Cornelius plan: a complete package

North Carolina town is seeking a master developer for a 125-acre transit-oriented project. It’s difficult to imagine a more complete vision of smart growth in the suburbs than the combination town center and transit- oriented development (TOD) sponsored by the Town of Cornelius, north of Charlotte. The 10-acre town center, already under construction, is the redevelopment of a former textile mill into a main street, offices, and civic buildings, including a new town hall. Just planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company in March, 2000, is a TOD adjacent to the town center. A light rail line terminating in downtown Charlotte will run through the middle of the two developments. The town center, on the west side of the tracks, is built on an existing road network that already has significant traffic counts — which ensures the viability of retail. A grocery store and other retail, totaling 40,000 square feet, has already been constructed on the site — in addition to a 25,000 square foot town hall. The town center also includes 50 townhomes and live/work units along the main street, and an undetermined amount of office space. The town center was planned by the Shook Design Group and is being developed by the McAdams Company. The TOD, on the east side of the tracks, adds the crucial component of a town square — which will serve as the locus of major civic events. The plan for the new neighborhood is inspired by the work of early 20th century town planner John Nolen, who designed Myers Park near Charlotte, among other highly regarded communities. The TOD will be fairly dense, with 950 residential units, 136,000 square feet of offices, 26,000 square feet of retail, and sites for civic buildings. Cornelius, a rapidly expanding suburb in north Mecklenburg County, has no true historic center. Along with two other north Mecklenburg towns — Davidson and Huntersville — Cornelius has adopted new urbanist planning principles. “The vision all along has been to do the planning part as a town, and then sell the land and the plan to a developer or a group of developers,” says Cornelius town manager Bob Race. “It’s an approach that allows the town to control what our leaders believe is a critical piece of land for both the town center and the coming transit.” Developers interested in implementing the plan should contact the Town of Cornelius: 704-892-6031.