The area is decorated with new neighborhoods, new shopping centers and new office buildings.
Everything in northeast Charlotte is done on a grand scale. The area is home to Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the largest sports facility in the Southeast and the “ Mecca of Motorsports,” as NASCAR enthusiasts call it.
The area’s largest higher-education institution, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is located here in the cradle of highways 49 and 29. At 19,000 students and counting, it’s the fastest-growing university in the state system. In addition, some of the area’s largest employers make University Research Park their corporate campus. Highland Creek, one of Charlotte’s hottest-selling neighborhoods, grows by the day on Ridge Road. Skybrook, the area’s newest golf course neighborhood, offers newcomers the opportunity to build their new home with golf course views. Other new developments in Highland Creek include Prosperity Ridge and Dominion.
 University City, as the northeast portion of Mecklenburg County is also called, has seen phenomenal growth in the last 15 years. The area is decorated with new neighborhoods, new shopping centers and new office buildings. The area is bisected by North Tryon Street and sprawls north to I-77, south past UNCC to The Plaza, and northeast into Cabarrus County.
University City is home to more than 100,000 people, almost one-sixth of the population of Mecklenburg County. And its popularity continues to fuel population growth. The University area takes its name from UNCC, the fourth largest of the state’s public universities. Enrollment at the university grows by about 1,000 students each year. With enrollment on the rise, so are admission standards. The average freshman entering UNCC has a high school grade-point average of 3.6.
UNCC tailors its programs to meet the cultural and economic needs of the 15- county Charlotte region and the state of North Carolina. It offers a broad array of programs leading to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. It is organized into seven colleges: architecture, arts and sciences, business administration, education, engineering, information technology and nursing and health professions.
 To make room for expansive growth on campus, the university has renovated and expanded the J. Murrey Atkins Library. The library now offers students access to the latest research technology and a comfortable place to study. Construction on campus is ubiquitous – 2004 marks the opening of new buildings for science and technology, the College of Education and for graduate engineering and research. A new College of Nursing and Health Professions building is slated for 2006. After graduation, many students find careers right in University City, where numerous companies have offices in University Research Park off W.T. Harris Boulevard north of I-85. The park was created in the late 1950s to attract research and development companies.
Today, the park has followed the lead of Charlotte as a whole and is home to many back-office and support operations. Wachovia Corp., headquartered in Charlotte, operates its Customer Information Center here. The 2.1-million square- foot facility is one of the nation’s largest single-tenant office buildings, about two-thirds the size of the Pentagon.
Another major employer that recently moved its headquarters to University Research Park is TIAA-CREF, a national provider of retirement fund services. The pension fund company employs more than 1,500 workers, a number that continues to increase. Other major employers in the area include IBM and Duke Energy.
Small businesses get a boost in University City, too. The Ben Craig Center is a small-business incubator operated by UNCC on Mallard Creek Road. The center supports new businesses, many of them spawned by university students, by providing office space, administrative services and expert advice.
With so many companies locating in the area, homes have readily followed. The University City area, which encompasses real estate areas 1 and 2, includes numerous developments that dot what was once farmland along Eastfield Road, Mallard Creek Road and Prosperity Church Road. More new neighborhoods are appearing around the exits along I-85 headed toward Concord and Cabarrus County.
The area has seen an explosion in retail development, and it’s expected to continue. Concord Mills, off I-85, opened in 1999 to great fanfare. The state’s secondlargest shopping center with 1.4 million square feet, Concord Mills is hailed as the state’s top tourist attraction, drawing 15.3 million visitors and thousands of tour buses annually. Shopping destinations include an outdoor store featuring indoor trout streams and a 20-foot rockclimbing wall.
 Nearby is Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, an outdoor arena on U.S. 29 that hosts summer performances by rock, pop and country artists. Developers continue to make plans for the 2005 opening of Northlake Mall, to be located at I-77 and Reames Road. The mall’s developers say the project will have 1.2 million square feet and include Belk, Dillard’s and Hecht’s department stores as anchors.
Another popular shopping draw is University Place, a great spot near the university to catch a movie, enjoy dinner at one of several restaurants that encircle a manmade lake or do some power shopping at one of the big-box retailers nearby. On warm summer weekend evenings, it’s often possible to catch the sounds of an outdoor band while enjoying the ducks on the lake.
Businesses and apartments, many offering housing to students, are clustered around the intersection of N.C. 49, called University City Boulevard, and W.T. Harris Boulevard. Farther down Harris at its intersection with Hickory Grove Road is another busy intersection of apartments, restaurants and businesses. Newell, near UNCC along Old Concord Road, is a mix of rural vistas coupled with suburban developments of new homes. Back Creek, Caldwell and Rocky River Road, once quiet country lanes, are seeing growth as builders develop new subdivisions all the way to Cabarrus County.
University Hospital, on W.T. Harris Boulevard at U.S. 29, provides medical Cabarrus residents. The 130-bed hospital, part of Carolinas HealthCare System, includes a maternity center, sleep center, outpatient services and general medicalsurgical services.
Recreation in the area includes numerous parks and recreational facilities. A growing 62,000 square foot YMCA is located at W.T. Harris Boulevard and Mallard Creek Road and features a crowddrawing water park. The Mallard Creek Greenway is a 3.6 mile paved walking trail along the creek off Mallard Creek Road.
The area also is home to one of the country’s largest indoor athletic facilities. Charlotte Sports Center – located just off Harris Boulevard on Hankins Road, near I-77 – is a 75,000-square-foot athletic center that offers indoor basketball, volleyball, inline hockey, soccer, flag football and a fitness center. No membership is necessary; it’s all pay as you play.
Despite all the growth, University City still has a hometown feel. A juicy hamburger at Herlocker’s drive-in on North Tryon Street is still a favorite meal, and Reedy Creek Park, a county-operated nature preserve between Rocky River Road and The Plaza, is a picturesque 727-acre nature preserve.
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