There’s a $30 million groundbreaking near Eastland Mall you probably haven’t heard about
You’ve likely heard about plans for the old Eastland Mall site. The development opened to much fanfare last week with local officials and the developer giving speeches and shoveling dirt.
While crews officially started construction on the $175 million, mixed-use project, another, lesser-known development is happening just across the street.
An out-of-town developer already broke ground on a 128-unit apartment project with affordable housing along Albemarle Road. The two sites are just a few steps from one another, separated by Albemarle Road.
Some residents are encouraged to see another sizable investment — this one for $30 million — come into a corridor that’s been lacking on that front. Others are concerned about added congestion, especially when you have two projects under construction at the same time.
“It’s going to be a nightmare,” Enid Thuemmel, a retired registered nurse who lives nearby, said of thetraffic from both developments. She worries the additional people on the road will impede people’s ability to get to the new Eastland Yards development once it’s done.
Eastland Yards is the name of the development happening at the old Eastland Mall site. The project is being led by Crosland Southeast, and will transform roughly 80 acres of vacant city-owned land into a hub of housing, office and retail. The project will take five years to complete.
At least one city councilman voiced concerns about the apartment project two years ago, saying this east Charlotte corridor is in need of business revitalization as opposed to a new residential development.
Remember the department store?
Charlotte residents might remember not only the only Eastland Mall but a department store that sat across the street, too. Now, construction crews are digging up both sites.
The new apartments — located on the 5800 block of Albemarle Road — used to be an Upton’s Department Store. Thuemmel, the east Charlotte resident, shopped there and described it as similar to Marshalls.
Upton’s was torn down in early 2009, according to Observer files. Trees and shrubbery were planted on the site. It has sat vacant for years with residents left wondering what was to come, Thuemmel said.
South Creek Development, located near Greensboro, purchased the 6-acre lot last year for $2.5 million, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
The developer’s apartment project, named Albemarle Landing, is the company’s first in Charlotte, said managing partner Charlie Heritage.
“We heard about the Eastland Mall project off and on for years,” Heritage said, “and we’re definitely excited about the news last week (about the groundbreaking).”
Affordable apartment units
Construction on Albemarle Landing started in April.
Vertical construction on five buildings — four apartment buildings and a clubhouse — is likely to begin in October, according to Heritage.
The units will have an affordable housing component, he said. They’ll be targeted to people earning 50%, 60% and 70% of the area median income. For a family of four, for example, units targeted for 50% AMI translates to a household income of $42,100, or $29,500 for a single person.
“We’re putting our stake in the ground and saying this will be multifamily for years to come,” Heritage said.
The project will have 64 two-bedroom, two-bath apartments and 64 three-bedroom, two-bath apartments. Construction is expected to be completed by next summer, according to Heritage.
Balancing needs
Greg Asciutto agrees east Charlotte needs housing.
“But more than anything else our folks need good jobs,” said Asciutto, a nearby high school teacher and chair of the nonprofit neighborhood advocacy group CharlotteEAST.
Asciutto supports the Eastland Yards development. He thinks it could be a catalyst for growth and was glad to see it included a mix of housing and commercial.
Asciutto wasn’t terribly concerned about congestion. “This is going to be one of many, many projects coming down Central Avenue and Albemarle in the next few years,” he said.
He thinks the site of Albemarle Landing would be better suited for businesses, but he also recognizes the need for housing.
“You have to balance it,” Asciutto said.
Business versus residential
Some of that debate about balancing needs played out at a City Council meeting two years ago.
Albemarle Landing was on the agenda because the council needed to consider issuing a bond for $14 million to finance the development of the affordable housing project.
There are no city funds in the project but the city had to consider issuing the bonds.
That’s because the developer is using tax-exempt bond financing which, according to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, requires a partnership like a local housing authority. In this case, the bonds were issued through Inlivian, formerly the Charlotte Housing Authority, according to Heritage.
Councilman Matt Newton, whose district includes the area around the old Eastland Mall, said at the time he’d like to see a business use on the parcel as opposed to residential.
“For me and for the community we have looked forward for well over a decade now to the revitalization of the corridor for business purposes,” Newton said. He said the area has high concentrations of low-income residents and few jobs.
Newton couldn’t be reached for comment for this story. He voted against issuing the bonds at the July 2020 meeting.
Councilman Larken Egleston said at that meeting the council should take seriously a chance to bring affordable housing while not dipping into the city’s Housing Trust Fund. The fund was established to provide financing to developers for affordable housing through voter-approved housing bonds, according to the city.
“We’ve got to get ahead of the gentrification,” Egleston said. “And as someone who represents the district not far from here that has seen that if you wait until the housing becomes unaffordable to try to create affordability it’s too late at that point.”
This story was originally published August 10, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
