Flush with the success of his first NU project

Flush with the success of his first new urbanist project, Vermillion, developer Nate Bowman is now moving forward with two transit-oriented developments (TODs). Bowman was selected as the developer of Anchor Mill, a 32-acre site, in a public/private partnership with the Town of Huntersville, North Carolina. A charrette to design the site was held in November 1999. Anchor Mill will have up to 500 residential units, 15,000 square feet of retail, 28,000 square feet of other commercial space, and a transit stop on Charlotte’s future light rail line. In February 2000, Bowman was selected by commissioners of the neighboring Town of Cornelius, to develop a 125-acre parcel adjacent to that town’s future stop on the same transit line. The city acquired the rights to the property with the intent of getting Bowman and planners Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (who also designed Anchor Mill and Vermillion) to create a model TOD. A charrette was scheduled for early March 2000. Bowman and DPZ have become popular with public officials and residents of Huntersville and Cornelius, two fast-growing municipalities north of Charlotte, because of the market and aesthetic success of Vermillion – which just came out of the ground a year ago. Larry Lolito, a Cornelius Town Commissioner who previously took a hard line against higher-density growth, has come to support the New Urbanism. “I was very impressed with what Nate has accomplished in Huntersville,” Lolito was quoted as saying. “If we could do the same type of high-density development here, I would support that.”