Charlotte, NC (July, 2019) – Riverbend Village is pleased to welcome Chick-fil-A, Chicken Salad Chick, Jersey Mike’s Subs, The Joint Chiropractic, Heartland Dental, and Riverbend Orthodontics and Oral Surgery who have recently leased space in the 130-acre mixed use development located near historic Mountain Island in Northwest Charlotte at the intersection of I-485 and Hwy 16/Brookshire Blvd. Chick-fil-A is relocating to Riverbend from their existing site across Mt. Holly-Huntersville Rd. Chick-fil-A was represented by Will Whitley with New South Properties. Chicken Salad Chick will occupy 2,720 SF and Jersey Mike’s will occupy 1,462 SF of interior shop space. Jonathan Britt with The Shopping Center Group represents Chicken Salad Chick and Margot Bizon with JLL represents Jersey Mike’s. The Joint Chiropractic will take 1,135 sf and was represented by Mike Leonard of Catalyst Commercial Group. Heartland Dental was represented by Robey Spratt with Atlantic Retail, and have leased 3,408 sf. These tenants will join a strong tenant mix including Wild Wing Café, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Great Clips, and E Life Nail Spa. Other tenants who are currently under construction include Freddy’s, Harris Teeter Fuel, UPS, Viki’s Dry Cleaning and Alterations, Famous Toastery, Johnny Brusco’s Pizza, and AT&T. Taco Bell and Dunkin’ have recently opened their locations at Riverbend Village.
Dunkin’ at Riverbend Village
The first phase of the retail portion of the shopping center, which is nearing completion, will also include a 120+ room Courtyard Marriott Hotel which is expected to start construction soon and is targeting an early 2020 opening date.
A portion of the Riverbend Village development is currently under contract by Novant Health, Inc.; however, Novant is currently working with the City of Charlotte to rezone a portion of that property and thus there are no property plans ready to share at this time. More information on Novant and Riverbend Village will be made available as plans progress.
Riverbend Village started in late 2014 as an idea for a future mixed-use project. It was going to be long term hold for what could become a thriving market. To the contrary and almost immediately after Landmark Development Partners and Simpson Commercial Real Estate purchased this 130-acre site, interest was evident. It was apparent that plans needed to be put to action. The Northwest portion of I-485 was already a highly sought-after market. Residential growth was underway in the Mountain Island Community and traffic from I-485 along Highway 16 was becoming an issue. The developers understood the need for a large mixed-use project to service the surrounding community, but to also attract a new employment base that would enjoy the serenity of being close to one of Charlotte’s largest lake communities. The developers (Randy Smith, Sam Simpson, and David Joseph) saw this as a real opportunity to a bring quality development to Mountain Island, with great accessibility to Uptown Charlotte.
Within the first 18 months, Riverbend Village was able to secure Harris Teeter as its anchor Tenant bringing their new 78,000 square foot store. They were also able to secure Corning which has relocated their Optical Communications Headquarters to Riverbend Village. Corning Optical Communications will be employing more than 650 employees and is scheduled to open for business late Summer 2019.
Corning Optical Headquarters at Riverbend Village
Harris Teeter is under construction and will be opening in the fall of 2019. The developers worked with leaders from across the state to vastly improve the intersection of Highway 16 and Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road. An intersection that caused headache and concern for many of the surrounding residents is currently going through a major road improvement project. Contractors working with the N.C. Department of Transportation are currently installing a “Continuous Flow Intersection”, the first in North Carolina, to improve current and future travel efficiency by up to 70 percent. Riverbend Village will feature a right-in / right-out access point traveling north from I-485 along with 3 other points of access from Mt. Holly Huntersville Road. “When starting the discussion with several neighbors and city leaders, traffic was the first concern mentioned. We knew for a project of this size to succeed, we would need to address this concern before we could to commit to our desired tenant mix” – Development Team. This development will also include 266 class-A garden style apartment units which opened this Spring and 105 townhomes by Ryan Homes delivering early in 2020.
Apartments at Riverbend Village
Riverbend Village will also feature more than 87,000 sf of retail shops including several restaurants, retail service groups, and medical users. Joey Morganthall with MPV Properties and Wells Herndon with Simpson Commercial Real Estate have worked on behalf of the developers in the leasing efforts for the shopping center. “With construction nearing completion, leasing activity has been incredible. We are currently working with several groups to finalize leases and trust that the communities this center serves will be excited for our upcoming announcements” – Joey Morganthall.
Riverbend Village is still seeking specific users including fitness, soft goods, Asian/sushi cuisine, Mexican cuisine, health and wellness, and medical specialties. The construction for first phase of Riverbend is nearing completion with most of the tenants scheduled to open by Fall of 2019. The second phase of retail shops will begin next year, and pre-leasing has begun. Completion for the entire project is on schedule to occur later next year.
Cover photo: Phase I of Riverbend Village nearing completion
About Simpson Commercial
Simpson Commercial is a North Carolina commercial real estate development and investment brokerage firm offering industrial, office, and retail services. Visit www.simpsoncre.com to learn more.
About MPV Properties
MPV Properties is one of the Charlotte area’s leading commercial real estate firms offering office, industrial, retail and land brokerage, development, and association and property management services. For more information, visit www.mpvre.com.
