Brokers Plan NC Retail Mecca

TROUTMAN, NC-A couple of brokers from Cornelius, NC, and their investor partners have scooped up 68 acres at a key Interstate interchange here that they expect will be combined with an adjoining 52-acre parcel and developed into the city’s largest power center. The land is located 40 miles north of Charlotte at the intersection of Interstate 77 and State Highway 21; the combined properties could hold between 700,000 sf and 1 million sf of retail space.

The new owners, at a cost of $3 million or $1 per sf, are Sperry Van Ness brokers Tom McMahon and Bill Hartwell of Cornelius, NC, and undisclosed money partners. Hartwell tells GlobeSt.com their LLC plans to hold the property for at least a year and a day to qualify it as an investment and then entertain offers from developers.

“We know we are in an area of real high population growth and we also know where the trends are, and this is one of the last freeway exits that was available,” says Hartwell. “We’re only in the talking stage with the people next door.”