CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The expansion of West Boulevard, which will lead directly into the River District mixed-use community, opened on Tuesday morning.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lynes cut the ribbon leading to the now-four-lane West Boulevard in west Charlotte's Dixie-Berryhill area, which was developed to provide a path to the 1,400-acre River District. The project plans to blend more than 2,300 single-family homes, 2,350 multifamily-residential apartments with forested areas, more than 30 miles worth of trails, a working farm, and parks. All of this development is on the banks of the Catawba River.
More than 500 apartments and 124 houses will be reserved for affordable housing. This area will be called Westrow, but other communities will branch out from Westrow.
Rainer Ficken with Crescent Communities said there will be different types of affordable housing units and the first phase will have just shy of 100 units. He said that the community will break ground at the beginning of 2025.
“It’s defined with the City and a minimum of 10% of all the housing within the river district will qualify," Ficken said.
This left many like Jessica Moreno with questions of her own. She is with Action NC and fights for affordable housing in and around the Charlotte area.
“What are the requirements to get into that housing," Moreno said. "The people that really need housing, are we building for those people, are we building social housing that’s not competing in the market?”
The project was first proposed in 2016. The community, which is expected to rival developments like Ballantyne, is being built in phases by multiple companies including Crescent Communities and Laurel Street. Development broke ground back in March 2023. Construction of the entire community could take upwards of three decades to complete. The location is among the largest areas of undeveloped land remaining in Mecklenburg County.
Crescent Communities hopes the project generates more than $5.6 billion a year. The community will be located between Interstate 485 and the Catawba River near Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
The company told WCNC Charlotte this involves multiple steps and they expect completion in the next 12 to 13 years.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.