Rezoning roundup: Rezonings requested for projects totaling 1.6M square feet

CHARLOTTE – Developers have proposed building more than 1.6 million square feet of commercial space in the most recent f rezoning petitions submitted to the city.

EastGroup Properties last month submitted a rezoning petition that, if approved, would allow up to 1.4 million square feet of industrial space added to Steele Creek Commerce Park in southwest Charlotte, according to the city’s rezoning website. And Spectrum Properties filed a request to build nearly 200,000 square feet of office space adjacent to SouthPark Mall.

But residential developers were represented as well, proposing a town-home community and a single-family subdivision. Residential rezonings are far less common than commercial rezonings.

All new rezonings are scheduled to have public hearings in front of the Charlotte City Council on June 16 at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, at 600 E. Fourth St in Uptown. Along with public hearings, each rezoning request is subject to a community meeting, planning-staff analysis and a zoning committee recommendation.

The EastGroup Properties petition, which was filed March 24, asks the city to rezone about 63 acres just west of the intersection of Shopton and Steele Creek roads. Current zoning on the property is industrial and residential, and EastGroup is asking for a change to only industrial so the developer can build up to 1.4 million square feet of warehouse space.

If approved, that development will go up next to the first phase of Steele Creek Commerce Park, which has four buildings in various stages of planning and construction.

Spectrum Properties is planning a 190,000-square-foot office building at Morrison Boulevard and South Park Drive. The property now is a surface parking lot in front of SouthPark Mall, but Spectrum, in a joint venture with Tribek Properties, is asking to change the zoning on that land from a commercial center classification to a mixed-use classification that would allow the office building and about 7,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor of the building.

If approved by the City Council and started, it would be just the fourth office building to be built in SouthPark in the last five years.

Three residential developers have asked for rezonings, the city’s website shows.

Hopper Communities is asking to rezone 3.21 acres on Youngblood Street in South End from a transit-oriented classification to a conditional transit-oriented classification, which would allow the construction of 52 town homes. A conditional rezoning means that the city is allowed to be more specific about the type of development that can go on a property.

Copper Builders is asking to rezone nine acres at Carmel and Colony roads from a residential classification to an urban-residential classification to allow the development of a 35 single-family homes. The urban-residential classification allows for denser development than the standard residential classification.

Sardis Road Land Co. has requested to rezone five acres on Sardis Road from an institutional classification to an urban residential classification that would allow the development of 15 dwelling units.

Other rezoning requests on the website include:

• John Meyer has asked the city to rezone 0.145 acres on North Davidson Street, between 35^th and 36^th streets, from a general business classification to a mixed-use classification to renovate a building to reopen as a restaurant.
• Moss Road Development Partners has asked for a site plan amendment on 2.8 acres at the intersection of South Tryon Street and Moss Road that would allow an additional 7,500 square feet of retail or automotive space to be developed on the existing site without additional access points or buffers.
• Mark Patterson has asked for the rezoning of 2.71 acres on Prosperity Church Road, between Prosperity Point and Pinewood lanes, from a residential classification to an institutional classification to allow the development of a day care on the premises.
• Selwyn Properties has asked the city to rezone 1.31 acres on Park Road, between Woodlawn Road and Montford Drive, from residential and office classifications to a mixed-use classification to allow for the development of a mixed-use project that could include multifamily, retail and other uses allowed in those districts.
• Parag Patel has asked the city for a site plan amendment on 5.5 acres at the intersection of Johnston and North Community House roads to allow an additional 40 hotel room to be added at the Spring Hill Suites.
• Marsh Euclid Apartments has asked for the rezoning of nearly 3 acres in South End, on the block surrounded by South Caldwell Street, Lexington, Euclid and Templeton avenues, from an office classification to a transit-oriented classification so the property would match the zoning of adjacent properties. The company did not return a call seeking comment on whether they have development plans for that site.