Crosland's ambitious plans - News and Observer

Charlotte company shifts gears, wants a larger role in Triangle development

If the Triangle were Tinseltown and developers graced the silver screen, Crosland would be an accomplished supporting actor known for filling gaps in the Triangle's sprawling landscape.

During much of the past six years, the Charlotte company has established itself as an important role-player in big developments, primarily building apartments that complement successful office parks or shopping districts in Durham, Orange and Wake counties.

Now it wants a leading role.

Instead of being an add-on artist in the Triangle, Crosland is shifting gears to focus on projects of its own that integrate homes, shops and offices.

"Place-making" is what David Ravin, the senior vice president in charge of Crosland's Triangle operations, calls it. "We want to do it all from start to finish."

The biggest example came last week, when Crosland said it may attempt a $100 million mix of homes, shops, offices and possibly a movie theater or amphitheater in western Cary.

The shift comes as the economy smiles on the Triangle. Expanding companies have brought thousands of new residents to the Triangle. And growth has led consumers to embrace developments that allow them to live, work and shop in close proximity, away from traffic.

It's the kind of thing Crosland is better known for back home.

Its showcase project is Birkdale Village, a 52-acre development in Huntersville with offices and homes built above shops. It was built a few years ago, and some developers thought that Crosland would attempt something similar in the Triangle before now.

"We came to the Triangle and didn't find sites where we could do it all in house," Ravin said. "But we found partnerships ... where we brought to the table something they weren't adding."

Crosland partnered with Highwoods Properties to build apartments near the Weston office park in Cary. And it cut a deal with Preston Development to build condos at the Arboretum, a shopping center just up the street.

The rebounding economy and improved infrastructure have created new frontiers for development, allowing Crosland to broaden its scope since 2004.

It began developing lots for single-family homes in Knightdale and Chatham County, and aggressively built a list of projects with integrated properties.

It started building apartments near The Streets at Southpoint in Durham in March, and plans shops and upper-floor condos there this fall. Last week, it began adding apartments and shops to Raleigh's Oberlin Court.

By 2007, Crosland wants to start a mixed-use development in Chapel Hill and begin adding hundreds of apartments and condos to Poyner Place, a northeast Raleigh shopping center it built in 2004. "And we're looking at a couple of other areas that may have all the stars aligned where we can add all the components together," Ravin said.

Crosland has at least $262 million in Triangle projects under construction or in the pipeline.

That's more than double what it has invested in the Triangle so far, and more than it is spending in its hometown -- an indicator of faith in the market.

Most the money will be spent on mixed-use projects conceived by Crosland. "We'll probably be more successful when we can do it all from the start, because it will be more integrated and thought through and not just an add-on," Ravin said. "You think through how all the pieces are going to work together."

Other developers have pulled off the same strategy. Several of them, including Raleigh developer John Kane, who converted North Hills mall into an open-air mix of offices, shops, homes and a movie theater, say Crosland's shift shouldn't radically alter the competitive landscape because it isn't new to the market.

Crosland isn't completely shedding the idea of partnering with other developers, and it still plans some single-use projects.

But the emphasis on homegrown projects could alter some dynamics. "Instead of going in as a team on projects, Crosland is going in as a competitor," said Brian Reece, a partner at Karnes Research, which tracks commercial real estate trends in the Triangle. "It could raise everything in a bidding process."

Having development, contracting and leasing divisions in all property classes will help Crosland's new emphasis -- especially as it attempts its most ambitious Triangle act yet.

The Cary project announced last week will try to mimic Birkdale's success, with 53 acres of offices, townhouses, condominiums, apartments -- some of them perched above a sea of open-air shops. "It's always a challenge when you mix uses vertically," Ravin said.

The hardest part might be finding the right name.

Tinsel Towne Centre?

"Probably not," Ravin said.