Plans to build townhomes next to a century-old Charlotte flour mill are dead. Here’s why.
A century-old flour mill just north of uptown will not get new neighbors. Not that it wanted them much anyway.
The property owner of a 5-acre parcel sandwiched between the mill and a historic cemetery withdrew a rezoning petition to build 77 townhomes last week.
Discussion around the controversial petition has operated against a backdrop of a broader challenge of balancing the need for more types of housing and how close those uses should go to existing industrial sites.
The petition to convert the property from industrial to residential failed to gain sufficient support on City Council ahead of a final vote. Concerns mostly centered around noise at the plant, which operates around the clock and has an active rail line running to it.
Bringing townhomes next door could generate complaints about the mill from residents who move there, and could force the plant to relocate, an attorney representing the plant said at a public hearing in May.
The economics of the deal also began not to make sense after the number of townhomes was reduced to address noise concerns, said Todd Harrison, managing partner at Carolina Capital Real Estate Partners. Carolina Capital purchased the property four years ago and was working with home builder Lennar on the rezoning petition.
The mill produces flour and animal feed. It sits just off Interstate 277; the 5-acre parcel is across the rail line, at the corner of West 9th and Johnson streets.
What’s next for the 5-acre property isn’t clear, although Harrison told The Charlotte Observer the site could remain industrial.
Rezoning plan deferred several times
Carolina Capital Real Estate Partners believed it had a good plan that helped connect uptown with nearby music and entertainment venues like Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheater and the Fillmore.
The Charlotte-based private equity real estate firm was left with a “head scratcher” when it didn’t feel like it had enough support from council, Harrison told The Charlotte Observer.
Carolina Capital and Lennar revised the petition by reducing the townhome count from 82 to 77, and adding open space closest to the loudest part of the ADM mill. The plan also included the adaptive reuse of a 7,500 square foot brick building.
Harrison said the firm was in discussions with an interested out-of-town food and beverage user.
Other parts of the proposal called for converting West 9th and Johnson streets into pedestrian and bike-only roads as well as committing to either enhancing the Urban Arboretum Trail or donating $15,000 to the city in lieu of those enhancements.
“We deferred several times to revise the plan,” Harrison said. He described the noise from ADM mostly as “white noise” that wasn’t very loud and that the interstate was louder.
“We weren’t concerned,” he said. “Everyone was fine with the ability to sell homes in that location.”
That’s what City Council heard back in May during a public hearing on the rezoning. “Buyers will know what they’re getting into,” Collin Brown, a land use and zoning attorney representing the petitioner, told council members.
City planning staff recommended approval of the petition.
The rezoning petition was consistent with a regional activity center, a designation for the area in the 2040 policy map. That map outlines the type and intensity of development throughout the city. Much of uptown is a regional activity center, which recommends more mixes of uses.
Concerns on townhouse petition
But officials with the plant were “extremely concerned” about the townhomes going up, saying residents’ complaints about noise and dust could force the plant to relocate, ADM’s attorney, Marsh Prause, told City Council members in May.
The concerns about the rezoning petition didn’t stop there.
Charlotte’s zoning committee voted — in a largely rare step — 4 to 2 to recommend denial of the petition.
Keba Samuel, chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, visited the site and said at an August zoning committee meeting how loud a fan there was. Samuel said she had angst about the site sitting so close to an active rail line and that she had to wear ear plugs while standing in the parking lot of ADM.
“I left there thinking no way residential goes here,” Samuel said. “This is the perfect place for a brewery. This is the perfect place to put entertainment.”
Another zoning committee member, Melissa Gaston, voiced her support of the proposal, saying residential and industrial “happens all over where we are.”
Her son lived in condos nearby and got used to the noise around the plant. “That’s a part of the missing middle (types) for housing that is definitely needed in that area,” she said.
Next steps for the property
Carolina Capital is evaluating the site for other potential uses, including keeping it zoned and used as industrial, Harrison said. The firm believes it can get more value out of the site that way.
There is a lot of desire for industrial since a lot of land has been zoned away from that in recent months, Harrison said.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
