I attended a BBQ this evening at our friends new house in Wesley heights just West of Charlotte. Most people at the party live north of Charlotte and we were discussing the relatively new Northlake Mall off Exit 18 on Hwy 77. The party was predominantly women (seems to be a Charlotte thing I'll have to write about in a future post). Most agreed that they were not particularly fond of the new Northlake Mall. However, they all expressed concern that since many of the same stores were at both Northlake and Birkdale that Birkdale would eventually suffer.
Thankfully, the Charlotte Observer reported the following:
Thankfully, the Charlotte Observer reported the following:
With Northlake mall now six months old, it's showing no signs of harming its nearest major competition, Birkdale Village. Some retail observers thought the proximity of the open-air Birkdale to the Northlake traditional enclosed mall, along with the fact that several major stores are duplicated in both spots, might lead to a shakeout.
But there's plenty of demand to go around, experts say. "There's really not been any negative impact from the mall," said Darryl Cater, spokesman for Inland Real Estate Group of Companies Inc., Birkdale's ..."
But there's plenty of demand to go around, experts say. "There's really not been any negative impact from the mall," said Darryl Cater, spokesman for Inland Real Estate Group of Companies Inc., Birkdale's ..."
I for one hope that Birkdale maintains its strong appeal. Northlake may not be much now but with both a Lowes and a Super target opening right across from the mall it might become more attractive in the future. I personally think that it is a shame that the city of Charlotte let them build Northlake like they did. At first the developer went to the town of Huntersville which turned the developer down. So Charlotte being the great neighbor that it is let the developer build the mall right on the city/town limits. Why isn't Northlake Mall a mixed use development itself. I mean that Hwy 77/Exit 18 is the epitome of poor planning and sprawl at its best. On one corner there is Harris Corners Parkway a commercial office complex. On two corners are currently or soon will be big box stores. And, lastly, there is the mall. I did the math assuming that 1500 people work in Harris corners they will have to make 180,000 car trips a year through the intersection just to get lunch. Why doesn't the mall have commercial buildings above it. Workers could walk down to the food court or shop in the mall, parking could be consolidated since workers work on weekdays and malls are crowded on weeknights and weekends, and land around the mall could have been preserved for walking trails or something.
Well, enough ranting about better possible land uses and back to the original thought of this post. Will Northlake threaten or compliment Birkdale? Is there room enough North of Charlotte for both and all of the other retail that is planned for the area? I personally think so - except maybe in the dead of winter. Let me know what you think.
While searching for information about the developments around Northlake I found this interesting Urban Planet website that describes how Northlake Mall came about and has many local reactions to its development.
Here's Northlake Under Development:
