Magnificent Clydesdales bring tree to be planted for Whiting-Turner's 100th anniversary	Shirley, Walt and Josh Rector, with Cornelus Mayor Jeff Tarte in black, help plant the sybmolic tree
Whiting Turner VP Keith Douglas speaks under the tent as Josh Rector and Dan McGinnis stand at left	Bluegrass band entertains participants with "Rocky Top" and other great classics

Spectacular spring weather greeted almost 100 members of the local commercial real estate community, the Augustalee development team and other associates at the project site on April 23. Our leasing agents CB Richard Ellis put on a grand party, with Southern barbecue, a bluegrass band, and horse and carriage rides around the property.

“This 108-acre site was once farmed by the Cooke family who came here a century ago via a horse and wagon,” said Josh Rector, Senior Vice President of Cornelius Bromont. “On the 23rd we also celebrated the 100th anniversary of our construction management firm, Whiting-Turner, and Earth Week with the symbolic planting of a tree as it was done 100 years ago.”

Instead of using heavy equipment, the tree was delivered by wagon pulled by a magnificent team of four Clydesdale horses loaned by Hunter Construction Group, and planted by hand by Whiting-Turner staff. This is the first of over 2,000 trees and shrubs which will be planted around the project during the construction phase, which we hope to begin about a year from now.

Rector gave a brief update on the project, and Keith Douglas, Division Vice President of Whiting-Turner, spoke briefly about the significance of the event and the employment impacts of Augustalee. Mayor Jeff Tarte told how much Augustalee means to the Town of Cornelius, and Dan McGinnis of CB Richard Ellis served as MC.

Augustalee will include about 2 million square feet of office, retail, residential and hotel space. Developers also plan to widen I-77 and build a new Exit 27 interchange adjacent to the project, as well as many other improvements.

TCC Vote Moves Transportation Approval Forward

The Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC) of the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) voted Thursday, April 23, to endorse transportation plans for Augustalee. Their approval moves the project an important step forward to the full MUMPO meeting on April 29, at which time we hope another approval will be given.

The TCC is composed of staff and managers of the towns, cities and counties of Mecklenburg and Union. They recommend projects to the elected officials of MUMPO, much like a town planning committee recommends projects to the full town board for approval. If MUMPO approves the project on April 29, it will go on the official Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for the region.

“This approval is critical for the success of our project,” said Josh Rector, Senior Vice President of Cornelius Bromont, developers of Augustalee. “We must have approval at local, state and federal levels before we can begin widening the interstate and adding a new Exit 27 interchange. We are very pleased that we’ve been able to keep moving forward, and very much appreciate the hard work and counsel of our transportation engineers, Kimley-Horn & Associates, which are truly the best in the business.”

Website Expanded With Extensive New Information

The Augustalee website has officially moved from CorneliusBromont.com to its new home on the web, Augustalee.com. With the move come more than a dozen additional pages about the ecological commitment of the project, transportation benefits, and extensive community-relocation information for executive decision-makers.

“Very few real estate development websites have this much information after construction, much less before construction,” noted Senior VP Josh Rector. “But we realize that we are building a community within a community which will have tremendous impact on the entire Lake Norman – Charlotte Region.

“To help attract leading businesses and retailers, we are providing all kinds of information about the area and our project that will be helpful to them not only as executive decision-makers but also for their families. We think this is one of the best places in the country to live and work, and we want to share our great story. We encourage all our friends and email newsletter subscribers to visit the new website and enjoy all the new information and photos.”

As always, your feedback is welcome at www.Augustalee.com/feedback.html .