See the construction and progress of Charlotte's new River District

• Crescent Communities, the developer behind the project, expects to be ready for the first residents before the end of the year.

The big picture: The long-term vision for The River District calls for millions of square feet of retail, office and mixed-use space, up to 2,350 multifamily residential units and 2,300 single-family homes.

• The first 70-acre phase, under construction and called Westrow, will eventually connect to future phases via nature trails and hard-surface bike and walking paths.
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is also in the early stages of planning a new elementary and middle school on nearly 50 acres.

Catch up quick: The River District is over a decade in the making. Ground broke in 2022 to build infrastructure, like water, sewer and roads.

• Construction is scheduled to begin late this summer on The Forge, a village featuring a playground, a 2-acre farm, a lawn pavilion for events, a building with a café and a store selling produce from the farm, and a restaurant with an outdoor space.

What they're saying: "Timeline-wise, we're right on target," says Rainer Ficken, The River District's senior managing director, during a recent tour with Axios.

• He's not worried about slowing down, even as development stalls across the city amid concerns about tariffs and economic uncertainty.
• "It may mean that you look at your building materials and things like that, and maybe you pivot," Ficken says of tariff threats. "But the reality is if everybody's in the same boat, it doesn't create a competitive advantage or disadvantage."

Go on a tour with us of the construction progress so far.

West Boulevard was extended over three-quarters of a mile, with two lanes in each direction. The bike lanes are protected from car traffic with trees and greenery.

This is one of the buildings for the NOVEL River District, a 318-apartment complex comprising seven structures in total.

• Crescent has NOVEL properties across North Carolina, from NOVEL Ballantyne to NOVEL Cary.
• Construction started on the apartments in 2024.

This is NOVEL's clubhouse and leasing center. A swimming pool is being built behind the building.

Later this year, local developer Laurel Street Residential will begin constructing an 87-unit building, targeting residents who earn 80% or less of the area's median income.

These townhomes, built by Toll Brothers, will start in the $500,000s.

• As you move further from the main roads, the development intentionally becomes less dense, transitioning from apartments to townhomes to single-family homes.

David Weekley Homes has already finished The River District's first model home. It will begin showing the property in mid-May.

• Four builders — David Weekley Homes, DRB Homes, Toll Brothers and Saussy Burbank — are constructing single-family homes on an initial 267 lots.
• The official grand opening for the builders is slated for September.
• "All indications are that sales will be very strong," Ficken says.
• Construction is also underway on River Point, the next phase of The River District further south, for another 219 houses. River Point will provide the first connection to the Catawba River and a new riverfront park, expected to open in summer 2028.

"I can only imagine a year and a half from now, if we are standing here again, it's gonna look so, so different," Ficken says. "And we're gonna have people walking up and down these sidewalks."

Over 500 acres of The River District will be preserved as green space, including greenways, trails and parks.

Here's another view of the construction at the intersection of West Boulevard and Dixie River Road.

• The site is less than a 10-minute drive from Charlotte Douglas International Airport.