What Is Chatham Park?
The Triangle's next big thing will undoubtedly be Chatham Park. The success of Research Triangle Park has inspired other developers and leaders of North Carolina to create a similar project in nearby Chatham County. Located about 20 and 25 miles southwest of Chapel Hill and Durham and 30 miles west of Raleigh, Chatham Park is a 7,500-acre planned live-work-play community. It is the largest development in North Carolina and the fourth largest project in the US. For more information about the project, check out the video below.
CHP from Preston Dev on Vimeo.
In essence, Chatham Park will be the ultimate lifestyle community, where you can live, work, and play, like never before. Here, technology, desgin, convenience, sustainability, and leisure, will all be beautifully enhanced in this comprehensive, state-of-the-art community.
Chatham Park Promises To Preserve Pittsboros's Charm
The community is also located right next to Pittsboro, a town of about 3,000 residents. The town has that wonderful small-town feel. Chatham Park developers have been working with the town to assure that downtown Pittsboro will maintain its small-town culture and charm, while allowing the town businesses to prosper with new business from the residents and businesses of Chatham Park.
Chatham Park will eventually consist five villages of offices, homes, restaurants, and boutique stores in a close community where people can walk or bike to work or school. There will be about 60,000 new residents, 22,000 new homes, and about 22 million square feet of commercial space for offices, research facilities, retail stores, restaurants, and community areas.
But the community isn’t just about business. About 2,000 acres is being set aside for parks and open space. There will be 50 miles of walking and biking trails, some leading to nearby Haw River and Jordan Lake where people can enjoy all sorts of water sports.
Construction has already begun on the site. In December 2014, UNC Health Care broke ground on a medical office building. Then last July, UNC Health Care broke ground on another building – a new hospice house.
The New Development Will Unite Sustainable Design With Economic And Social Capital
The developers plan to keep the carbon footprint of the community to a minimum without adversely impacting the lives of the residents. They plan to use smart power and water technologies, LEED-certified buildings, and a solar power farm to enable the community to use 25% less energy than is used by other similar-sized communities. The ability to walk and bike to most places will also reduce the use of cars in the community.
An economic analysis done by economist Michael Walden of NC State University indicates that the potential impact of Chatham Park could be $154 billion over the next 40 years. The impact for Chatham County could be as much as $80 billion.
Development of Chatham Park Hindered By Activists & Local Interest Group
Not everyone is enamored with Chatham Park. Pittsboro Matters, a nonprofit group, has brought three lawsuits, suing the town and the developers. They contend that they are not trying to stop the development, but that they want a more balanced set of plans and ordinances that will protect the citizens of Pittsboro. So far, Pittsboro Matters has only succeeded in slowing down the project a little.
Chatham Park: The Future Of The Triangle Area
Just as Research Triangle Park enabled North Carolina to grow and prosper while its tobacco and textile industries were in decline, Chatham Park has the potential to enable North Carolina to continue to grow and prosper as Research Triangle Park fills up.
If you are considering buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us a message online. My partner Andrew Palumbo and I both have extensive real estate and construction experience.
Posted by Larry Tollen on
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