Lake Norman Chamber Officially Supports Village At Lake Norman

 

Cornelius Bromont Team Presents To Cornelius Town Board, Citizens Speak In Favor of Project

Cornelius Bromont Team Presents To Cornelius Town Board,
Citizens Speak In Favor of Project
For Immediate Release 2/19/08

The Cornelius Bromont team, developers of the planned Village At Lake
Norman, presented additional expert testimony regarding their project
to the Cornelius (NC) Town Board Monday night, and numerous citizens
spoke in support of the project.
Expert testimony about the quality of projects that Bromont has
developed and built over the past 30 years was presented by Charles
MacLean III, a Phoenix AZ architect who has designed 25 multi-tenant
and mixed-use projects for Bromont and its chairman, Walt Rector.
"Many of these projects were large in size, designed to blend in with
the local community, featured extensive landscaping above underground
parking, and exhibited a high level of design detail, much as you will
see with the Village At Lake Norman," MacLean said. "You can be assured
that the new project will be of the highest quality."
Dan McGinnis, vice president of CB Richard Ellis, explained how
Cornelius's strong demographics, including an on-going population
increase of 25 percent every five years and average household income in
excess of $110,000, is very appealing to potential retail and
restaurant tenants.
"This is why we are here," McGinnis said. "And this is why some of the
leading retailers in the country are interested in being a part of this
project. We plan to bring to Cornelius high-quality, national and
regional retailers and restaurants that will be great assets to the
community."
A number of local citizens, including property owners and adjacent
businesses, spoke in favor of the project. Third-party consultants
including Rose & Associates Southeast, LandDesign and Parsons
Brinckerhoff were hired by the Town to provide objective assessment of
the project's design and plans.
"We very much appreciate the Town's due diligence, and felt that
overall the third-party consultants were quite positive about our
project and its chances for success," said Josh Rector, project manager
for Cornelius Bromont, LLC. "We also appreciate that the Town Board
extended the meeting until almost 11:30 p.m., because they are
committed to do the right thing for Cornelius, as are we. We trust that
our experts' testimony and the support of numerous local citizens
further strengthened their confidence in our Design Team, our plans,
and the many benefits this will bring the Town."
The next Town Board meeting in the review process will be at 7 p.m.
Monday, March 3, in Town Hall, focusing on the financial aspects of the
Village At Lake Norman.
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[Media Contact: Buck Lawrimore, 704-332-4344,
Email: Buck (at) Lciweb.com]

Sons Of Norway Charlotte 3-679 New Lodge Organizational and FUN Meeting

Charlotte and the Carolinas area are organizing a SON Lodge for
fellowship, sharing, monthly gatherings, community support and
interaction, diversity activities, fun heritage events and learning.
We want you and your families to join us! Be on our mailing list,
attend gatherings, participate in parades and activities, orienteering,
travel, experience and share with us! Our next meeting will establish
our formal new lodge name, our meeting schedule and location, our next
6 months of adventures and activities, a Norwegian May 17th –
Constitution Day Celebration in Charlotte and much more.

The mission of Sons of Norway is to promote and preserve the heritage
and culture of Norway and provide quality insurance and financial
products to its members.

Sons of Norway was organized as a fraternal benefit society by 18
Norwegian immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 16, 1895.
The purposes and goals of the Founding Fathers were to protect members
of Sons of Norway and their families from the financial hardships
experienced during times of sickness or death in the family. Over time,
the mission of Sons of Norway was expanded to include the preservation
of Norwegian heritage and culture in our Society. We have grown since
our beginning and are now the largest Norwegian organization outside
Norway.

We promote Norwegian traditions and fraternal fellowship through the
cultural and social opportunities offered in local lodge and district
lodge activities. These activities include language camps and classes,
scholarships, handicrafts, cooking and heritage classes, heritage
programs, sports programs, travel opportunities, Viking Magazine, and
outreach programs sponsored by the Sons of Norway Foundation.

Join us!

2/23/2008 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
1900 The Plaza
Charlotte NC 28205

For more information contact: Carol King at 704-824-9069 or email:
ckingnc@bellsouth.net

Village At Lake Norman Plans Open Meetings, Launches Email Newsletter

Village At Lake Norman Team Plans Open Meetings,
Launches New Email Newsletter For Community
For Immediate Release 2/7/08

The Village At Lake Norman development team is inviting the community
to open meetings on Feb. 15 and 20, and has launched an email
newsletter to keep the community informed.
"We have had good online feedback and questions from the community via
the feedback page of our website," said Project Manager Josh Rector of
Cornelius Bromont, LLC. "The team has already conducted several
community meetings. We are eager to continue this process with anyone
in the community and provide them all the facts, answer questions, and
listen to their feedback."
The new meetings will be 2-4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, in Room 202 of Town
Hall, and also 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20.
Additionally the development team is launching an email newsletter to
keep subscribers up to date on new developments concerning the Village
At Lake Norman. A subscription form is on the website at

http://www.corneliusbromont.com/news.html .
"We would like to keep the community informed about our project on an
on-going basis," Rector said. "This project will offer many benefits in
terms of on-site shopping, business, restaurant, hotel and
entertainment amenities, and off-site in terms of the widening of I-77,
Statesville Road and Westmoreland Road. It is also estimated to create
many new jobs and millions in new property taxes."
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(Media contact: Buck Lawrimore, Lawrimore Inc., 704-332-4344,

http://www.Lciweb.com)

Cornelius Planning Board Approves Rezoning For The Village At Lake Norman, Town Board Is Next

Cornelius Planning Board Approves Rezoning
For The Village At Lake Norman, Town Board Is Next
For Immediate Release Feb. 1, 2008

The Town of Cornelius, NC, Planning Board has approved a detailed
Development Agreement allowing rezoning of a 104-acre site on the south
side of the town for development of the project known as The Village At
Lake Norman.
Unanimous approval came in a special called meeting of the Planning
Board Friday afternoon, Feb. 1. The plans must now be approved by the
Cornelius Town Board, which has scheduled its first meeting to review
the project, the largest in Cornelius's history, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb.
4 in Town Hall.
Plans call for the $500 million project to include a mix of retail,
restaurants, office, condominiums, hotels, parks, a large Village
Green, developed by Cornelius Bromont, LLC, a partnership of Bromont of
Scottsdale AZ and Carlsen Douglas Development of Huntersville, NC. Part
of the plans yet to be approved by the Town Board as well as county,
state and federal authorities, calls for using a portion of the new
property taxes generated by the Village At Lake Norman to make major
transportation improvements.
Those improvements would include widening of I-77 to three lanes in
each direction, from south of Exit 23 to Exit 28, and a fourth lane as
needed between Exit 25 to Exit 28. A new Exit 27 would be built at I-77
and Westmoreland Road. A new east-west bridge would carry the realigned
Bailey Road over I-77, paving the way for future development on the
other side of the interstate. Statesville Road/Highway 21 would be
widened to four lanes including a landscaped median and turn lanes
where needed. Turn lanes would be added and signal timing improved in
numerous locations.
"We are very pleased that the Planning Board has approved our project,
which we believe will be of tremendous benefit to the people of
Cornelius and the surrounding community," said Walt Rector, president
of Bromont, the lead developer. "We appreciate the exceptional amount
of time these volunteer citizens and Town staff devoted to reviewing
and analyzing our project. We sincerely hope that the Town Board will
give our rezoning request and financing agreement approval in the near
future, as we have some significant tenants interested in this project
if it moves ahead quickly."
Parker Black, chairman of the Planning Board, said after the meeting
that, "Right from the beginning, the feeling of the Board was that it
was too large. But when we looked at the transportation problems that
hopefully it will solve – widening of I-77, 21 and Westmoreland Road –
moving the widened lanes right up to Catawba Avenue (the main east-west
thoroughfare through Cornelius), the benefits of those improvements
will be tremendous. The State is not contributing anything in the
foreseeable future. This project will bring these road improvements to
the front in the next three to four years, instead of 2030. I see more
public-private partnerships like this in the future."
Rector said he hopes the project can begin instruction in late 2009
and will probably not be ready for occupancy of phase 1 until 2012.
Under terms of the Development Agreement drafted by the developers and
the Planning Department:
-The developer will voluntarily annex the entire tract into the Town
of Cornelius
-Public access will be provided to all parks and greenways
-Approval must be received from all relevant government agencies for
the developer to undertake the interstate, highway and other
transportation improvements on public property
-Buildings will be designed and constructed "substantially in
accordance with the elevations" submitted by the architects for the
project
-The site will include extensive landscaping, which has been described
by the developer as "resort style"
-When construction of the first phase of the project begins, the
developer will "make available up to a total of $500,000 in matching
funds for any funds expended by the Town of Cornelius on a civic
building, programming space for town park functions (i.e., art gallery,
studio)," or other Town uses.
-The developer will also purchase "fire apparatus for the Cornelius
Fire Department to serve the site, not to exceed a total cost of
$800,000."
-The developer will provide space for a fire station and a police
substation to serve the site and community
-The developer will provide parking for bicycles, transit stops for
buses, extensive sidewalks, and other non-automobile transportation
amenities
Developers estimate that the project will create more than 4,500 new
jobs and over $300 million a year in positive economic impact.
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(Media contact: Buck Lawrimore, 704-332-4344, http://www.lciweb.com)