Disney is building a massive community in NC. Who is it really for? | Opinion
Would you want to live in Disney, North Carolina? A new development coming to Chatham County gives you that option.
The community, which will be built in Pittsboro, will be called “Asteria.” It’s the second Storyliving by Disney community in the country. The development will span 1,500 acres once completed, with 4,000 homes. That means Asteria will be the size of a small town, and it may feel like one, too, with plenty of parks, amenities, restaurants and retail spaces planned.
Living in a quasi-municipality owned by one of America’s biggest corporations admittedly sounds a little dystopian. It’s also not clear exactly how much it will lean into the Disney theme. Will Mickey Mouse be in the clubhouse on Sundays? Or is the Disney brand just a real estate gimmick used to capture people’s attention?
For those who are interested, it’s not going to come cheap. The first Storyliving by Disney community, which is located near Palm Springs, has prices starting in the upper $1 millions, with a steep $600 monthly HOA fee. Of course, North Carolina and California have different housing markets and a different cost of living, so it’s likely that Asteria’s prices will be a little lower. But buying a home with the Disney name on it is still likely to be more expensive than buying in a different neighborhood, and the HOA fees will be higher than most.
That said, is the Disney brand something that people are willing to pay a premium for? For some, yes, Tim Burrell, a Raleigh-based Realtor with RE/MAX, said. Burrell compared it to Martha Stewart’s successful venture into residential communities, which began in Cary in 2005.
“it’s an interesting experiment. Logically, I think it’ll work, because they don’t need to get every single person. Each house only needs one buyer, and they just need to find enough people that believe in the Disney panache and will pay money for it,” Burrell said.
It helps that it’s a universally recognized brand like Disney, which people tend to associate with a certain standard of quality and positive experiences. Burrell said that people are also generally willing to pay more for turnkey homes that they can move into right away without lifting a finger. But there are a lot of homes like that being built in Chatham County right now, and the Disney name might not be enough to sway them if the price is too high compared to neighboring alternatives.
Even if that audience exists, it’s still a lot of real estate devoted to one specific group of people. The Disney development alone, with its 4,000 planned units, could triple the current population of Pittsboro, which is not even 5,000 people.
Many are also worried about the cost the community could impose on its surroundings, especially the environment. Disney plans to interweave the community with the surrounding nature, including the Haw River. It will be part of a larger master-planned development called Chatham Park, which has been repeatedly cited for violating sediment and erosion rules. There are also concerns about the area’s ongoing challenges with water and sewage infrastructure, which is under increased pressure as the area continues to grow.
To be clear, building more housing is rarely a bad thing, given that it’s often done through mixed-use developments that use the space wisely while thoughtfully preserving green spaces and the natural landscape. Typically, increasing the housing supply in an area can help lower the higher prices often caused by surging demand. But what happens if that housing is branded as exclusive and luxurious, rather than affordable and accessible?
And therein lies the biggest question raised by Disney’s foray into the housing market: who are these developments really for? Will it really bring economic prosperity to the area, or will it simply raise the cost of living and make things less affordable for those who already live there? Disney obviously views it as a wise financial investment, and it may very well join the company’s long line of successes. What’s less clear, though, is just how much it’s going to cost everyone else.
