Exclusive: Developer of controversial Birkdale Village expansion speaks out
The planned expansion of Birkdale Village off Interstate 77 Exit 25 in Huntersville will help address the town’s present and future population boom and will be good for the area, a managing partner of the iconic mixed-used community’s developer told The Charlotte Observer.
“Doing nothing isn’t an option,” Tim Perry of the Atlanta office of North American Properties told The Charlotte Observer, referring to the town’s population explosion. “It’s only going to get worse.”
The developer plans a 12-story, 125-room hotel; a commercial-residential building with 350 multi-family units; a seven-story office-commercial-building; and two six-story parking decks, according to Huntersville Planning Department documents.
In October, the Huntersville Planning Board recommended that the town Board of Commissioners approve a rezoning for the additions, WSOC reported.
The town board is scheduled to consider the rezoning at its meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 17 at Town Hall, 101 Huntersville-Concord Road.
The developer wants to rezone 8.82 acres at the intersection of Townley Drive and Lindholm Drive.
Pushback from residents
Residents denounced the developer’s plans at town board meetings, most recently on Jan. 3. Eight speakers cited such worries as timely police and fire response if Birkdale Village crams in so many more people.
Drivers already block their alleyways and garages in search of parking for Birkdale Village special events, residents complained at recent meetings.
Traffic was horrendous during a November Santa appearance and tree lighting, for example, residents said.
“These new owners are creating a safety hazard for residents,” Birkdale Village resident Dawn Snow told the town board in late November, referring to North American Properties. “They’re turning it into an outdoor mall.”
“Please don’t let them destroy Birkdale Village,” resident Brian Rice pleaded to the board on Jan. 3 “It was never meant to be set up as a town center, a mini-Charlotte or Alpharetta,” referring to the city near Atlanta.
Birkdale Village was the first of its kind at the lake when the development opened in 2003 with chic shops and restaurants and studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment homes.
Added parking will improve the crunch, NAP official says
Perry said that it’s false that his company’s Birkdale Village redevelopment plan would worsen traffic and parking. The plan calls for 450 more parking spaces.
Adding parking to the existing decks behind Barnes & Noble and Dick’s Sporting Goods would “deter guests from using nearby neighborhoods,” Perry said.
“Opposing the addition/expansion of deck parking is counter to the community’s concerns over on-street parking,” he said.
During the November tree lighting, multiple people told the Birkdale Village management team they’d love an on-site hotel, Perry said. They’d spend the night in the hotel after the Santa event “and be able to extend their kids’ evening with Santa,” he said.
Large groups who enjoyed watching the event from Birkdale Village residential balconies most likely arrived early and/or stayed late, thereby reducing traffic congestion, he said. That would repeat with the new housing, Perry said.
The added parking would make daily parking 20% more available, the developer estimates, and 26% more available during large-scale events.
“So, in any case, the argument that doing nothing is a better solution than adding 450 spaces is nonsensical,” Perry said.
Attendance at the Santa event and traffic leaving Birkdale Village afterward about matched the previous year’s numbers, Perry added. “Yet, this time, some seem to have forgotten and are inflating the issue to support a narrative,” he said.
He predicts the hotel will sell out months before such events, especially as Birkdale Village includes more post-event activities, such as Cookies with Santa and Bedtime Stories with Santa.
“That is 125 rooms occupied by local guests or their visiting family members who choose to spend the night, park their car in the hotel parking, and not leave to contribute to traffic,” Perry said.
“Having people walk home, to their hotel, a friend’s house, or a restaurant after the event, rather than dashing for the car, is a positive,” he added.
Huntersville’s expected population boom
Huntersville’s 2040 Plan predicts the town population will explode 74% between 2018 and 2040, to 106,567. The plan was established to guide the growth.
That’s on top of an already dramatic population rise, according to the plan.
“Thanks to the proximity to Charlotte, employment opportunities, and high quality of life, the Town’s population has more than doubled from 2000 to 2018,” according to the plan.
The plan targets Birkdale Village-Exit 25 as one of the areas to accommodate new residents and resulting stores and offices.
“Huntersville has been growing, and will continue to grow in population,” Perry said. “As a result, the demand for residential, office and hotel will increase. So the real question is, what is the town going to do to alleviate those additional traffic impacts spurred by the inevitable growth?
“Let the town sprawl with neighborhood-embedded density on low-volume town streets, or accommodate the demand on high-volume state and interstate corridors,” he said.
If Huntersville focuses on smart growth and its long-term 2040 Plan, “encouraging development at Birkdale is the choice and charge of local leaders,” Perry said.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM.