Charlotte developer’s $70M project will transform downtown Cornelius, officials say
Cornelius backed a Charlotte developer’s plans this week to transform its downtown with a $70 million project that will include a five-story apartment building, a parking deck and restaurants and other businesses.
“We look forward to looking back at this as a key turning point in our downtown redevelopment,” Mayor Woody Washam said after the town board approved a rezoning for the Mill’s Market mixed-use community by a 4-1 vote Monday night.
Highline Partners plans 238 multi-family units in the building at Catawba Avenue and Meridian Street, with four of the stories facing the avenue, according to documents filed with the town.
A corner restaurant and 12,000 square feet of other businesses would be on the first floor.
The 6 1/2-level parking deck would include roughly 295 spaces for the residential units, at least 36 for businesses and at least 130 town-owned for public use.
The community also would include a public pedestrian plaza/alley called Catawba Court, according to the developer’s plans. Trees would be planted in the plaza, Highline Partners principal Mark Miller told the board.
A pool courtyard and second-story rooftop garden would be available to apartment residents.
“We felt it was a bull’s eye for the type of projects we set out to create,” Miller said at the meeting. “We want the project to enhance what’s already there. There is a cool vibe there, but certainly there is the potential to enhance downtown.”
Miller told the board his design reflects the heritage of the two mills that once operated in downtown Cornelius.
Apartments, for instance, will have mill-style rounded windows, Town Manager Andrew Grant told the board before its vote.
The building will have a lighter brown-toned brick exterior, architect renderings show.
Miller also said existing building fronts in the block of the project will be preserved.
The project also will have 10 affordable housing units, he said.
Commissioner Dave Gilroy voted against the project, but said it’s really well designed. “There’s a lot I’ve always liked about this project,” he said. “It supports redevelopment.”
But with two other major developments approved in the downtown area, “to me, it sort of spells disaster,” he said.
Those developments are Caroline, a 290-home community on South Street, north of the Antiquity subdivision; and Greenway Gartens, which is expected to include 448 homes and an Olde Mecklenburg Brewery location.
One Cornelius resident told the board Monday night that Charlotte would be a better fit for Mill’s Market. Others said it’s just what downtown Cornelius needs.
“Downtown Cornelius needs revitalization, and this is the perfect project to do it,” resident David Judge said.
Miller said designing the project will take a year to complete, followed by two years of construction.
This story was originally published September 21, 2023 at 4:54 PM.