LandDesign to craft Research Park master plan

7.14.2009

One of the region's premiere planning companies has begun crafting a new vision for University Research Park. LandDesign will spend the next 12-18 months developing an area plan for the 1,800-acre business park. That plan will be taken through to City Council approval to guide development within the research park.

LandDesign Partner Rhett Crocker will lead the project, which is being funded by University City Partners. Crocker said that the plan's purpose is to help the 43-year-old park continue to prosper by capitalizing on its unique qualities.

The park has several assets that make it special, Crocker said:
• A great location within a strong transportation network, including future light rail.
• Neighboring UNC Charlotte's ongoing expansion.
• A tremendous investment in infrastructure that businesses need.
• New businesses, most recently SPEED, IKEA and Bank of America, continuing to see the area as desirable.
• A truly park like setting with forests, streams, wildlife and hiking trails.

"The natural setting is a selling point," Crocker said. "It attracts people who want to live here, work here and have a business here, and we need to continue to play that up."
An even bigger asset could be the research park's closeness to UNC Charlotte and its emerging Charlotte Research Institute, Crocker added. The area-plan process will likely explore how the park can take advantage of that proximity and build stronger ties to the campus.
University Research Park began in the mid 1960s shortly after the birth of UNC Charlotte. The Charlotte Chamber had seen Raleigh's success in building Research Triangle Park and hoped to launch something similar beside Charlotte's new university.
The big break came in 1979 when IBM announced that it would open a manufacturing center just west of I-85. Today more than 20,000 people work at park facilities, including Wells Fargo's massive Customer Information Center.
University City Partners began looking at ways to help promote the park last summer, when UCP's tax district expanded to take in URP.
Last fall, UCP commissioned a team of Urban Land Institute (ULI) experts to study the park for three days and suggest ways to reignite market interest.
Team members quickly fell in love with the park's extensive natural areas, available land and closeness to the university.
Crocker said LandDesign's efforts will test the assumptions of ULI's work. With enhanced landowner and community input, some recommendations may remain while others may be rejected or modified. Through the forums and meetings with community and business groups, some new concepts are also likely to emerge.
The park affects a much broader area, "so it is important to understand the needs of the community," Crocker said. "What are the things people do not have that would make this a better place? It is important to understand what are the good things that people like about it, and the things we may look at adding."
LandDesign will also need support from numerous property owners within University Research Park.
"There are a lot of different owners of URP, so you have to get all of those owners to align on a common vision they can all agree on for zoning and planning that we can wrap this document around," Crocker said.
"We don’t want to propose something that won't work for owners or the market or create something that won't be a sustainable mix over time."


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