CHARLOTTE — Jim Noble had long thought about putting a restaurant in Ballantyne, but could never find a space that appealed to him. This year, he’ll open his third restaurant at The Bowl at Ballantyne, which is home to more than 60,000 square feet of shopping and dining spaces.
Noble says The Bowl’s build-out, including its restaurant row, combined with proximity to neighborhoods and a business park full of office workers, made it appealing. Still, results there have exceeded his expectations.
“It was a perfect storm. When I heard what they were doing and I went looked at it, I said, ‘My goodness, this one looks pretty good,’” Noble says.
Noble is part of a wave of Charlotte restaurateurs who are following the region’s growth and developers’ ambitions to expand their portfolios into the suburbs. Sure, uptown, South End and Plaza Midwood remain in high demand, but there’s no question opportunities are opening up in what would have been no man’s land a decade ago.
That’s put the spotlight on high-profile developments such as The Bowl at Ballantyne, a recently repositioned Birkdale Village, Waverly and Rea Farms in south Charlotte, Gibson Mill Market in Concord and CrossRidge in Indian Land. Fort Mill and Rock Hill have become beacons driven by population growth, lifestyle choices and consumer demand.
“Part of it is an understanding of what today’s consumer and tomorrow’s consumer expects,” says Daniel Gibson, partner and managing director of NiceDay.
People are moving farther away from the city, seeking value through home ownership and taking advantage of work-from-home flexibility, Gibson says. That comes with a need for more restaurants, retail, entertainment and activities closer to home.
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