The River District's first apartments break ground
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Courtesy of Crescent Communities
Construction has started on a 318-unit apartment complex in The River District, Mecklenburg County's largest master development plan since Ballantyne.
Why it matters: This marks the first building construction to rise at Crescent Communities' master-planned community. So far, all work has been flat infrastructure, like water, sewer and road.
- The River District in west Charlotte will eventually span 1,400 acres between the Catawba River and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
Zoom in: The first residents are expected to move into the complex, called NOVEL River District, in early 2026. There will be studios and one-, and two-bedrooms.
- Crescent has several NOVEL properties across North Carolina, like NOVEL Ballantyne and NOVEL Cary.
The big picture: Once fully built, The River District will have a riverfront park, up to 8 million square feet of commercial space, 500,000 square feet of retail space, 2,300 single-family homes and 2,350 multi-family residential units.
- Charlotte developer Laurel Street Residential starts soon on an 87-unit mixed-income building.
- Work on an initial 267 single-family homes will also begin soon.
Here's a rough look at the past and future timeline of The River District:
- 2016: After years of stalled development discussions, Crescent Communities reveals its proposal for The River District, which has long been Charlotte's largest swath of remaining undeveloped land.
- 2022-2024: Crescent builds the roads, utilities and other infrastructure necessary to make The River District land livable.
- September 2024: An expansion of West Boulevard into The River District opens.
- November 2024: Crescent Communities announces the development's first vertical construction, as the NOVEL apartments break ground.
- Early 2025: Construction on model homes is expected to begin.
- End of 2025: All single-family homes in The River District's first phase, "Westrow," should be completed. The second phase will be called the "Basswood" neighborhood.
- Early 2026: NOVEL River District is expected to welcome its first residents.
