Retail (finally) follows rooftops
Bea Quirk
For years, Union County residents would drive by a billboard on U.S. Highway 74 urging them to shop locally, a message that went unheeded as they pursued the wares in Charlotte that couldn't be found in Monroe.
The billboard is gone, and the civic-minded appeal isn't really needed any more -- retail has arrived in the county.
Population growth in Union and York counties has reached a critical mass, and developers are responding, providing another example of the axiom that retail follows rooftops.
Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show Union's population grew by 13% from April 2000 to July 2002, making it the fastest-growing county in North Carolina and the 20th-fastest in the country.
"Charlotte's growth has expanded into the surrounding counties, and western Union County is the hot spot," says Jim Carpenter, president of the Union County Chamber of Commerce. "We've got good schools, a pristine landscape, access to Charlotte -- everyone wants to live here."
Census data shows York is the second-fastest growing county in South Carolina, with a 5.6% population increase from April 2000 to July 2002. It also has the third-highest median family income in the state at $44,539.
"For a long time, we have lived in the shadow of south Charlotte," says Mark Farris, director at the York County Economic Development Board. "But rooftops have taken off, which has generated a demand for retail that we hadn't seen until the last few years. We're reaching a critical mass and are starting to keep the retail dollars at home, plus attracting some shoppers from Chester and Lancaster counties."
Figures from state revenue departments show an increase in both counties' sales. In York, gross sales totaled $3.25 billion in fiscal 2002. In fiscal 1990, the figure was $1.29 billion. In Union, sales totaled $1.4 billion in calendar year 2002; the total was $932 million in 1995.
Last year, Mecklenburg County lost $1 billion in retail sales, dropping to $15.4 billion from the 2001 total of $16.5 billion. That decline has caused some concern at the Charlotte Chamber, where officials say the county's tax rate and land-use regulations are not merchant- and shopper-friendly.
"To lose $1 billion in retail sales when we have a transit system being largely funded by a half-cent sales tax gives us some concern," Brian Schick, chamber group vice president, recently told the Charlotte Business Journal. "This is coupled with the indication that retail sales have been growing in some of our adjacent counties, such as Union and Cabarrus."
By building retail, Mecklenburg's neighbors are generating sales taxes, which is helping offset the cost of providing infrastructure for housing.
"We are embracing retail," says Al Black, mayor of Wesley Chapel. "People in Union want more services." Last fall, town voters easily approved -- with about 80% of the vote -- a referendum permitting the sale of beer and wine within the town.
The vote should mean the arrival of more restaurants, which rely on alcohol sales to boost profits. Harris Teeter says the vote means it will anchor the Village at Wesley Chapel, a 75,000-square-foot neighborhood center. When it opens next spring, it will add greatly to the town's current retail offerings -- a convenience store a half-mile from the shopping center. Across the street from the site are 44 undeveloped acres, which Black says the town would like to see developed as retail.
"People want retail development, and we're seeing an explosion of it," says Waxhaw town administrator Mike Simpson. Five shopping centers totaling about 100,000 square feet have been permitted in Waxhaw, he says.
The first bank and shopping center opened last fall in Stallings, and the town started its own police department July 1. "We need to provide services to attract business," says Mayor Lucy Drake.
Union residents are also eagerly anticipating the opening next summer of Idlewild Marketplace, a 125,000-square-foot neighborhood center being developed by Crescent Resources near Interstate 485. That center will be located across from a center being built by Charlotte-based Withrow Capital. Drake says the town has already annexed 60 acres in Union and 23 acres in Mecklenburg for the project, "so we could control the zoning."
The Phillips Place-like center got local permitting about 18 months ago, but hit a snag when the heelsplitter mussel, an endangered species, was found in streams on the property. Withrow is negotiating with the N.C. Fish and Wildlife Commission to protect the area while the project goes on.
"We think the site is appropriate, and Union County will do all it can to help the project go forward," Union County Manager Mike Shalati says. "We think it has a good chance of becoming a reality."
County government has its eye on the bottom line as much as retailers do. "Sales-tax revenues are extremely important to us, and whenever dollars are spent on the other side of the county line, it's a hardship for us," Shalati says. "By giving our residents retail options -- and quality ones -- we can interrupt dollars from leaving the county. Those sales-tax revenues come back to the county and to our schools and our people who need it."
But no one is supporting retail at any cost. Union has received an application from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to build a store at Tom Short and Rea roads, which has drawn stout opposition from residents of a nearby subdivision. Says Shalati, "Even if Wal-Mart doesn't locate there, someone else will. We'll talk with any group interested in developing retail."
Stallings is working with the Centralina Council of Governments to create a new land-use plan. "We can pick and choose the development we want and decide what we want to go where," Drake says. "We were a one-red-light industrial town until I-485 came along, and we're going through a transformation. We need to have a good plan, a good vision and a good staff."
Wesley Chapel is also writing a new land-use plan. "We want to keep our small-town flavor and prevent becoming one large commercial area -- people don't want that," Black says.
The Union towns of Marvin and Mineral Springs are limiting commercial projects. Carpenter says, "People want convenient shopping, but not too near. This requires the art of compromise."
In Monroe, the Union County seat, retail abounds along U.S. Highway 74, and outparcels at Lowe's and Wal-Mart stores are landing tenants. Monroe's Kmart, which was slated to close, will remain open.
Outside the city of York, on S.C. Highway 5, a Lowe's store will open this fall. In downtown Rock Hill, Winston-Salem based Landmark Asset Services/ Anderson Development Co. and Manchester Associates are planning separate residential-retail projects that will add more than 50,000 square feet of retail space.
At Interstate 77 and S.C. Highway 160 in Fort Mill, Coldwell Banker/The Tuttle Co. is planning a "sizeable retail complex" for next year, says developer Skip Tuttle, principal of Coldwell Banker Commercial/The Tuttle Co. He would not disclose details but notes, "it will be more than a neighborhood center" and "provide the next level of retail in Fort Mill."
The biggest retail news in York County in recent years is the 100-acre, $130 million mixed-use development, Manchester Village, at I-77 and Dave Lyle Boulevard near Galleria Mall.
All but 30,000 of the 350,000 square feet of retail space have been leased; tenants include Target, TJ Maxx, Consolidated Theaters, Linens 'n Things and Michael's. Most opened in the past year.
"Rock Hill has been underserved, but I don't think we're seeing a retail explosion here -- it took four years for Manchester Village to happen," says Tony Berry, the center's developer. He targeted retailers doing business in Pineville, where roughly 20% of their customer base lives in South Carolina.
"They knew they needed a presence here, and Manchester Village provided a good opportunity," Berry adds. "Yet their Pineville business has not dropped dramatically."
In addition to his downtown projects, Berry is also building Millwood Plantation, a 90-acre mixed-use development on Hurlong Avenue in Rock Hill. Along with housing, it will feature 60,000 square feet of specialty retail.
"There's a lot of opportunity for growth here," Berry says. "There are still about a dozen national retailers who'll come here in the next five years. There are plenty of good sites."
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