Biltmark Development to put apartments near Bank of American Stadium

822 W. Morehead St. Photos courtesy of Mecklenburg County records.

Wilmington-based Biltmark Development plans to place more than 200 apartment or condominium units on 2.3 acres near Bank of America Stadium.

Bridget Dixon, planning coordinator in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department, said that at a pre-submittal meeting last week, Biltmark representatives “told us what they intend to do” and presented plans for more than 200 multifamily developments. She added that representatives of city departments – such as Storm Water Services, Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte Department of Transportation and the city arborist – got to weigh in on the project and let the developer know about ordinance requirements.

On Feb. 25, a Biltmark affiliate purchased the land along West Morehead Street, between McNinch and South Cedar Streets, for $1.5 million from CommunityOne Bank.

The land is actually a group of three parcels:

The first parcel at 800 W. Morehead St. includes a warehouse built in 1957, with a total square footage of 2,841. Both the land and building were appraised for about $1 million in 2011.

800 W. Morehead St.

The second parcel, at 801 McNinch St., includes a 1968-vintage warehouse of about 14,000 square feet. The land and building were appraised in 2011 for about $2.3 million.

801 McNinch St.

The third parcel, at 822 W. Morehead St., includes a warehouse with a square footage of about 20,000. The land and warehouse were appraised at about $1.3 million in 2011.

All three properties are a mile from the stadium.

The land is all zoned UMUD, or uptown mixed-use, according to Dixon. There is no conditional plan attached to the land, meaning there is no current set of standards for design of the site, like number of residential units or how the space is used. The property was rezoned in 2003 as a part of a larger city initiative on West Morehead Street.

Because the land is zoned UMUD in the West Morehead area, Dixon said, Biltmark would not have to include mixed-use in its multifamily development. Dixon said there is an assumption that nearby development will meet the mixed-use requirement, since the entire area is mixed-use.

At the meeting, Dixon said, city departments went over what is required in the UMUD ordinance, such as six-foot sidewalks, eight-foot planting strips and architectural details at the pedestrian level.

“It’s still fairly early in the process,” Dixon said. “So the meeting was pretty straightforward.”

There is no schedule for construction or for the developer’s next appearance before city officials, Dixon said.

“It’s pretty much up to them at this point,” she said. “We’ll work with them whenever they’re ready.”

The next step for Biltmark is the urban review process, in which the development company submits site plans that include buildings, grading, elevation, storm drainage, landscaping and other factors for the proposed development. During that process, Dixon said, Biltmark will meet with the city engineering, planning, transportation and other departments.

The density of the project, including green space and water quality features if the number of units is 200, works out to about 0.0115 acres per unit, or about 500.94 square feet of land per unit.

George Kornegay, broker at Charlotte-based The Nichols Company, represented CommunityOne Bank on the sale. Kornegay told The Mecklenburg Times last week that Biltmark was considering a multifamily development for the land.

All three parcels were once considered for multifamily development by the Cedar M Group, before the properties went into foreclosure and became the property of CommunityOne Bank.

The land, only a block west of the stadium, had several other offers on the table before being sold to Biltmark, Kornegay said.

Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co. owns the vacant land across the street from the future multifamily development.

Biltmark Development, in association with Tribute Properties, owns apartment complexes in Wilmington and Charleston, S.C., as well as these in the Charlotte area: Arbor Trace at 12235 Stone Arbor Way, Heather Ridge at 8800 Meadow Vista Road, Ivy Hollow at 4920 Tanager Park Drive and Mallard Glen at 2002 Laysan Teal Lane. 

Bennett can be reached at (704) 247-2911, [email protected] or on Twitter at @AbbieRBennett.