All Forum Posts by: Josh Stack

Article is a bit old, from 2018.  If you are watching close the indicators that Andrew points to are being put in place piece by piece.

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https://www.charlotteagenda.co...

By Andrew Dunn | August 21, 2018 Views: 17,296

Charlotteans have historically made their neighbors to the west the butt of many a cruel inside joke.

Yes, Gaston County has developed more slowly than the suburban counties on Charlotte’s north, south and east. It’s still lower-income and more rural.

But in the coming years, any lingering negative image is poised to change. Gaston County appears to be on the verge of a major economic boom.

Tony’s Ice Cream in downtown Gastonia. [Agenda story: In defense of Gastonia]

Capitalizing on Charlotte’s growth

Part of that economic boom will inevitably come as Charlotte’s growth moves westward — the one direction that’s been the slowest so far.

The city of Charlotte has put forward plans that would extend light rail from Uptown, past the airport, and across the Catawba River into Belmont.

One of two options for light rail transit through west Charlotte into Gaston County.

Major developers are planning a massive new mixed-use community on the Mecklenburg-Gaston line called the River District that has been described as the next Ballantyne. That growth will almost certainly spill over to the other side of the Catawba River.

Same goes for the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Even as the city of Charlotte looks to develop thousands of acres around the airport, Gaston County leaders are planning to capitalize on that growth as well.

Just this summer, the Greater Gaston Development Corporation published a report outlining how Gaston County could position itself as an extension of that development.

Over time, Gaston would work to build more bridges over the Catawba River to the River District in Mecklenburg County and extend mass transit from Belmont through the rest of the county. Closer in to Belmont and Wilkinson Boulevard, there would be opportunities for retail, entertainment and dining.

Farther out, Gaston County plans to encourage logistics, distribution, advanced manufacturing, warehousing, agribusiness and food processing and trucking.

Image by MDX and the Gaston County CLT Airport Connected Economic Positioning Strategy.

A revitalized downtown

But Gaston County also has several initiatives to build on its own strengths.

The highest profile is the Fuse District, the shorthand name for the Franklin Urban Sports & Entertainment area on 16 acres just west of downtown Gastonia.

Much like the city of Kannapolis, Gastonia is looking to spur major investment built around a minor league baseball stadium. The city bought the land and approved demolition of aging structures on the property back in 2016. They’re now working through the federal brownfields program to help clean it up environmentally.

Gastonia will spend $13.5 million to build the baseball stadium. Private developers are lined up to spend $15 million on the site of the old Trenton Mill, turning it into 75 apartments and retail.

Then in the future, the plan is for more private developers to buid apartments, restaurants, office space and shops.

Speaking of old textile mills…

Gaston County has several that are serving as the bones of ambitious new developments

Besides the Trenton Mill, two other historic mills are going through significant rehabilitation.

The first is the Osage Mill in Bessemer City, which spans 260,000 square feet and is turning into 150 apartments and numerous retail stores and restaurants. Development is expected to begin at the end of this year.

The Osage Mill site in Bessemer City.

The centerpiece, however, is the Loray Mill. The former home of the world’s largest textile mill in one building is now one of the most ambitious historic rehab projects in the region.

The six-story building has 189 loft apartments and a massive 80,000 square feet of retail space — including a Growlers USA today. The complex includes a museum that lets Gastonia newcomers know about the history of the mill and the bloody 1929 strike that catapulted it into the national consciousness.

From mill town to manufacturing and mining.

As the mills get repurposed, so too is Gaston County’s economy.

Last year, Gaston College dedicated a new Center for Advanced Manufacturing near Dallas. In Belmont, a new coworking and innovation hub called TechWorks of Gaston County is soon to open.

Farther west, Piedmont Lithium has already bought 1,200 acres and is weighing half a billion in investment to rebuild a lithium mining operation.

Image via Piedmont Lithium.

Build it and people will come.

All this is already increasing demand for real estate in Gaston County, beginning with Belmont and heading westward.

Now standing at $178,700, the median sales price for homes in Gaston County is up more than 11 percent year over year, according to data from the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. That’s more than twice the rate of increase of Mecklenburg County and far outstripping the region as a whole.

Graph from the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association

Once confined to the area around Lake Wylie, home sales of more than $500,000 are now becoming more frequent in Belmont, according to Zillow.

Still, homes and acreage are still significantly cheaper in Gaston County than they are in most other areas of the Charlotte region.

Will that change? With the volume of economic development in the works, it’s certainly possible.

I-85 Widening through Gastonia

The I85 widening through Gastonia will probably be delayed a couple years and may not start until 2023 or later.  It looks like it will happen though.

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects...

https://www.gastongazette.com/...

For many Gaston County residents, the relief of knowing that Interstate 85 will be widened soon is tempered by anxiety over what it will be like to live through that growing pain for several years.

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation say steps will be taken to minimize congestion that results from the massive construction project, which will span 10 miles from N.C. 273 in Belmont to U.S. 321 in Gastonia. But when it comes to what strategies might be employed to make the operation run smoother, they don’t have all the answers yet.

"That's something that will be of utmost importance, of course, to keep the corridor moving and flowing," said Nora McCann, a civil engineer serving as the DOT's project manager on the widening. "But it's just too early. We don't have a traffic control plan because we don't have a final design yet. Those are all things we will think about in the future."

The DOT hopes to get some valuable ideas from the community this week when it hosts two public meetings in Belmont and Gastonia to discuss the interstate improvement. They will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at the Wheeler Center, at 100 Belmont-Mount Holly Road on the campus of Belmont Abbey College; and 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, at the Gastonia Conference Center, at 145 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

There will be no formal presentation, as attendants will simply be able to drop in at any point during the three-hour window to learn more about the project and offer their opinions. Display boards will be up showing satellite images of the widening path and examples of where lanes could be added on either side of the existing interstate, McCann said.

Overlay maps can be viewed in advance here.

“We do collect all comments and respond to them,” she said. “They become a part of the documentation, and that document becomes sort of a working history of the project.”

Widening could be delayed

What is officially known as ‘I-5719’ will involve expanding I-85 from six lanes to eight lanes between Gastonia and Belmont. It it will also involve making improvements to the intersection of N.C. 7 and Wilkinson Boulevard.

Construction will take at least four years to complete from start to finish. It will cost an estimated $262 million, in part due to the expense of rebuilding upward of 15 street and railroad overpasses along the 10.3-mile span.

Widening two more segments of I-85 going to the South Carolina line, totaling 17 miles, will cost another $273 million by 2030 or later.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation will host two drop-in public meetings in Belmont and Gastonia to discuss the upcoming widening of Interstate 85 from six lanes to eight lanes, over a 10-mile span from N.C. 273 in Belmont to U.S. 321 in Gastonia. Each session will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., with no formal presentation, at the following locations:

• Tuesday, May 21 at the Wheeler Center, at 100 Belmont-Mount Holly Road on the campus of Belmont Abbey College

• Wednesday, May 22 at the Gastonia Conference Center, at 145 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way. in downtown Gastonia

The Belmont-to-Gastonia leg, however, has always been the priority of state and local leaders. Upward of 136,000 vehicles a day travel on that busy segment, with much of the traffic flowing between Charlotte and Interstate 40 in Hickory, according to the DOT.

The plan will be to construct new lanes by using existing right of way wherever possible, McCann said. It’s still uncertain whether certain interchanges and exits will have to be completely shut down as each segment of the interstate is widened.

The most recent firm plan for carrying out the work called for construction to begin in early 2021 and run through 2025. But that could be delayed under a proposal being considered in Raleigh.

A draft of the DOT's new State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) proposes pushing the work back a couple of years. Construction would instead begin in 2023 and extend through at least 2027.

“I just got that updated draft a few days ago,” said Randi Gates, the principal transportation planner for the city of Gastonia. “They’re not going to be approving the final STIP until September, so they’re still in the process of making tweaks. Timelines are shifting.”

McCann emphasized that for now, the project is still slated to begin construction in 2021.

Alleviating the pain

A delay sounds like the worst thing possible, but the way Gates sees it, it might actually be for the best.

The I-85 widening is finally coming to fruition at a time when several other improvements are slated to be made along U.S. 74 between Gastonia and Belmont. Those involve general upgrades to Franklin and Wilkinson boulevards, and bridge replacement projects over the Catawba and South Fork rivers.

Pushing back the work on I-85 should allow most of those other projects to be completed first, Gates said. That would be more ideal since U.S. 74 will be the major alternative to the interstate during the widening effort, and will bear a lot of the stress.

“Without (an I-85) delay, those projects will all be going on at the same time,” Gates said.

One thing that could help in Gastonia is a more modern traffic signal system that the state is paying to have installed along the U.S. 74 corridor. When major wrecks or incidents occur on I-85, the purpose of the new system will be to allow Franklin Boulevard and connecting roads to handle the overflow of traffic more efficiently.

That system will also come in handy during the years that I-85 is being widened, Gates said.

The state's strategies for mitigating congestion will also potentially include things such as requiring work to be done during off-peak traffic hours, and using lane restrictions for construction overnight, said DOT spokeswoman Jennifer Thompson.

“If any full shutdowns are required, we’ll also have to have a detour in place, such as if a ramp or highway section has to be closed for bridge work,” she said. “Just like with any other project we do, this will have an aggressive traffic management plan.”

‘Just had to cope with it’

Hindrances and headaches will be a natural part of the I-85 widening through Gaston County, said McCann. But she said it’s hard to know specifically what to expect by just comparing it to widening projects that have occurred elsewhere.

“Every project is different in terms of the needs, and every area has its own specific intricacies,” she said. “There’s always a new wrinkle.”

In terms of geographic proximity, what’s fresh in many local residents’ minds is the widening of I-85 that’s been going on in Cabarrus and Rowan counties for several years. The Cabarrus portion is now in the final stages, to the point that people commuting through that area are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Samantha Glass, the manager of new business development for the Cabarrus County Economic Development Corp., has lived in the Concord area for more than a decade. She recalls when the widening project wasn’t even funded and commuters were grumbling about the need for more lanes.

Once the project began, frustration boiled over for a new reason.

“It was very heavy at times, and there were definitely some growing pains for those several years the majority of the work was being done,” she said. “If you needed to get somewhere, a lot of times we’d just take (U.S.) 29, which runs adjacent to 85. Otherwise, you’d just plan accordingly and add 10 or 15 minutes of travel time to your trip.”

But in terms of the economic impact, Glass said the detrimental effects during the construction period were lessened by the clear evidence that work was finally being done. There was a general awareness that it would all end up for the better.

“It was nice to know you might have hit some traffic issues coming to Concord or Kannapolis one morning, but we would have eight lanes in the very near future,” she said.

Now that the project is wrapping up, few would say it wasn’t all worth it, Glass said.

“When we’re entertaining clients in Cabarrus County and we can show them how easy it is to be on that eight-lane highway now, it’s amazing,” she said. “We just knew we had to cope with it until we got to that point.”

Northglenn Development at I-85 / US-321.

By Michael Barrett
Gazette staff
@GazetteMike

Posted at 9:40 AM

The area around Gastonia’s biggest interchange arguably hasn’t been very welcoming in recent years.

The vast majority of people driving through the meeting point of Interstate 85 and U.S. 321 are just trying to get past it, and on to wherever else they’re headed. And that historically industrial pocket is not one that typically comes to mind when listing Gastonia’s high points.

But when developer Kent Olson sizes up the future of the land there, he envisions only limitless potential.

“If you took a step back, you might say, ‘Yeah, that used to be a seedy area,’” said Olson, the owner of Development Solutions Group in Charlotte. “But I see opportunity there. We’re all aware of the tough times the whole Highland area has experienced, and it’s unfortunate. But Northglenn is going to help revitalize that whole quadrant.”

Northglenn is the major mixed-use development that Olson intends to build on 55.7 acres just northeast of the 85/321 intersection. It will essentially straddle Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way on two parcels of land that look from above like a set of diagonal butterfly wings.

The west side of the development will be bordered by Bulb Avenue, Chester Street and Rankin Lake Road and feature general commercial uses on the ground floor, with apartments above the retail businesses. The east side will be located south of Long Creek and be entirely residential, with a likely mix of single-family attached units such as townhomes.

In December, the Gastonia Planning Commission unanimously approved a request to rezone the western 32 acres at the site for general commercial purposes, and the 24 acres on the east side for a multi-family residential use. The new zoning conditions will allow for a maximum of 200,000 square feet of commercial space, and a maximum of 320 townhomes, apartments or other residential units within the development.

A higher and better use

Olson has procured and developed more than 3,200 lots in the Charlotte region in recent years, with the majority of that involving residential projects. He has more recently taken an interest in the potential of land west of the Catawba River, as Charlotte’s growth in this direction has begun to speed up.

Olson is spearheading the Ashton Terraces project, which will involve 72 townhomes off Neal Hawkins Road, with construction starting later this year. And he has been approved to develop 80 more townhomes at the former Rhyne Elementary School site on West Davidson Avenue, in a venture to be known as Rhyne Terraces.

But the Northglenn concept is unquestionably much more ambitious. It emerged from Olson initially eyeing the 26-acre tract off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in north Gastonia, for another residential venture.

“But my wife kept saying we also needed to explore that 32 acres across the street, facing U.S. 321,” he said. “So we started looking and realized it had the same listing agent. That and other things made it easier for us to go under contract.”

Olson said he always prefers to work in hand with municipal planners and area residents in crafting a development.

“We didn’t have all the answers,” he said of their initial approach to 55.7 acres. “We never do.”

But after meeting with Gastonia Planning Director Jason Thompson and other city staff last spring, they jointly decided the westernmost property didn’t need to retain its industrial identity to thrive.

“Jason said this has always been a site the city was excited about,” he said. “We all thought it can have a higher and better use.”

‘Everything just screams success’

Olson believes Northglenn has the potential to become something like Ayrsley, the popular mixed-use development off I-485 in southwest Charlotte, or even Baxter Village, which has become an ultra-successful mixed-use project off I-77 in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

“We spent many months working with some smart people and came up with a plan,” he said. “We came up with a list of uses everybody would like to see and then a nice common, exterior aesthetic theme to make sure everything is in harmony and will blend well.”

Olson believes the residential component of Northglenn will make for a walkable community that will appeal to a lot of people. And it will connect directly to the commercial wing, with retail, restaurants and other uses.

For cyclists and pedestrians, the project will not only connect to downtown Gastonia via the Highland Rail Trail. It will be linked to nearby Rankin Lake Park via a new greenway being constructed along Long Creek and under U.S. 321.

“The fact that it’s connected to a greenway is a real bonus,” Olson said.

That new greenway to the park is being completed as part of a long-awaited major overhaul of the I-85/U.S. 321 intersection, which will better ferry traffic through the area. A realignment of Dr. Martin Luther Way was recently completed there, allowing Bulb Avenue to be reconnected to U.S. 321.

“You’ve got all these major infrastructure improvements happening, and all of it is coming together at just the right time,” said Olson. “You’ve got over 55,000 cars a day coming down U.S. 321, over 100,000 a day on I-85, and Rankin Lake Park and Sims Park within walking distance.

“This is a bedroom community of Charlotte, and this site is just down the street from downtown and the (developing) FUSE District. Everything just screams success.”

A lot of permitting still has to take place, and the landscaping of the site will be hindered by the trees and rocks that have to be removed there. Olson said passers-by won’t see dirt being turned until the summer of 2021, with vertical construction likely in mid-2022.

“The length of the build-out will be market driven,” he said. “If we’re fortunate to still be in a hot market, all that stuff will be built out and occupied fast.

“I think it will take two to five years for the whole project to be complete after we start going vertical in 2022.”

@Mark Lee

More considerations.  See the census data from the article at the bottom below.

https://www.gastongazette.com/...

By Michael Barrett
Gazette staff
Posted Dec 11, 2019 at 1:49 PM

The magnet effect of urban growth is pulling the edges of some North Carolina counties into prosperity, while leaving the far sides to play a frustrating game of catch-up.

That pattern is on full display in Gaston County, located just west of Mecklenburg County and separated from Charlotte only by the Catawba River.

Cities on Gaston’s eastern end such as Belmont and Mount Holly have seen a residential explosion over the last 10 to 20 years, and the development has even extended into the southeastern corner of the county’s largest municipality, Gastonia. But farther west, in towns like Cherryville and Bessemer City, the growth is nominal at best, and pales in comparison to what is on display 20 to 30 miles away.

It presents a unique challenge to such counties to better balance the growth, said Bob Coats, the governor’s Census Bureau liaison in North Carolina. They have to figure out how to spread resources equitably, to meet the needs of all areas of the county.

“Twenty to 30 years ago, an area like Gaston County or Johnston County (just southeast of Raleigh and Wake County), would’ve been much more agricultural,” he said. “But farms have now been converted into urban areas. That’s kind of what we’re seeing going forward, is that the amount of development already going on in Mecklenburg and Wake counties are demonstrating a pull and inciting growth within these more traditionally agricultural areas on the fringes.”

Two separate paths

With 222,846 residents as of 2018, Gaston County as a whole has seen population growth of 8.1% since 2010, and 27.2% since 2000, according to census data.

Belmont has arguably become the county’s most popular place to live, with a vibrant downtown and a close proximity to key destinations. The distance to uptown Charlotte is a mere 12 miles, while Charlotte-Douglas International Airport is less than seven miles away.

With roughly 12,500 residents in 2018, Belmont’s population has grown by 22.2% since 2010, and by 48% since 2000, according to census data.

Just a few miles north, Mount Holly also hugs the western banks of the Catawba River and was home to 16,135 people in 2008. That represents a population increase of 18.2% since 2010, and an astonishing 67.7% since 2000, the data show.

But as you go farther west on the map, residential growth drops considerably.

With 5,527 residents in 2018, Bessemer City has seen a population upturn of just 3.7% since 2010. Cherryville’s population of 6,026 people in 2018 represents an increase of less than 5% over the last decade. And in Kings Mountain, which straddles Gaston and Cleveland counties, the population has increased by only 2.7% since 2010.

Jean Mountz, the president of the Gaston County Association of Realtors, lives near Crowders Mountain on the southwestern end of Gaston County. But in the decade that she has been selling homes in a five-county region here, she’s seen the evidence of some areas outpacing others.

The average selling price of a home in Gaston County rose to $217,875 in the third quarter of this year, according to Canopy MLS and the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. But Mountz said there's no question that the sales prices accounting for that average are heavily skewed from east to west.

“You can get more house and more land for your money in Gaston County compared to Charlotte,” she said. “But that is starting to change farther east. The Belmont area has caught on and is starting to be equal to prices you find in Charlotte.”

Importance of infrastructure

Many people moving into a new area care greatly about schools, and Mountz believes Gaston County offers quality public education from end to end. She contends that what has held areas in the western part of the county back is a lack of infrastructure, such as sewer lines and adequate road networks.

“Builders don’t like to put homes where every lot has to have a septic system, because you might need a half-acre to put septic on one lot, but a full acre to support septic on another one,” she said. “Roads are also important. The infrastructure does not make Cherryville an optimal place because you have to go through a lot of back roads before you get there.”

Road improvements are a long-term work in progress across the county. And while there have been some sewer system expansions, it’s also an expensive and slow process that typically requires developers willing to shoulder some of the costs.

The city of Gastonia alone is investing more than $30 million to expand sewer service to an area of more than 5.5 square miles, in what is known as its Southeast Sewer Project. But it is battling rising costs as a result of the development boom coming from Charlotte, said Gastonia Development Services Director Rusty Bost.

“We’re getting to the point now where the market is going faster than we can keep up with,” he said.

Planning for growth

Longtime Cherryville Fire Chief Jeff Cash, 60, also became the city manager of his hometown last year. He said there are definitely some in the community who don’t want the growth that has been seen in eastern Gaston County. But most see the benefits it would bring to the town.

“We’re so far off the beaten path, and without four-lane highway access, it’s tough, because a lot of companies would like to come here, but they need that four-lane access to I-85,” he said. “We need to expand our tax base and create more jobs. Because it’s going to come to the point where if we don’t grow, we’ll have to start cutting city services.”

Cherryville is focused now on things such as improving its parks and recreation offerings, lobbying the state for more road improvements into the city, and updating other aspects of its infrastructure, Cash said.

“We know the growth is coming, so it’s a matter of being prepared for it,” he said.

Coats, the governor’s census liaison, said planning and analysis is a challenge for every city and county, and there’s always reason for hope.

“Even for communities that have a little bit of population stagnation right now, just because that’s been the story over the recent short term doesn’t mean that has to be your future,” he said. “A lot of cities and counties are looking at areas around them that have seen growth, and they’re trying to figure out how to leverage resources to take advantage of that.”

Gastonia

2018 – 77,024

2010 – 71,722

Change: 7.4%

Belmont

2018 – 12,495

2010 – 10,223

Change: 22.2%

Mount Holly

2018 – 16,135

2010 – 13,655

Change: 18.2%

Cramerton

2018 – 4,422

2010 – 4,165

Change: 6.1%

McAdenville

2018 – 666

2010 – 651

Change: 2.3%

Lowell

2018 – 3,591

2010 – 3,526

Change: 1.8%

Ranlo

2018 – 3,636

2010 – 3,434

Change: 5.8%

Stanley

2018 – 3,742

2010 – 3,556

Change: 5.2%

Dallas

2018 – 4,750

2010 – 4,467

Change: 6.3%

High Shoals

2018 – 740

2010 – 702

Change: 5.4%

Bessemer City

2018 – 5,527

2010 – 5,328

Change: 3.7%

Cherryville

2018 – 6,026

2010 – 5,744

Change: 4.9%

Kings Mountain

2018 – 10,933

2010 – 10,645

Change: 2.7%

Hi @Mark Lee

Good stuff, thanks for the updates ref the CAFR.

FUSE continues to press ahead, concrete has been poured.  Below copy paste from Gaston Gazette and Ballpark Digest.

Workers have officially poured the first concrete at the site that will eventually host Gastonia’s new multipurpose events complex just west of downtown.

The benchmark occurred a little less than a week before Thanksgiving, as the binding material was poured from a large hose and spread among steel reinforcing bars within the ground. It was a noteworthy step in the construction of the stadium that will serve as the centerpiece of the city’s Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment District.

“At the intersection of Hill Street and Franklin Boulevard, that’s kind of ‘home plate corner,’ if you will,” said Gastonia Development Services Director Rusty Bost. “That’s where all the fixed seats and the seating bowl will be, along with the concession area, ticket office and all that stuff.

“That will be our main entrance into the facility, and the concrete that was poured was for some of the footings in those buildings.”

Rodgers Builders of Charlotte is serving as the construction manager of the roughly $26.2 million project, and will be bidding out the actual work to some 20 subcontractors. The plan is for the stadium to be ready for occupancy in the spring of 2021, at which time a professional independent league baseball team will begin playing games there, and other concerts and events will be scheduled.

Some types of construction are inhibited by cold winter weather, such as road resurfacing and repaving projects, due to asphalt being a very temperature-sensitive material, Bost said. But while concrete is affected by the weather, there are ways to mitigate those effects and insulate it from the cold, he said.

“So you can let it do what it has to do and still get the strength you want out of it,” he said.

That means construction at the FUSE complex will proceed at a fairly normal pace this winter, barring abnormally wet conditions, Bost said.

“The biggest issue you run into in the winter is after rain, when it takes forever to let the ground dry,” he said.

Workers will continue pouring concrete footings over the next few weeks, meaning a lot of what’s taking place will be below the ground level.

“It will probably be January before you can see steel beams coming out of the ground,” Bost said.

Residents who would like to keep track of the construction progress can log on to the city’s webcam livestream at youtube.com by clicking here.

------------

Another ballpark-centric downtown development is now underway, as the first concrete has been poured at the future location of a new downtown Gastonia (NC) multipurpose events complex, which will feature pro baseball.

The Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment (FUSE) District in downtown Gastonia, considered part of the greater Charlotte area, is a 16-acre redevelopment project. A new multipurpose events space—the ballpark–is designed to host multiple types of events in addition to independent Atlantic League games, including concerts, soccer, lacrosse, and football. It will also come with amenities such as a 360-degree concourse, cabana suites, banquet/lounge space, a covered two-floor beer garden, and more, with a total capacity of 5,000. It’s slated to open for the 2021 season. The current cost of the FUSE redevelopment effort is now at $26.2 million, with the ballpark costing $21.5 million. :

The benchmark occurred a little less than a week before Thanksgiving, as the binding material was poured from a large hose and spread among steel reinforcing bars within the ground. It was a noteworthy step in the construction of the stadium that will serve as the centerpiece of the city’s Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment District.

“At the intersection of Hill Street and Franklin Boulevard, that’s kind of ‘home plate corner,’ if you will,” said Gastonia Development Services Director Rusty Bost. “That’s where all the fixed seats and the seating bowl will be, along with the concession area, ticket office and all that stuff.

“That will be our main entrance into the facility, and the concrete that was poured was for some of the footings in those buildings.”

The FUSE effort is not an unusual one. Gastonia officials have been seeking a vehicle for downtown redevelopment for years, and in North Carolina, it’s not surprising a local municipality would seek to use pro baseball as a vehicle to guide those investments. We saw development following the construction of new downtown ballparks in Greensboro and Charlotte, and we’ve seen Kannapolis officials launch a similar downtown redevelopment plan for a new Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Low A; Sally League) ballpark, slated to open for the 2020 season.

Rendering courtesy Pendulum Studio.

An update on FUSE in Gastonia.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

By Michael Barrett
Gazette staff
Posted at 4:09 PM

Gastonia’s newest strategy for encouraging positive growth in the area just west of its FUSE District has been met with skepticism by some who fear it could displace residents by calling attention to problems with their property.

City leaders say their new West Franklin Redevelopment Plan has simply created an ‘opportunity zone’ that will foster private development within the 288 acres it covers. They say the new designation will open up new funding avenues, while letting private investors know the city has put a priority on improving the area.

“It is a roadmap on how to upgrade the areas along West Franklin that have basically fallen into disrepair and been identified as areas of abandonment,” said Richard Smith of McGill and Associates, the consultant firm that worked with the city to carve out the plan. “The goals are to promote economic growth through pub-private partnerships, to eliminate blight conditions across the target area, and to improve the quality of residential housing and the community image.”

Tammy Nix lives on the 200 block of South Vance Street, within the new zone that has been identified. She attended a Gastonia Planning Commission meeting last month when the concept was first formally presented to the public.

“There was talk about how the city would go around inspecting property, and if (homes) are not up to code, then property owners would have to get them up to code,” said Nix. If homeowners couldn’t afford to make the required upgrades, the fear is that their property might be condemned and razed, she said.

“I feel like this could potentially result in more homeless people,” she said.

‘Not big brother’

City leaders say that’s not the intent. While the goal is indeed to clean up the area, they say the new plan will follow the complaint-driven process that already guides the city’s hand on minimum housing code requirements across Gastonia.

“It’s not the city’s intent to go door to door with a squad of inspectors to every home in this neighborhood and shut them down, kick them out, and create homelessness,” said Councilman Dave Kirlin. “This is not ‘big brother’ or ‘big government’ coming down and trying to clear out all the vermin and all the bad things in the community. It’s a reinvestment tool, to bring more money into the area so it can be developed.

“That’s a very positive thing. I think there’s only good that can really come out of this.”

City Council members unanimously approved the plan during their most recent meeting. The affected area generally falls between Gaston Avenue to the north, Whitesides Street to the east, Garrison Boulevard to the south, and Bessemer City Road to the west.

One of the city’s primary goals from the beginning in creating its Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment District has been to establish a connection between downtown and the Loray Mill Historic District farther west. Assistant City Manager Quentin McPhatter said the newly created redevelopment zone will help to achieve that.

“We’re looking at various tools to foster private development in this area,” he said. “In particular, this sends a strong market signal that we are seeking to revitalize this area.”

A revitalized community

Smith said within the 288-acre zone, the city will be able to put an enhanced focus on housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, and structural and environmental assessments, while also offering more construction incentives and potential façade grants to help remove blight.

“The advantages for existing property owners out there are that they’re going to get a revitalized community, with improved properties and increased property values as a result of this redevelopment planning area,” he said. “You have a lot of boarded up structures in that area, and this will help to remove areas of blight and concern.”

McPhatter said complaints that would bring more attention from the city might involve things such as lack of maintenance on windows and doors, structural defects, cracks in walls, abandoned mechanical and electrical systems, and conditions that could endanger life by fire.

“We’re not requiring people to have nice flowers in their front yard,” he said. “Our criteria for blight is pretty much what you see at any unmaintained property.”

It’s also not the city intent to buy up or seize property, McPhatter said.

“Our goal is in fact to put property back on the tax rolls and not to condemn multiple properties within this respective area,” he said.

Kirlin acknowledged there could be some unintended consequences as a result of the city’s new focus.

“There may be some people living in substandard housing who could possibly have to move if a complaint is registered that they are living in conditions that are uninhabitable,” he said. “But this happens throughout the whole city.”

Hi @Yanick Gomez

It's opportunity you see.  People are doing deals and making things happen.

 Hi Tommy,

I own a number of single family homes and have partnerships in multifamily in the area.  I'm pretty familiar with Gastonia and Gaston Co at this stage.  I still think it's in the path of progress of Charlotte and a good place to be investing.

Hi @Greg Fitch

I haven't managed to get a straightforward answer on this matter.  Maybe @harry marsh knows?

Harry Marsh is being modest.  He's THE closing attorney in Charlotte.  For more in depth legal work check out Joshua Vann at Morten Gettys.

@Tim Vitale