Antiquity, a smart-growth community located 20 miles north of Charlotte in downtown Cornelius, N.C., will develop a new 53,000-s.f. Harris Teeter grocery store with a drive-thru pharmacy to anchor the community’s retail town center. Groundbreaking for the new Harris Teeter store is April 2014 and it will open the in the first quarter of 2015, according to Cam Finley, developer of Antiquity.
“We are very proud to announce the addition of Harris Teeter to Antiquity,” said Will Whitley, exclusive leasing agent with New South Properties. “As our anchor store, we expect Harris Teeter to generate significant retail synergy attracting the perfect mix of retailers to serve the residents and neighbors of the Antiquity community, Cornelius and Davidson.”
Added Paula Saunders of New South Properties who is working with Whitley, “The reason I love the Antiquity/Harris Teeter Center is because it is different. To me, the story is more about the unique lifestyle within walking distance that can be shared with family and friends. It’s a great vision that the city planners and the developer have for the town of Cornelius as they manage their amazing growth in a responsible way. This planned community has a special charm that will allow Harris Teeter and other retailers to interact with the residents of Antiquity and the surrounding communities in that small town way.”
Scott Wippels, VP of Harris Teeter, said, “Harris Teeter anticipates opening its 53,000-s.f. store in the Antiquity development in 2015. The location will feature a Starbucks and pharmacy among other Harris Teeter amenities, including our Fishermans Market, Butchers Market, Fresh Food Market and Farmers Market.”
Antiquity also is connected to Davidson, N.C., via a covered bridge that has become a local landmark. The Antiquity community and Cornelius were both featured in a recent episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters.” The community has been developed to attract residents of all ages and stages of life, including couples, growing families, young professionals and empty nesters. The average household income within three miles of Antiquity is $108,000. Beginning in 2008, 407 of the total of the planned 489 single-family and townhomes are complete and occupied. All remaining lots are committed to current builders.
“From a residential perspective, Antiquity has performed at or near the top of all Charlotte area communities even, and especially, through the toughest years. I live in Cornelius and I love to hear how everyone wants to live in Antiquity,” said Joe Roy, owner of Meeting Street Homes & Communities and one of the developers behind Antiquity. “A friend and resident stopped me recently and expressed their surprise and joy in downsizing to their new townhome in Antiquity. He said, ‘We were afraid to make such a big change but it affords us so much freedom, now we just lock it up and leave…’ And then he added, ‘When is the Harris Teeter going to get here?’”
Currently, there are 96 apartments in Antiquity. Solstice Partners LLC also is developing a senior project that will consist of 86 one- and two-bedroom apartments that will be available to those age 55 and older. Groundbreaking is set for the spring of 2014. A site next to Harris Teeter for an additional 300 apartments is available and talks are under way with potential developers. Preferred single-family homebuilders in the Antiquity community are The Cunnane Group, Meeting Street Homes & Communities, Landis Reed Homes, Ryan Homes and M/I Homes. Upon full build-out, more than 1,000 households, estimated at 2,300 people, will call Antiquity home. This represents 10 percent of the total population of Cornelius.
A junior Olympic-size swimming pool with a bathhouse has been open in Antiquity for the past three years. The community also plans to add an arts center, town green, several mini-parks, a 20-acre linear park adjacent the village, a hiking and biking trail connecting to the existing greenway trails, as well as an outdoor amphitheater. Residents will be close to schools in both Cornelius and Davidson, with the campus of Davidson College less than a mile away.
Cam Finley with Venture Properties, in North Wilkesboro, N.C., is the master developer of Antiquity. Formed in 1990, the firm has served as a primary developer for more than 100 commercial real estate projects located primarily throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
