Albemarle Council approves 58-acre mixed housing development

The Albemarle City Council on Monday night approved three different components of a large mixed housing development behind Walmart.

The roughly 58-acre development, which is called Avion, includes 776 units consisting of a 261 townhome cluster subdivision, 360 multi-family apartments and 155 units as part of an active senior living facility.
The general location of the property would be at the end of Leonard Avenue behind Olive Place Shopping Center and near the end of Henson Street, in close proximity to Woodhurst Lane. The city council approved annexation of the land for the developer, Matthews-based RD Harrell Company, during its August meeting, along with the initial zoning of the property into the R-6 Urban Residential zoning district.
The Planning and Zoning Board last month unanimously made a favorable recommendation for council to approve all three sections of the development.
The townhome portion of the development will comprise about 35 acres. The average lot size of each townhome is slated to be 2,312 square feet, with about 12 acres of open space. The products the developer plans to use for the buildings include stone, brick, stucco, hardie board and vinyl.
The multi-family apartments, which will comprise about 16 acres, will be comprised of nine 24 dwelling unit multi-family structures and three 48 dwelling unit multi-family structures across two tracts of land. Proposed amenities include a community pool and cabana, courtyard area, clubhouse, pickleball courts, a community garden and a dog park.
The senior living facility will be on about eight acres, including about two acres of open space, with several amenities including food service, a pickleball court and dog parks.
During the August meeting, project manager Colton Harrell told council that, pending approval of the project, the groundbreaking for the development would occur in nine to 11 months and it would take about five years for complete build out.
In other news, the council:
• Authorized an extension of two days vacation time until the end of January for employees who offer proof of vaccination. As of now, only 35 percent of employees have provided proof. The goal would be to increase the rate ahead of a possible federal mandate, which is currently held up in the courts, requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to get vaccinated or require weekly testing.
• Authorized heating repair for the E.E. Waddell Center. The boiler is not working and so council approved the installation of ductless mini splits in each room at the E.E. Waddell Community Center. The estimated cost would be about $36,000.
• Approved three change orders totaling about $22,000 to replace a water supply line, and repair additional framing and brick ties for the units at 1441-1447 Inger Street currently under repair for fire damage.
• Approved donating and installing a pole at North Stanly High School on the third base side of the softball field in order to install safety netting for fans and students.

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