Steele Creek – New Hot Neighborhood?

Steele Creek – the next hot neighborhood?

Luxury apartment developers have spent their time in Uptown, South End, NoDa, and Plaza Midwood, but they have recently turned their attention to the extreme southwest corner of the city, with projects of luxury apartments, restaurants, shopping and entertainment underway.

A once rural area started to change in the mid-2000s. With vacant land at a premium and demand high, new home builders started putting up starter homes in suburban subdivisions.

Growth in the area continued with Siemens, Microsoft, and Spectrum. Retail soon followed. Charlotte Premium Outlets opened in 2014, and the master-planned community of Berewick came soon after. Berewick Town Center now has a Harris Teeter, MOD Pizza, Clean Juice and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop to go along with its new homes and apartments. TopGolf opened its first Charlotte location in Steele Creek in 2017.

Including Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, the Steele Creek area has over 80,000 jobs within a five-mile radius. Developers say that’s what’s driving this new round of growth.

• Some 280 apartments are planned off South Tryon and Shopton Road West as part of a larger office and commercial development.
• 324 apartments are planned off South Tryon at Erwin Road.
• A 265-acre mixed-use development is planned across from TopGolf that would include 270 apartments, office space, retail shops, restaurants, a hotel and industrial space. It won rezoning approval in April.
• Mattamy Homes is planning 240 townhomes off of South Tryon Street. The project still needs city approval.
• Lidl is planning a grocery store off of South Tryon, as well.
• Lennar Homes is building at least 200 townhomes off Hamilton Road.

The greater Charlotte has continued to boom, but in recent years — the suburban areas are growing even faster than the city itself. Places like NoDa and Plaza Midwood and South End have become very expensive to build in as land costs have skyrocketed.

An area like Steele Creek offers the same type of amenities you’d get in SouthPark and Ballantyne at a fraction of the price. That’s as true for businesses as it is for renters. Commercial leases are considerably cheaper at Berewick and new developments than the fast-rising prices in the more established centers.

Eventually, the Steele Creek area will flow seamlessly into the River District to the north. The first apartments are about to break ground in that mega-development that’s been billed as the next Ballantyne. Steele Creek and the River District provide a more affordable alternative to both SouthPark and Ballantyne with the same access to jobs.