The airport has just purchased several hundred nearby acres that will used for industrial development. Negotiations are under way to relocate Norfolk-Southern Corp.'s intermodal yard from North Tryon Street to a site near the airport. In addition to private investment in the area, public funds are being made available for a new business park, a technical high school and a west side campus for Central Piedmont Community College.
While some of the area is hot, some sectors need government help to promote redevelopment. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Development Corp., a public-private venture formed in 1997, is planning the business park on 33 acres along Wilkinson Boulevard between Crisper and Hillview Avenues. The venture was formed to initiate west side development that would have been too risky for private investors.
The new park's convenience to the airport, rail service and access to major highways and Uptown should help in attracting tenants. CMDC will break ground in early 2001 and begin marketing the park to back-office operations, distribution and warehouses and light-assembly operations.
The city's west side is the top suburban market in terms of demand for office space. According to Frank Warren, president of Karnes Research Co., the west side has consumed 500,000 sf of office space this year. Warren says office lease rates are cheaper on the west side than in SouthPark, but no less expensive than Ballantyne or other developments along the North Carolina Highway 51 corridor in south Charlotte. Class A office space on the west side rents for $18 per sf to $20 per sf; the rate uptown starts at $24 per sf.
The planned business park has already generated more private investment in the west side. And right next door to the park site, residential development is on the rise, with owner-occupied housing on the increase. This growing mix of commercial and residential projects is rapidly changing the west side in a positive way. And it appears that this geographical slice of the city could one day become a grand new gateway leading from the airport to Uptown.
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