Latest news with #GreystarDevelopmentEast
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apartment complex near Charlotte airport approved as developer named in AG lawsuit alleging illegally raised rents
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Despite concerns over airport-related noise and a state lawsuit, a complex with more than 300 apartments was approved by the Charlotte City Council Monday night. The 11.5-acre property sits between Tuckaseegee Road and Queen City Drive, just north of Charlotte Douglas International. Due to its location, it sits within the Airport Noise Overlay, which doesn't ban residential development but does warn about potential airplane noise. PREVIOUS: Neighborhoods are being abandoned on one side of the airport. Why is housing being proposed on the other side? Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield continued to share concerns about building at the site. On the south side of CLT, many neighborhoods have been abandoned and rezoned to industrial uses due to noise stemming from the future fourth parallel runway. For the apartments managed by Greystar Development East, Mayfield was the lone City Council member to oppose the rezoning. 'The long-term impact, I personally am not comfortable with,' she said. 'Fast forward a decade or so or so later, we're looking at tax dollars being part of mass-displacement event.' Addressing the noise concerns, the developer has agreed to add additional insulation around the windows of the two southernmost buildings. They will have a Sound Transmission Class rating of 35. 'That's great inside the unit, but if you step outside the building, it sets a bad precedent after spending thousands of tax dollars through the airport to buy out properties, motels, hotels, as well as single-family homes that are in airport overlay area,' Mayfield said. Tiawana Brown, the district representative for the property, shared her support through a letter since she was not present Monday. Other council members said Brown's support was key in their vote. 'Our job is difficult. We're trying to balance supply of housing while addressing some of the community's concerns,' Dimple Ajmera said. 'We have to take some of that into consideration. This will definitely help provide additional housing that we need.' The 306 units will be built across six buildings. The rezoning changes from mixed-use development (MUDD) to Neighborhood 2 Conditional (N2C), which is intended for multi-family dwellings with smaller setbacks. The city's Zoning Committee and Planning Department staff also approved the rezoning. Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, the parent company of Greystar East, is among the developers named in a lawsuit filed in January by Attorney General Jeff Jackson. The suit alleges that six landlords are working together with an artificial intelligence software company to raise rents. 'North Carolinians are struggling to afford their rent as it is – we won't stand for landlords and real estate companies making the problem worse to line their own pockets,' said Jackson. 'I'm suing these landlords to make sure they play by the rules so North Carolinians can get fair prices for rent.' Jackson's office claims RealPage is allegedly creating a pricing algorithm in violation of antitrust laws and enriching themselves at the expense of renters, who end up paying inflated prices. His case alleges that these landlords communicated with RealPage and each other to share non-public information about rent prices, occupancy, strategies for setting rents, and discounts. He took to social media to discuss the suit Monday in a video. 'Instead of competing against each other, they can quietly work together and replace competition with collusion,' he explained. City Council has not acknowledged the lawsuit in either the rezoning presentation or vote. In addition to Greystar, the other landlords named are Blackstone's LivCor LLC, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield Inc and Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC, Willow Bridge Property Company LLC, and Cortland Management LLC. Jackson filed the lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. The Federal Trade Commission also filed a lawsuit against Greystar in January over alleged deceptive pricing practices. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Neighborhoods are being abandoned on one side of the Charlotte airport. So why is housing being proposed on the other side?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Members of Charlotte City Council expressed concern regarding the planning staff recommending approving housing in an area known for airport noise. Greystar Development East, LLC is proposing to build 306 apartments across six buildings off Queen City Drive, just north of Interstate 85 and Charlotte Douglas International. The 11.5-acre property is near mostly single-family houses plus a couple of churches but also falls under the Airport Noise Disclosure Overlay. Historic home connected to Charlotte church demolished despite preservation efforts The rezoning would be from a mixed-use development (MUDD) to Neighborhood 2 Conditional (N2C), which is intended for multi-family dwellings with smaller setbacks. The noise overlay designation would remain regardless of zoning. Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield noted how on the south side of the airport, many of the residential areas along Steele Creek Road have been rezoned for industrial uses in recent years. This has been due to the impact of noise related to the ever-growing airport. A fourth parallel runway for CLT is under construction. 'I'm trying to understand the support of planning staff for projects that we already know are in the noise overlay, but also are extremely close to the highway and the environmental impact of noise, gas, fuels coming from highway where traffic is going 24 hours,' she said to city staff. 'Explain why this would be encouraged while at the same time supporting a program to ensure we have better air quality.' Staff recommends approval of this petition. They noted how this property is at the northern end of the noise overlay. Staff approval comes despite the petition being inconsistent with the city's 2040 Policy Map. A 9-acre section of the property was approved in 2019 for a hotel that was never built. Mayfield also was concerned that just because the rezoning process acknowledges the noise from the nation's sixth busiest airport, it's unlikely that this would be disclosed to prospective renters at the proposed complex. 'Being within the noise overlay doesn't preclude housing or that it should be exempt from being considered for housing, just that it should be noticed to future residents,' the staff member said. 'It was identified as a need in terms of equitable framework is being where there is intense need for variety of housing options. Having multifamily, it does speak to that need.' 'This isn't being ignored per se, but we didn't feel it's something that should be considered against the proposal,' she said. 'It was appropriate given its location and need for housing in this area.' Despite the property having a Queen City Drive address, the complex's entrance would be from Tuckaseegee Road, making it more accessible to the schools along that road. An 8-foot planting-strip buffer is required off of Queen City Drive, which is a service road to I-85. For the first time since the '70s, new flight paths could be added around Charlotte In terms of the environmental impacts, Councilman Ed Driggs suggested action being taken that would make this part of rezoning decisions. 'We don't have a policy about this,' he said, noting it would be an extensive process to create one. 'If it is the wish of the council to make a referral whether zoning decisions should be formed by environmental concerns on a location-by-location basis, that's not two sentences, then you have to get deep into circumstances. We don't have that policy, so I'll accept the suggestion of a referral, that would imply that we get a majority to agree that's something to be taken up by the committee.' Councilwoman Renee Johnson reminded the board that it's their responsibility to make these decisions that shape the city's planning policies. 'We know about the environmental challenges,' she said. 'If hearings are not the time to address it, we have to make time to address it.' A date for the board to vote on the apartment's rezoning has yet to be determined. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
