I wrote about the Searstone and Bradford developments in March (“Construction in Cary”) – and now the work has recently begun at Bradford.

Updated Information

I met with the developers last month to get an update on the project, understand the timelines, and hear of any changes that may have occurred since the approval.  The original development plan was approved in May 2008.

Here are the highlights of the planned development:

1. The area in the plan is approximately 41 acres.
2. Phase 1 consists of 370 apartments and approximately 20 town homes – with retail planned for some areas within the center.
3. Many of the residential apartment buildings will have retail/commercial or offices on the first floor, with residential above.
4. A new road will be constructed (Magness Drive) that will go on the other side of the development, and line up with Riggsbee Farm Drive (on Davis Dr.) and an entrance to Searstone on High House.
5. A greenway is planned around the perimeter, as well as a 10′ trail along Magness Drive.
6. Three (3) signaled lights will eventually be installed at those entrances.
7. Construction will take about 2 years – with some occupancy potentially available in the Fall of 2013.
8. A planned “public square” type of area is planned for within the development.
9. There is an existing cemetery on the site (at the corner of Davis and High House) that will not be moved, but will be incorporated into a public space.
10. The uses of the out parcels (along the roadway of Davis and High House) have not yet been identified – but they are limited in what can be built. (No more than 2 fast food places, and no more than 3 drive-thrus, and no “traditional” grocery store is allowed.)
11. Despite the rumors, a movie theatre is not currently in the plan.
12. Additional turn lanes and road improvements will occur on both Davis Drive and High House.

If you would like to see the detailed plans you can go to the planning area where they are posted on the Town of Cary side at Bradford Site Subdivision Plan. And of course, they have an updated commercial website up, as well.

As always, feel free to contact me with comments, questions, issues and concerns.

Two projects are slated to begin this month at that intersection – at 2 of the 4 quadrants. Searstone is a project that has several components already started – the roads, lights, and trees have been down for quite some time.  You might also remember that Bradford was the controversial development that launched many citizens into action when it was proposed and finally approved in 2007.

Although these developments were approved 5 years ago, the state of the economy has slowed their timelines, causing both of these communities to now be on a similar build out trajectory. I expect that we will soon see a lot of movement and traffic delays as work begins.

Searstone

The Searstone Retirement Community is expected to start putting in their infrastructure for their residential buildings beginning this month.  You can see the construction trucks in place, and many of the outlying retail buildings are already open.

Based on the site plan, it looks to be an exciting and beautiful community, with a significant amount of open space, greenways, a lovely water feature and even a conservatory.  I love the idea of a senior community being close to our wonderful parks and catty corner to shopping and retail.

Town staff provided Mayor Weinbrecht, Councilmember Adcock and me an update on the project that has been on hold while the developer has secured funding.

– Building for all of the residential components will occur at the same time, rather than each of the buildings being completed in a phased plan.

– Additional road improvements will be needed; an eastbound right-turn lane at High House and Cary Parkway, an eastbound left-turn lane on High House also at Cary Parkway, additional widening of High House road

– A new traffic light on High House Road, aligned with Magness Drive in Bradford will be required once the warrant analysis is completed.

You can learn more on the Town of Cary Website and see the 99 pages of site plan documents.

Or, visit Searstone’s webpage for more information

Bradford

Bradford has also started moving forward in the building process. It’s slated as a “mixed-use development” that was approved to have  commercial (100,000 to 200,000 square feet), Office use (7,500-1000,000 square feet) and between 300-340 residential units (with 20-40 of those being townhomes.)

Notable updates from staff include:
– Bradford increased their residential units by 50 units while reducing the maximum commercial square footage by 50,000 square feet. (Total residential units = 390)

– A cemetery is located on the property, and will be left on site

– First implementation phase will be residential, with about 65,000 square feet of commercial

– The parking decks will not be built UNTIL needed by the developer

– Despite rumors to the contrary, there is NOT a movie theatre in the site plan

– None of the retail is identified in the the plan, and is certainly not in phase 1. It IS possible that this developer can sell off the retail space in the same manner that Searstone did several years ago.

– Depending on the timing of the Bradford and Searstone projects, one of those developers will have to widen an offsite intersection –  Cary Parkway and High House, based on their traffic impact.  Widening that intersection will be significant, given the amount of traffic through that corridor and the fact that any change will cause the clock tower and brick walls to be moved.
– Installation of Magness Road with signaled lights at both ends – lining up with Riggsbee Farm subdivision and Searstone. Signals will only be added as the traffic warrants the need.  (I’m worried about the traffic, since it backs up so quickly there when folks are headed home from work.)

You can check out the site plans on the Town of Cary page.  I also found their commercial webpage, online.