INNOVATIVE PROJECT FEATURES GREEN SPACES, HIDDEN PARKING AND ROOFTOP
GARDENS
A design idea too good to hide
Developers plan to wrap condos around Lowe's to conceal big-box store;
they say plan may be duplicated across nation
What might be The Next Big Thing in a nationwide shift back to the
urban core is almost ready to lift off on South Boulevard between Dilworth
and South End.
Charlotte's Conformity Corp. plans to "hide" a Lowe's home
improvement store from its closest residential neighbors in Dilworth by
wrapping it with a housing village.
Some condos in $28.6 million Southborough actually will be attached
to the sides of the big box.
"That was the big coup -- hiding the store with housing,"
said Conformity President Monte Ritchey, whose firm competed for the
development site.
Construction of flats and townhomes selling from the $180,000s to
the $500,000s is to start by March and be finished in summer 2008.
Lowe's initially proposed a one-of-a-kind urban store with townhomes
and rooftop parking on two blocks between Magnolia Avenue and Iverson Way
about two years ago.
But it wasn't until after extensive meetings with planners and
neighbors, several plan revisions and a contested rezoning that the final
design emerged.
It's not unusual anymore to combine residential and commercial uses on
the same site or wrap a parking deck with shops and residences.
But this project takes mixing real estate uses and screening buildings
to the next level.
"From a design standpoint, this will become a national precedent
and trend," said LandDesign Inc.'s Rhett Crocker, principal in charge
of the project for the Charlotte land planning firm. "Other cities
are going to be looking at this as interest grows in building in historic
areas."
He doesn't know of any other place where housing has been used to
conceal a big-box store.
National retailers will take note, analysts predict, because it's a way
to follow residents back to the core and capitalize on a potentially
lucrative market.
Lowe's said the South Boulevard project is unique, but officials don't
consider it a prototype.
That's because "every community presents different factors and
considerations," said Maureen Rich, Lowe's public relations manager.
"In this case, residential features were an important part of the
overall development plan when we presented it to the community and it was
an important part of the city's approval of the total project," she
said.
The Dilworth Community Development Association opposed the city's
rezoning, arguing that a big-box store would be out of character for the
neighborhood.
But since the project was approved, "Monte's success is very
important to Dilworth," said John Fryday, past president of the DCDA.
"We have continued to have extensive dialogue with Monte, offered
to go to bat for him if needed with planning on some issues, and have
appreciated his attempts to make the edges of the project meet Dilworth in
a very sensitive manner," he said.
Fryday said he hasn't seen a site plan in about a year.
Crocker said designing the project "was complicated on every
level," including providing store emergency exits through the
residential project and sharing footings for the structure.
But, he said, the most crucial factor was Ritchey's willingness to
build a double row of residences along Magnolia and Lyndhurst avenues.
Townhomes are on the edge of the site facing the two streets. Behind
them, flats wrap the store.
That separates the Lowe's from the neighborhood on two sides with 67
townhomes and flats amid fountains, green space and courtyards, Crocker
said.
It also reinforces Southborough residents' sense of living in a small
village, Ritchey said.
Condo flats face outward from the store, so residents see neighboring
townhomes instead of Lowe's exterior walls.
"Basically, they've duplicated the character of that little
area," said residential real estate analyst Emma Littlejohn of The
Littlejohn Group, which consulted on the project. "You can walk
through Dilworth, bike to Freedom Park or walk to light rail."
At the South Boulevard corner, Conformity, which specializes in
historic preservation and mixed-use projects, plans a four-story,
24,000-square-foot, office-retail building.
It will include 90 parking spaces on a two-level deck.
The store peeks through the screening and is slightly visible in two
spots on the residential sides, but Crocker doubts it will be noticeable
to most people.
One place is near the South Boulevard commercial edge and mixed-use
building. The other, off Magnolia, will be screened by a sculpted trellis
with vegetation growing on it.
The trellis was necessary, Ritchey said, because the "dog
leg"-shaped site was so narrow in one point, the developers couldn't
squeeze condos against the store.
The Lowe's, 140,000 square feet with rooftop parking and a
16,000-square-foot rooftop garden, will front on Iverson Way and include
landscaping, terraced beds and trees.
Its 30,000-square-foot garden center will face South Boulevard and have
a pedestrian entrance leading into the complex. A 4,200-square-foot
outdoor living center will be on the South Boulevard-Iverson Way corner.
Now, for the burning question: Who's going to live next to a big-box
store?
"Anyone who wants a home in Dilworth," said consultant
Littlejohn. "If it weren't for Dilworth, it might be different."
She predicts buyers will be attracted by proximity to one of
Charlotte's most desirable neighborhoods, convenience to transit, and, of
course, the prices.
Southborough
• Size: South Boulevard village of
67 condo flats and townhomes, 651 to 2,234 square feet.
• Price: $180,000s to $500,000s.
• Features: One- and two-car
garages, balconies, large porches, rooftop terraces, courtyards,
fountains, green space.
• Developer: Conformity Corp.,
incorporated in 1993. Portfolio includes Elizabeth Village, The Rutzler,
The Williamson, SteelHaus.
• Construction: To start in March
and finish in summer 2008 with no lender requirements to presell a
specified number of units.
• Architect: BB+M Architecture.
• Land planner: LandDesign Inc.
• Contractor: Under negotiation.
• Lender: Wachovia.
• Sales: Katie Barnes Harding, sales
center at 2133 Southend Drive, Unit 103. Open daily in neighboring Village
of Southend.
• Information: www.liveinsouthborough.com
Lowe's store
• Size: 140,000 square feet plus
30,000-square-foot garden center, 4,200-square-foot outdoor living center.
• Features: Rooftop parking, rooftop
garden, landscaping, terraced beds, trees.
• Design: Brick with warehouse-style
windows and corrugated metal to mesh with industrial heritage of South
End.
• Construction: To start by late
2007, finish in early 2008.
• Architect: Scott & Goble
Architects, Tulsa, Okla.
• Land planner: LandDesign Inc.
• Contractor: Carmel Contractors.
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