road will eventually be expanded to serve as an east-west connector between I-77 in south Iredell and Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County. The connector would link with N.C. 3 through the counties.

The construction of Langtree at the Lake, across the causeway on I-77 just north of Davidson, may get under wayas soon as this fall with funding provided by special assessment improvement district bonds, also known as SAID bonds. At a meeting last month, the Mooresville Town Board of Commissioners took the next step toward enabling Langtree principal developer Land Acquisition & Investment to begin installing water, sewer and roads by unanimously approving a resolution to proceed with the necessary steps to authorize as much as $40 million in SAID bonds for the mega-development. Langtree would be the first development in North Carolina to secureSAID bonds since the state legislature approved the funding mechanism in August of last year.

 The $880 million development will consist of 300,000 square feet of corporate and professional offi ce space,650 luxury condos, a 150-room boutique hotel, a 300-room hotel and convention center, a 40-acre preserve and a number of retail shops and community amenities. Approved by the Mooresville Town Board in December 2006, Langtree at the Lake will occupy 125 acres at the emerging Exit 32, which is currently under construction, including several acres fronting Lake Norman.

Other municipalities in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties stand to reap the benefits of such large-scale job creation, too. Beyond that, however, Langtree is also anticipated to spur ripple development across north Mecklenburg and attract new businesses to the area. The water and sewer lines that Langtree will install using the SAID bonds will have the capacity serve adjacent properties that have no such utility services. Smith said that the sewer line will open up the southeast quadrant of Exit 32 to new development, extending around Lake Davidson into the Town of Davidson,that has heretofore been undeveloped because of the absence of utilities. Davidson town staff members are anticipating a direct impact from Langtree and are planning for future growth in the town that will ride the development's long coattails.