EastGroup planning 1.4 million SF in new Steele Creek phase

CHARLOTTE – EastGroup Properties is planning the second phase of Steele Creek Commerce Park, a massive industrial development south of Shopton Road and north of Interstate 485, according to a rezoning petition filed by the Jackson, Miss.-based developer.

The petition, posted Friday on the city of Charlotte’s rezoning website, says that EastGroup wants to rezone about 63 acres in southwest Charlotte to accommodate a multibuilding office, distribution and warehouse project that could contain up to 1.4 million square feet of gross floor area. The property is adjacent to the first phase of Steele Creek Commerce Park, which is at Shopton and Steele Creek Road.

EastGroup didn’t return calls on Friday, but the company this year has been among the most active industrial developers in the city. The company is at various stages in the development of four buildings in the first phase of Steele Creek Commerce Park. Of the four industrial buildings under construction in Charlotte at the end of 2013, three were in Steele Creek Commerce Park, according to Karnes Co., a local real estate analytics firm.

EastGroup is asking to rezone the land – which is comprised of parcels with different zoning classifications – from a residential and industrial zoning to only an industrial classification, with a site plan amendment that would allow the second phase of development.

Attached to the rezoning petition were letters from eight parties, seven nearby land owners and the N.C. Department of Transportation, that support the development.

The public hearing for this rezoning is scheduled to be held June 16 at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. in Uptown.