Why Duke Energy just spent nearly $7 million on land in Charlotte’s River District
As the River District in West Charlotte fills with people and homes, utilities are the next step. Starting with electricity.
To that end, Duke Energy purchased almost 27 acres from developer Crescent Communities last week for about $6.7 million, according to Mecklenburg County records. The site is at the southern end of the 1,400-acre redevelopment near Beaverdam Creek and Garrison Road.
It’s the latest purchase Duke Energy has made this year, as it looks to build more substations to power the growing city.
While it’s unclear if the site will become a substation, Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton said the purchase stems from planning for “grid enhancement projects” that will meet “the growing need for reliable electricity in the Charlotte region.”
And this area of west Charlotte is growing.
The River District is a 1,400-acre mixed-used project that in the next two decades will build 5,000 homes, millions of square feet of office space, half a million square feet of retail space and 1,000 hotel rooms.
Duke Energy’s expansion moves
Duke Energy’s customer-base is expanding, especially in the Charlotte-area as more than 157 people move to the region every day.
In the last year, part of the utility’s plan to power the area includes the construction of substations, which converts high-voltage electricity to lower voltages for distribution to homes and businesses.
For $9.7 million, the utility purchased 11.5 acres from the YMCA of Greater Charlotte in January. The property sites behind the Stratford Richardson branch at Donald Ross Road and West Boulevard
In April, Duke Energy bought a 4.6-acre lot near Bank of America Stadium for $40 million from Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
“These locations were selected based on anticipated growth of energy demands in the immediate area and the proximity of the sites to existing grid infrastructure,” Duke Energy previously said.
Duke Energy is also working on expanding its natural gas-power abilities.
In July, the utility notified the state’s Utilities Commission that it will be requesting permission to build two natural gas-powered combustion turbines at the former Buck Steam Station site.
The new units would generate 850 megawatts of energy and would be the utility’s most efficient generators, reaching full power within 10 to 15 minutes, Norton said. That amount of energy could power more than 600,000 homes.
Duke Energy predicts that in the next 15 years, Carolina customers’ annual electric use will increase by about 58,000 gigawatt-hours. The utility said that amount of energy is higher than the combined annual electric consumption of Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
River District growth
The River District is on its way to increasing Charlotte’s population.
Last month, Crescent Communities held a formal opening for the development’s first neighborhood, Westrow.
Westrow is the district’s town center where there will be a pavilion with an event lawn, a farmers’ market and a 5,000-square-foot lifestyle building.
In August, residents began moving into the neighborhood where single-family and town homes are being built by David Weekley Homes, DRB Homes, Saussy Burbank, and Toll Brothers. The area could potentially house 2,300 single-family homes.
The apartments are also under construction.
The Novel River District will be a 318-unit, seven-building multifamily development. And Laurel Street Residential is constructing a mixed-income building. Once complete, 87 units will be available to those making 80% of the area median income or less. For a family of four, 80% AMI is about $84,800.
The River District is also beginning to work on its second neighborhood, Basswood. Crescent closed on the land in August and the area will house 140 single-family homes.
In July, Charlotte Fire Department announced that Engine 44 would serve the River District. The River District Firehouse will be a two-story, 14,000-square-foot station off Dixie River Road. The department filed a construction plan with the city last week to begin working on the site. For now, the engine is being housed at Firehouse 43 off Clanton Road.
