Oct. 24, 2007
GREEN DEVELOPMENT -- ONE WAY TO GET NOTICED
Eco-friendliness may help put town on map
Stallings set for largest green residential project in Union County
DOUG SMITH

Getting noticed is tough for a town whose nearest municipal neighbors are more than twice its size in land and population.

But 11,000-person Stallings just might have found a way to do it and create the town's Next Big Thing in the process.

A recently approved 75-unit townhome project is believed to be the largest residential green development in Union County.

Environmentally friendly development is something the town can embrace and incorporate into its identity, said Mayor Lynda Paxton.

"Knowing the issues with conservation of natural resources, I was really hopeful I could encourage this through the permitting process when I came into office," she said.

ArborGate Homes will build the mid-$400,000-plus townhome units, part of a 38-acre multi-use development planned by Charlotte's Raley Miller Properties at Weddington-Matthews and Antioch Church roads.

The project includes a 120,000-square-foot retail center, Shopps at Stallings, to be started in the first quarter of next year.

Any recognition the town receives also could alleviate an identity crisis that comes from being sandwiched between Matthews and Indian Trail and perhaps educate people on how to pronounce its name.

To natives, it's StAL-lings as in the man's name, not StALL-ings as in a horse barn.

It doesn't help, Paxton said, that "a lot of our residents have Matthews mailing addresses. People just assume they live in Matthews."

Once the town council approved the townhome development plan, Paxton said she asked ArborGate's Jim McNairy to consider going green.

"I just thought it would be beneficial to him and the town," she said. "He seemed very interested, because he was already meeting a lot of the requirements."

Nationally, green residential development is catching on with homeowners.

A recent industry report predicted that the market for green homes will rise from about $2 billion today to $20 billion over the next five years.

The report also said people are buying green homes to reduce energy expenses and protect the health of their families.

ArborGate's McNairy said he's working with the NC HealthyBuilt Homes Program with the aim of getting the townhomes certified as green.

Builders, who can qualify for tax credits, must construct comfortable, healthy and affordable houses that reduce energy and water usage, promote renewable energy use and help protect the land where the home is built.

The program emphasizes materials and processes -- from nontoxic paints to geothermal water heating -- that reduce pollution and preserve natural resources during construction and manufacturing, as well as throughout the life of the home.

Paxton said the project has the potential to be "a crown jewel" for Stallings in more ways than boosting visibility.

The price range -- the mid-$400,000s and up -- is something the town hasn't seen much of and wants to attract to bolster its tax base.

The tax administrator produced figures last year showing that 46 percent of the residential structures in Stallings are valued at less than $150,000, Paxton said.

ArborGate's Mark Boerio said the estimated $37 million project will give empty nesters living nearby -- in affluent Weddington, for example -- a way to transition from the maintenance of a large house to a more urban lifestyle.

They can maintain their same social circles and shopping patterns effectively without downsizing, he said.

Townhomes will range from 2,500 to 2,800 square feet in a community with a gated entrance, a clubhouse, a pool, walking trails and wetlands.

Paxton believes the combination of upper-end housing and a retail center also will help the town in its efforts to attract quality commercial development.

Raley Miller's Larry Raley said he noticed a new school in the vicinity of his planned project and liked the prospects of a Weddington-Matthews Road-Interstate 485 interchange opening within a couple of years.

This development worked, he said, because his firm was willing to bear the expense of realigning the Weddington-Matthews and Antioch Church roads intersection and adding a traffic light and turn lanes.

Retail and residential construction is booming all round Stallings in one of the nation's fastest-growing counties.

"We don't think we are on the radar screen, and we are struggling to try to get on the radar screen," Paxton said. "We have land designated for a business park, and we have open land -- affordably priced -- in town."

Note to developers: That's StALlings, between Matthews and Indian Trail.

Stallings Townhomes

ArborGate Homes doesn't have a name yet for its townhome development, but plans are well under way for a May grand opening.

ArborGate's Jim McNairy said he expects to have two model units 75 percent complete by May 1.

Townhomes -- two stories with an optional third level -- will range from 2,500 to 2,800 square feet with master bedrooms on the ground level.

Prices start in the mid-$400,000s for units that include two-car garages, 10-foot ceilings on the first floor, granite countertops and optional elevators.

ArborGate worked with Carolina Design Group on the European look of the estimated $37 million project, which features brick-stone-stucco buildings.

Amenities include a 3,000- to 3,500-square-foot clubhouse with fitness facility, gated entrance, a bubbling brook water feature, walking trails, a pool and wetlands.

Mark Boerio said ArborGate is working to get its project name certified by Stallings, but in the meantime readers can get information by e-mailing him, mark@arborgatehomes.net. Shopps at Stallings

Raley Miller Properties, working with architect Robert Johnson architects Inc., plans a 120,000-square-foot shopping center at Weddington-Matthews and Antioch Church roads.

A four-building first phase totaling 40,000 square feet is to be started in the first quarter of next year.

The initial shops and restaurants should open by late summer 2008.

Raley Miller said a second retail phase will be started on the 21-acre retail tract as the market dictates.

Adjoining townhome residents will have access to the center.

The developers also are realigning and rebuilding the intersection and adding a traffic light and turn lanes at their expense.

The firm's Larry Raley estimated the first retail phase price tag at more than $10 million excluding land.

Raley Miller is still pricing the intersection work, which could get some financial help from the state. Doug Smith