Rocky River Road/ CC Griffin Development

[Munson79]

There was a big housing community (500+ homes) and a town center with a Target possible on Rocky River Road near CC Griffin Middle School. Then, all construction halted, and after building only a few homes, the entire project went bankrupt. In the last week, I've seen the return of construction trucks to the site. Does anyone have any info about this? It's practically in my backyard.

[Neo]

There was a big housing community (500+ homes) and a town center with a Target possible on Rocky River Road near CC Griffin Middle School. Then, all construction halted, and after building only a few homes, the entire project went bankrupt. In the last week, I've seen the return of construction trucks to the site. Does anyone have any info about this? It's practically in my backyard.

I know of the development, but unfortunately I haven't heard anything. This housing development came about just as the market was beginning to crash so I wasn't surprised to hear that it failed. For some reason I thought this was to be the largest single housing development in Cabarrus County. This is the first I've heard of Target being a part of it though.

[Munson79]

I know of the development, but unfortunately I haven't heard anything. This housing development came about just as the market was beginning to crash so I wasn't surprised to hear that it failed. For some reason I thought this was to be the largest single housing development in Cabarrus County. This is the first I've heard of Target being a part of it though.

[ellifyno]

The development you're talking about is The Mills at Rocky River. A PDF version of the site plan is available here. I'm not sure how much progress is being made back there, or will be made anytime soon. Crosswinds, the developer, filed for Chapter 11 at the end of June, and Ryan Homes, the only builder that had committed to the neighborhood, doesn't list the community on its website. Of course, the slogan on the neighborhood's website is "Come back to life," so we'll see how literally they take that.

I drove back there a couple of months ago, and there were maybe half a dozen homes. It was pretty sad to see, especially since they cleared so much land. I remember there being quite a bit of hype around this neighborhood when it was announced a couple of years ago, and like Neo, I seem to remember it being billed as "the largest ____ development in Cabarrus County." I just don't remember what the blank was. Regardless, it was supposed to be a fairly massive development - over 500 acres, around 1,200 homes, and about 500,000 square feet of retail and commercial space in its "town center." This thread is the first I've heard of a Target being mentioned for the site though. I'd mostly heard that a grocery store would be the major tenant, and nearly everything else would be smaller shops. Considering that Morrison Ridge, the Target-anchored retail center announced at NC 49 and Stough Road, is only a four-mile drive from this neighborhood, I'm not sure how likely it was that a Target would have been built there. (I know there's a precedent for two Targets to be built even closer than that, and I know that the Morrison Ridge store won't be much further than that from the existing store on Kannapolis Parkway. I just don't think a Target was ever destined for the Rocky River development.)

The other neighborhood you're talking about was the Preserve at Greyson. Like The Mills at Rocky River, it had a lot of hype surrounding it. The neighborhood was supposed to be sports-oriented, with a golf course and sports complex being the center of it. To promote it, a tennis court was set up at the corner of Morehead and US 29, with Anna Kournikova and a couple of NASCAR drivers (the only one I remember was Elliott Sadler) playing. Like The Mills at Rocky River again, work started and abruptly stopped. An entrance was built for the neighborhood on 49, and a few homes were built, but then construction came to a halt. The last time I was back there was a year or two ago, and there were maybe 15-20 homes back there. The road network isn't as expansive as the Rocky River development, so it didn't feel quite as deserted, but it was still a sad sight to see.

The site was originally supposed to cover much of the land in between 29 and 49, bounded roughly by Morehead and the Mecklenburg County line (some of it stretched into Mecklenburg, though most was in Cabarrus). I'm pretty sure part of the land included the satellite parking lot for the speedway that created such a fuss a few years back. At over 1,200 acres, it was supposed to include about 2,000 homes and over 1 million square feet of retail and commercial space. When things fell through, they started carving up the parcels. Some of the original developers decided to pursue a smaller project named Greyson Ridge on the US 29 side of the project, which was to include retail, residential, and at least one hotel. That project has since changed names to Trevi Village, but as far as I know, nothing has started on it.

The rest of the site originally proposed for the Preserve at Greyson is supposedly being developed into a larger, and less sports-themed, neighborhood named The Epic. The site is around 1,300 acres, and apparently is proposed to include a whopping 3 million square feet of retail and commercial space. Construction was supposed to be focused more on the residential and commercial aspects this time, as opposed to starting with a build-out of the golf course. I have no idea if anything new is coming along on this project (like I said, I haven't been back there in a year or more), but the part that excites me the most - an extension of Caldwell Road - hasn't started at all.

[Munson79]

Wow! Thanks for the update on Greyson/ The Epic. The name I had remembered most recently was The Epic. I was floored too by the size of the commercial space. Do we really need 3 million square feet of it right there? But, like most things around here these days, I don't see anything being done over there, either. As for the Target, you are correct about the location at Morrison Ridge, but the rumors around my neighborhood when work began on the Ryan Community centered around a possible large anchor store like Target. I think someone may have gotten the two developments confused.

[Munson79]

Having seen a lot of construction trucks up at this site, I did some checking, hoping that this development was back up and running, but apparently all they're doing is erosion control.

[ppdd]

Having seen a lot of construction trucks up at this site, I did some checking, hoping that this development was back up and running, but apparently all they're doing is erosion control.

[Neo]

There is a preliminary subdivision plat permit under review for this development (was submitted this morning). The permit lists it as 532 acres and 1200 single and multi-family units.

Here are the original plans for the development:

TheMillsCommunity.pdf

TheMillsCommunity.pdf

[Munson79]

There is a preliminary subdivision plat permit under review for this development (was submitted this morning). The permit lists it as 532 acres and 1200 single and multi-family units.

Here are the original plans for the development:

TheMillsCommunity.pdf

[tozmervo]

There is a preliminary subdivision plat permit under review for this development (was submitted this morning). The permit lists it as 532 acres and 1200 single and multi-family units.

Here are the original plans for the development:

TheMillsCommunity.pdf

[Neo]

Any word on the builder and if the plans mimic what was supposed to go there?

Not sure if it is the same builder or if it will be the originals plans (above) or not, but the permit was submitted by the same company as in 2007, The Isaacs Group of Charlotte.

[Munson79]

Any word on this one moving forward? Also, is it true that it is on a flood plain?

[LynchMob]

I hope this is o.k. for this thread. There is another subdivision like this at the corner of Hubbard and Sugar Creek off of WT Harris in the University area called Hubbard Falls. It is a lot smaller than the one's listed above, but the exact same situation. I think it was started by Kniblock Homes in '07 and the entire area was leveled, streets were paved with curbs in, and about 5 "patio" homes were built in the $235k range. Work stopped in '08 and those 5 houses have sat there with the home owners living in a sea of red mud and white plumbing pipes sticking out of the ground all over. I know they are supposed to maintain erosion problems, but every hard rain we have, it's a river of red all down the streets. Just recently signs went up announcing that Horton Homes (I could be wrong, but I think they said Horton) was taking over the neighborhood and that prices were being slashed to the $150k range. In the last month or so they have added several new homes, but they are 2 story, vinyl sided square boxes packed as close as they can get them. I didn't even no they could change the plans that drastically. I would think the original home owners would have a huge problem buying into a neighborhood with certain expectations and then getting a sea of square box homes. I am sure this scenario is playing out all over the place. In hind sight, my wife and I used to see these huge plots of land being clear cut all over the place several years back, and she would ask me, "who is actually buying all those homes." I would tell her, someone's buying them or they would quit building them. Sad!