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The Growth Rate
Update: Golden Corral at 11016 Capital
Boulevard changed hands on Dec. 27. A group called HP-Wake Forest GC LLC that
was incorporated on Dec. 14 purchased the land and restaurant from The Corral
Group of Wake Forest LLC, formerly called Blackjack Investors. The only
information on the North Carolina Secretary of State’s web site is that the new
group, HP-Wake Forest, has as its agent a Raleigh attorney, James M. Day. The
Corral Group of Wake Forest was incorporated by several men from Jacksonville.
The purchase price, according to Wake
County land records, was $1.1 million.
Update: The Gazette
was incorrect on one point in the December 19 issue. The land for The
Meadows, a subdivision with 104 single-family homes on 38.58 acres on
the west side of North Main Street, was rezoned in June of 2007. The subdivision
is being developed by First American, an Apex firm, and Assistant Planning
Director Chad Sary is reviewing the construction plans. It will connect to
Barnford Mill Road in the Olde Mill Stream subdivision and have an entrance on
North Main Street.
Subdivisions in progress
This is an incomplete list but gives readers a
taste of the residential building underway in town, which had a population of
about 5,700 in 1990. The town’s planning department estimates there are over
25,000 residents in mid-2007. You can calculate 2.6 residents for each dwelling
unit. The town has approved 6,592 homes that remain to be built, including
these below.
- The Alexan at
Ligon Mill
will have 288 apartments in 12 buildings along the future extension of
Ligon Mill Road between Wal-Mart to the south, the future Shoppes at
Caveness Farm to the west and Caveness Farm Apartments to the north. It
was approved at the May 15 town board meeting, and most of the work will
be done in 2008.
- Holding Village will have about
1,350 homes – apartments, condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes
– on 256 acres between the N.C. 98 bypass to the north, the CSX rail line
and South Main Street to the west and Heritage to the south. The town
commissioners approved it on May 15.
- Austin Creek on N.C. 98 east
of town will have 430 single-family homes and 196 townhomes when complete
in about 2015. Beazer Homes is the builder.
- Bowling Green, which will
connect internally to Austin Creek subdivision and have entrances on N.C.
98 and Jones Dairy Road, will have 283 single-family homes and 94
townhouses in 2010, when the project is slated to be complete.
- Homes are being
built in Saddle Run, a 34-home subdivision on Chalks Road.
- Heritage North will have 387
homes when built out in 2011 or so. It lies along Heritage Lake Road.
- Reynolds Mill on Forbes Road
and the future Ligon Mill Road has begun construction of the 125
single-family homes planned in the first phase.
- Shearon Farms has nearly
completed its single-family section and has just begun the 372 townhouses
and apartments planned for that subdivision along Capital Boulevard just
north of the Neuse River and south of Burlington Mills Road.
- Heritage South and
Wildflower are jointly planned subdivisions south of Rogers Road. Heritage
South will have 444 single-family homes. Wildflower, approved in 2004,
will have 111 single-family homes and 165 townhouses.
- Dansforth on Burlington
Mills Road was approved in 2001 for 313 single-family homes and is
expected to complete the last 33 homes this year.
- Thornrose, which is
connected internally to Dansforth, is on Forestville Road, and
almost all its 187 homes have been built..
- Stonegate at St.
Andrews on
Forestville Road was approved in 2004 for 691 single-family and
multi-family lots. About 400 single-family homes and 217 multi-family
homes remain to be built.
- The Registry at
Bennett Park
will be 31 single-family lots along an extension of West Holding Avenue,
bounded on the west by Richland Creek. The master plan was approved in
June of this year.
Subdivisions in review
·
Assistant
Planning Director Chad Sary is reviewing the master plan for Traditions,
a multi-use subdivision and retirement community on 357 acres on the
west side of the Smith Creek reservoir, stretching from Wait Avenue (N.C. 98)
north to the Franklin County line. Construction of a substantial portion of the
North Loop as well as improvements to Oak Grove Church Road and Gilcrest Farm
Road are included in the plans.
·
About
100 homes would be built in a new phase of Flaherty Farms subdivision if the
plans are approved by the planning and town boards. On Sept. 18, the town’s
Comprehensive Planning Committee agreed Millridge Companies could move forward
with the plans, still preliminary, based on the public benefits of the
construction of a portion of the North Loop and the infill character. There
will be no irrigation tied to the town’s water system.
·
Olde Wake Forest was reviewed by the town’s
Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday, Dec. 18, and it is now going
through the review process in the planning department.
·
Olde Chestnut Townes is planned as 32 affordable townhouses
on West Chestnut Avenue. The CPC sent this forward for planning department
review on April 17.
Future shopping centers
- Planner Ann Ayers
is reviewing the development plan for Quail Crossing, a shopping
center proposed on 13.48 acres in the southeast corner of the N.C. 98
bypass and Jones Dairy Road. The plan was submitted by Chas H. Sells for
JDH Capital and calls for 48,128 square feet of retail space and two
out-parcels. The zoning on the land is conditional use highway business.
- It was announced
as Wake Forest Towne Center but it is now called Wake Union Place and
it is the major shopping center planned for the former Parker-Hannifin
site on Wake Union Church Road. J.C. Penney will be the anchor store. Wake
Forest planner Ann Ayers is reviewing a preliminary site plan which calls
for Wake Union Church Road to end at the southern edge of the center site.
A new street, not named, will turn west beside the Sleep Inn, then turn to
the north adjacent to the St. Ive’s subdivision and end at the northern
edge of the property. In the future, plans are to connect it to Jenkins
Road. A second street, running east and west, will connect the first
street to Capital Boulevard at the existing traffic signal. Twelve retail
stores in a strip design and five out-parcels are shown in the present
site plan. The plan does include the two-acre site for the west side fire
station between Kearney and the new unnamed street, with access only on
the unnamed street. The center is a project of Wake Forest developer Jim
Adams and the national firm Weingarten Realty Investors. You can see all
the details if you attend the neighborhood meeting Wednesday, Dec. 19,
from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Alston-Massenburg Center, 416 N. Taylor St.
- Kohl’s will be the
second anchor for Wake Forest Crossing shopping center on Capital
Boulevard. The first anchor is Lowes Foods. The next series of shops will
be built north of the present buildings, and there will be a second entrance/exit
for the shopping center on Stadium Drive west of the seminary cemetery.
- Lowes Foods will
be the grocery store anchor for Gateway Commons Shopping Center
where Jones Dairy Road meets the N.C. 98 bypass. The shopping center will
also be accessible from Heritage Lake Road and Friendship Chapel Road. The
plan for the center was approved by the Wake Forest Town Board on May 15.
- Purnell Place on the east side
of Capital Boulevard north of Harris Road was approved by the Wake Forest
Town Board in August. The developer, Regency Center of Raleigh, plans to
build 80,000 square feet of retail and commercial space in three
buildings, and there will be four out-parcels. The anchor reportedly will
be a Harris-Teeter grocery store.
- On Nov. 8, the
planning board recommended approval of an increase in the height of the
hotel developer Daryl Cady plans for La Scala on Star Road just north
of Living Word Family Church. Plans are for a 60-foot high, four-story,
90-room hotel near the road facing a 28,800-square-foot office building.
Behind those buildings will be a large ballroom/convention building.
- The Wake Forest
Planning Department is also reviewing the master plan for La
Scala phases two through four on 85.5 acres along Star Road. It
includes 239,200 square feet of office space, 375,250 square feet of
retail space and a 40,000-square-foot hotel. The zoning is highway
business.
- The Shoppes at
Caveness Farm is apparently for sale. The shopping center has an
approved master plan, one done when the land was rezoned, and Weingarten
Realty Investors, the current owner, had announced Steinmart would be one
of the tenants.
Future and recent restaurants
- Planner Ann Ayers
is reviewing development plans for a Sonic restaurant at 1925 S.
Main St. which is now an open lot. Until recently, it held two model
houses built by Carolina Model Home Corporation. The plan was submitted by
JOROMI Properties LLC, a Raleigh corporation, which bought the land for
$580,000 in July. The zoning is highway business.
- Cinelli’s, a pizza
restaurant, will open next year in Heritage Station at the intersection of
Rogers and Forestville roads. This is a local chain, an offshoot of the
original Cinelli’s restaurant in New York City that is owned and operated
by Joseph Cinelli. His Tar Heel brothers – Gaitano (Guy), Gianni and Peter
– own the other local Cinelli’s in Durham, Cary and Raleigh, and two of
them own the restaurant with their names in the Wakefield Commons Shopping
Center on New Falls of the Neuse Road.
- The Well, a combination
church and coffee house, will be located at 1248 S. Main St. once major
renovations of the old house, known as the Little House, are complete.
- The Mellow
Mushroom will be built at the corner of Wake Drive and South Main
Street (U.S. 1-A) between the American Pride carwash and Taco Bell. The
master plan was approved by the town board at its May meeting, and
construction plans are under review.
New stores and services
- The planning
board recommended approval of Lasersplash Car Wash on 1.69
acres on Rogers and Forestville roads on Nov. 8, but the town
commissioners delayed action on the request at their Nov. 20 meeting,
citing the drought.
- Two developers
have submitted plans for Walgreen’s drug stores, one in
the southwest corner where the N.C. 98 bypass meets South Main Street
(U.S. 1-A) and one in the southeast corner. The developer for the
southwest corner lot does have permission from the state Department of
Transportation for a right-in, right-out access to the bypass. “I made
them talk to each other,” planner Ann Ayers said.
- The construction
plans for Rapid Strikes Family Entertainment Center – which was
first called Wake Forest Family Entertainment Center – are under review.
It would be built on 4.5 acres along Rogers Road between the entrance to
The Factory and its ball fields and the CSX railroad line. Mark Wallace of
Wake Forest wants to build 32 bowling lanes, a laser tag room, a game room
and a party room. The land is zoned for highway business.
- An RBC
Bank in Heritage Square at 3619 Roger Road is being built and two
adjacent office buildings are planned..
- The Stecker
Building Two will have 9,311 square feet for retail and flex
space. It will be behind the Porter Paint Store at 1219 S. Main St., and
was recently approved by the planning and town boards.
- Some of the national
stores said to be looking at Wake Forest are J.C. Penney, Marshall’s and
T.J. Maxx.
- An Aaron
Rents Furniture store is seeking Wake Forest Planning Department
approval for a store on an out-parcel at Wake Pointe Shopping Center
(Wal-Mart).
Government projects
- The construction
along Falls of the Neuse Road, Old N.C. 98 and N.C.
98 is being done by contractors for the Raleigh Public Utilities
Department who are laying a large water line from the new elevated water
storage tank on Falls to existing lines in Wake Forest. When it is
completed, the new line will correct long-standing water pressure problems
in the northern part of town because the tank is in a higher pressure zone
– stands higher above sea level – than other water tanks in town.
- The Wake County
Board of Education is purchasing – if the county commissioners give their
approval – a 29-acre site on the east side of Capital Boulevard half a
mile north of Stadium Drive for a new elementary school that
will open in 2010. The school board has agreed to pay $2.76 million to
Capital Boulevard Business Center owned by a group called The Wright
People: Ricky Wright, Robert Neeb and Martin Nassif. The school may be
built in a public-private partnership, with private developers building
the school and leasing it to the school system.
- The grading on
the south side of the N.C. 98 bypass near Richland Creek is for the town’s
second electric substation. A second grading site closer to South
Main Street is for the extension of Siena Drive.
- The site plan for
the new Wake Forest Town Hall was approved by the planning board
on Nov. 8 and will be considered by the town commissioners on Nov. 20.
Groundbreaking will be sometime next spring, and Town Manager Mark
Williams says it will be complete in the fall of 2009 in time for the
final centennial celebration.
- A modular
building that will be the new American Legion hall is on its
site on East Holding Avenue between the water tower and the North Wake
Senior Center. The town is constructing the new building as part of its
contract with the American Legion to purchase the existing building and
land on East Owen Avenue for the future town hall.
- Thompson
Construction is totally changing the landscape at the 110.5-acre site on
Forestville Road that will be Heritage High School. Steel
construction is underway. The school is slated to open in the fall of
2009, and the Wake County Board of Education wants it to house the Wake
Forest-Rolesville High School student body while that school undergoes
major renovations in the 2009-10 school year. The site will also have a
town park with ball fields.
- The grand opening
for the Northern Regional Center on East Holding Avenue next to
the Wake Forest Library will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9. The third
regional center Wake County has built, it will offer a number of services.
Commercial projects
- Planner Ann Ayers
is reviewing the construction plan for Thales Academy, a
new private school planned by Bob Luddy, the founder of Franklin Academy.
It will be built at the end of Heritage Trade Drive on 4.6 acres zoned
highway business.
- The development
plan for Siena Office Park is under review. Plans are for medical
and general offices on 8 acres in the southeast corner of the N.C. 98
bypass and Siena Drive. The zoning is conditional use office and
institutional, and Joel Moulin submitted the plan.
- Planner Ann Ayers
is reviewing the construction plan for the Gibson Office Park
at the corner of U.S. 1 (Capital Boulevard) and Burlington Mills Road.
- A very new
development is 900 Franklin Street planned for a mix of uses: retail,
restaurant, personal service and office. The project would be on 1.1 acres
in the northwest corner of the N.C 98 bypass and South Franklin Street.
The zoning is for the central area of the Renaissance Plan. The plan was
submitted by Hale Architecture and the engineering firm of Bass, Nixon
& Kennedy.
- Planner Ann Ayers
is reviewing a development plan for a 48,000-square-foot building in the
southwest corner of the N.C. 98 bypass and Siena Drive requested by the Corporate
Chaplains of America. The zoning is conditional use office and
institutional. The Corporate Chaplains of America now lease space along
South Main Street, and Jim Dyer (better known this month as Santa Claus)
is one of the chaplains.
- Steel Dynamics
has pulled a building permit for a $6.95-million medical office building
at 1912 Heritage Branch Road, the future home for the American Institute of
Healthcare & Fitness Wake Forest. It will offer a
comprehensive approach to health care for people of all ages. The owner is
Heritage Medical Office Associates LLC. See the Oct. 25 issue of the
Gazette for more information.
- Although there is
a sign along the N.C. 98 bypass saying there are retail opportunities for Siena
Station, planner Ann Ayers said no plans have been submitted yet
for that parcel, which is on the north side of the bypass. You can go to
the Gazette archives for 2006 and see the full story about the rezoning
for the tract in the Feb. 1 and Feb. 22 issues.
- The plans for Caveness
Corner, a 12,000-square-foot building to house small shops, are
being reviewed by the Wake Forest Planning Department. Planner Ann Ayers
said two fast-food restaurants are also tentatively planned on out-parcels
for The Shoppes at Caveness Farm in addition to the
restaurants already opened or being built. The shopping center is
reportedly being sold.
- Clearing has
begun for Heritage Center, a four-lot commercial subdivision at the
corner of South Main Street and Rogers Road. The entrance is on Rogers
Road, and the street named Heritage Center Drive will connect to Farm
Road, a dead-end dirt road.
- The Lodge at Wake
Forest
will be a three-story, 118-unit apartment building for active seniors on
the east side of South Main Street just south of the N.C. 98 bypass. The
apartments will not have kitchens. The residents, who are expected to be single
people in their 80s who do not need assistance, will eat meals in the
communal dining room.
- Construction is
almost complete for a 32,000-square-foot, two-story building that will be Heritage
Medical Park on Rogers Road behind BB&T Bank and The Factory. The
developer is a group called Vanguard, headed by George Venters of Raleigh.
One of the tenants will be a specialized pediatric dentist.
Church Projects
·
The Stephenson Center is planned as a
church and a family life center on the 12-acre tract owned by Wake Forest
Baptist Church. The development plan calls for a building or buildings totaling
44,586 square feet. The zoning is rural holding, and churches are a permitted
use in that district. There is access from Wake Union Church Road; the land
lies between it and N.C. 98. Recently Wake Forest Baptist has used the land for
its summer outdoor movie series and for the Christmas tree sales.
Send
your questions about growth to 556-3409 or cwpelosi@aol.com.
Go to www.wakeforestnc.gov
and click on “plan review information” for the status. For information about
the Community Plan that will supplant the present Land Use Management Plan, go
to www.wakeforestnc.gov.
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