Construction to begin at Waverly

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The developers of the 88-acre Waverly project on Providence Road are clearing the land and have pulled a $3.53 million permit to begin construction on a medical building.

The building will be the first to go up in the multi-use development just south of Interstate 485, across from Ardrey Kell Road.

“We just started grading in the past two weeks,” said Chris Thomas, a Childress Klein Properties partner overseeing retail development.

He said the construction, by Choate Construction Co., will begin in the next two months. “We have a time table to meet for a tenant,” said Thomas, who declined to identify the tenant.

The building will be one of two medical office buildings planned for Waverly. Thomas said there is no timeline yet for the second building: “It depends upon market demand,” he said.

The land is one of the larger remaining tracts of undeveloped land in the city. Known as the Matthews Family Farm, it was given to Sarah Houston in 1860 as a gift from her parents when she wed William McGill Matthews.

The development’s website offered nearby residents the chance to give input on what stores and restaurants they wanted to see in an online survey that ended Nov. 25.

Also planned are about 225,000 square feet of retail, anchored by a Whole Foods; a hotel; 264,000 square feet of office space; 60,000 square feet of medical office; 365 apartments; 70 single-family homes; and 71 town homes.

Thomas said he could not disclose the names of retail or hotel brands planning to locate there, but said: “In the next 30 days, we’ll make a number of announcements.”

Childress Klein and Crosland Southeast have partnered as the project’s master developers, and in September completed the purchases of four tracts of land totaling 88.7 acres for $31.85 million, according to Mecklenburg County property records.

The two companies, operating as Providence Farms LLC, will develop the commercial components. The developers have conveyed 16.1 acres to SLV NC 1 LLC for $3 million, on which David Weekley Homes will build the detached single-family homes and town homes, and 17.5 acres to Solis Waverly Owner LLC for $7.65 million, on which Terwilliger Pappas Multifamily Partners will build the apartments.

Thomas said the residential and retail construction is scheduled to begin in the spring.

“Obviously,” he said, “we’re going to see a lot of construction in 2015.”