The following article appeared in the 10/23/24 edition of The Charlotte Ledger:
Plans for new townhouses on site of Asian Corner Mall in Sugar Creek; latest wave of development marches further north
An 11-acre portion of the former Asian Corner Mall on East Sugar Creek Road near North Tryon Street will become nearly 200 townhouses. (Google Street View)
by Tony Mecia
Radiating from uptown, there are new apartments under construction along Wilkinson Boulevard.
There are new restaurants stretching down Freedom Drive, apartments and retail down Graham Street toward Camp North End and down South Tryon toward LoSo.
Charlotte’s urban core is expanding. It is venturing into areas that just a few years ago might have seemed unsuitable for upscale new housing.
The latest example: townhouses along Sugar Creek Road, near the intersection with North Tryon Street. Developer Beauxwright on Tuesday announced plans for 186 townhomes on 11 acres on the site of the old Asian Corner Mall, in a development to be known as “Sugar Yards.”
Homebuilder Toll Brothers will build 119 three-story townhouses, with 3-4 bedrooms, 3.5-4.5 baths, two-car garages and a rooftop terrace with views of uptown. Copper Builders will construct 67 build-to-rent townhomes. A Toll Brothers official said the new homes will “showcase the latest in modern Charlotte living.”
Construction in the area north of NoDa has taken off recently, with new housing, an arthouse movie theater, a “coffee and cocktail music lounge” and the planned relocation of Plaza Midwood restaurant Soul Gastrolounge.
It's part of a larger trend of development inching outward from uptown.
“There’s been a wave of development in all these areas, like Wilkinson, Freedom, FreeMoreWest, Sugar Creek — all of these main arteries to uptown,” says Jay Royster, owner of Royster Commercial Real Estate.
He says that as developers are confronting the reality that finding big plots of suitable land close to uptown is becoming more challenging, they’re looking in new areas.
“The real question is, where and how does Charlotte continue to grow in a sustainable way?” he says.
He says he expects additional deals and construction in areas such as Sugar Creek to the north and down South Boulevard to the south — but it might be slow-going until Charlotte adjusts to a recent building boom of apartments.
“The cost of construction, combined with the current interest rate environment, is leading to a reset in property values and owner expectations,” he says.
Brad Ritter, executive director of the Independent Picture House, which opened in the area in 2022, says he welcomes the cinema’s new neighbors. It’s wrapping up construction on a fourth theater.
“We got in earlier than just about everybody else, so it’s great to see the neighborhood expand and all the construction that is coming along,” he says. “We are super excited. It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood.”