A planned 800,000-sf retail hub on 200 acres and an adjoining office park with a potential for two million sf are the linchpins of this development about 150 miles northeast of Downtown Charlotte.

The estimated buildout value of the enterprise is $1 billion. The retail end broke ground in August. The office portion starts next year.

Briar Creek is owned by American Asset Corp. and the Athena Group of New York. AAC is owned by Riprand Count Arco of Germany and is the development manager for the project.

"The city of Raleigh is growing out and this area will soon become part of Downtown," AAC vice president Jim Broemer tells GlobeSt.com.

The development's proximity to high-profile Research Triangle Park has to help Briar Creek's sought-for corporate image, Broemer says. "We thought the retail development would be a five- or six-year process, but now it looks like we'll be done with it in three," he says. However, no signed leases are in the till yet.

Broemer and Paul Herndon, AAC Real Estate Services' president, don't see their retail sector as just another big-box magnet.

"This is not necessarily a big box power center but is very much of a hybrid center that factors in a lot of small shops and very specific areas that mingle tenancies such as an entertainment area, a fashion area and a discount area," Herndon tells GlobeSt.com.

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Development
Retail