Huntersville approves $200M Birkdale Village expansion

• Over the next few years, Birkdale will evolve from a place for shoppers and diners to a next-level, mixed-use destination, bringing daily office workers, new residents and travelers to the village.

What they're saying: Commissioner Nick Walsh, who made the motion to approve the rezoning, said he supports the project and "all the new life it will breathe into Birkdale Village."

• "For this board to ignore the next phase in its evolution would simply be short-sighted," Walsh added.
• The developer, Jamestown, agreed to commit $2.5 million to build a vehicular bridge over Townley Road, a project estimated to cost between $7.5 million and $10 million.
• Supporters suggest the opposition represents a loud minority and argue Birkdale's expansion will decrease car dependency, increase tax revenue and introduce rare Class A office space to northern Mecklenburg County.
• Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce unanimously endorsed the rezoning petition, calling it "a great investment in the town and our future as a community."

The other side: Some neighbors, concerned about Huntersville's fast growth, cited concerns over straining infrastructure, exacerbating traffic and making parking shortages worse.

• Commissioner Amanda Dumas cast the sole dissenting vote. She disagreed with the proposed hotel location and said the $2.5 million allocated for the bridge was too low.

Catch up quick: This was Jamestown's second attempt to secure a rezoning. A previous request — denied in 2023 in a 4-2 vote — called for a seven-story office tower and seven-story parking garage.

• The prior proposal initially included the hotel and multifamily buildings, but Jamestown scaled back the plans to ease resistance and try to win approval. Still, it failed.
• This time, Jamestown's rezoning passed with components of that original submission reinstated: the hotel and multifamily buildings.
• The town board makeup has changed since that last vote too. Huntersville elected a new mayor and a majority of freshman commissioners in the November 2023 election.

What's inside: The approved site plans include:

• A seven-story, 175,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail, replacing Barnes & Noble.
• A seven-story hotel with 125 rooms, parking and a 3,000-square-foot full-service restaurant and bar to be built in the parking lot across from Barnes & Noble. While a hotel brand has not been named, it is expected to compare in quality to an Autograph Collection or AC by Marriott.
• A six-story, 150-unit apartment building, replacing Dick's Sporting Goods, with retail. Ten units would be permanently affordable for households earning between 80% and 100% of the area median income.

• A five-story and seven-story parking deck. These decks replace two other decks but add 607 net spaces to Birkdale.
• Overall the project adds 26,715 square feet of commercial space for new businesses.

The intrigue: Since Birkdale's creation, the intention has always been to expand with a hotel, multifamily buildings and offices. In the early 2000s, the village's pedestrian friendliness and mix of uses was ahead of its time — for the U.S. That design has contributed to Birkdale's success, outlasting suburban big-box developments and dying shopping malls.

• David Walters, a planning consultant for the time around Birkdale's creation, supports the second phase.
• "Towns cannot stand still and prosper. Stasis breeds decay," he says.

What's next: Jamestown will first demolish Barnes & Noble and build a parking deck before it breaks ground on the office, no sooner than 2027.

• Residential construction is four to five years out and cannot start until the second parking deck is built.
• Jamestown will begin securing tenants, including a hotel brand, now that the rezoning has been approved.
• Barnes & Noble and Dick's could relocate to smaller spaces as their leases expire in the coming years.