Miller, Developer at Odds on Knollwood Partnership Claim
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Kelly Miller found himself defending the Bell family again last week after a California developer told another media outlet that a proposed upscale outlet center was still in play on their land.
Bob Sonnenblick, owner of Sonnenblick Industries in Pacific Palisades, Calif., has been touting a 350,000-square-foot center for Moore County since last fall, when he initially said it was going on land owned by the Van Camp family along Morganton Road.
After a falling out with the Van Camps, Sonnenblick targeted a portion of the Bell family land and told another media outlet last week that Miller “is going to handle all of the approvals.”
“Then we look forward to getting back involved in the project,” Sonnenblick told The Pilot on Friday.
But Miller, president and CEO of Pine Needles and Mid Pines, reiterated Friday that the Bell family has “no agreement with Mr. Sonnenblick, written or implied.”
“We’re not doing this for Mr. Sonnenblick,” Miller said. “We’re doing this for ourselves. In fact, we do not have a relationship with any developer. We’ve had calls, but have told everyone that we’re not interested in discussing specifics until the rezoning process is complete.”
Sonnenblick did not refute Miller’s assessment.
“We have no contractual agreement with the family at all, and we’ve not said recently that we do,” Sonnenblick said. “We do not have the property under contract. We’re waiting for them to get the zoning completed. That’s as clear as I can make our situation.”
Miller submitted a conceptual plan for what is currently being called the Knollwood Tract on June 25.
The plan was required as part of the Bell family’s application to rezone the undeveloped 550 acres from Planned Development-Conditional District (PD-CD) to Planned Unit Development (PUD).
Town Manager Reagan Parsons said town staff has already reviewed the application for completeness.
“The application fits with the town’s PUD text within the Unified Development Ordinance,” Parsons said. “The application has been sent to external agencies such as the school board and regional planning organizations for further review.
“The specific plan will come somewhere down the road, but the rezoning would give the developer and the town more flexibility.”
Parsons said the rezoning request will likely be considered by the Southern Pines Planning Board in August.
The land is located near the intersection of U.S. 1 and N.C. 2. It is the same tract that was the center of a major confrontation five years ago when the proposed Pine Needles Village development was defeated.
The tract is currently envisioned to include a 300- to 400-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, up to 350,000 square feet of retail space, up to 100,000 square feet of office and commercial space, as many as 300 assisted living units, and up to 300 residential units.
In addition to the golf course, recreation areas would include walking trails, horse riding trails and golfing practice areas.
Miller has said the PUD designation would allow for flexibility in whatever decisions the family chooses to make as the plan progresses.
A group of downtown merchants have expressed an interest in having Miller conduct an economic impact study to determine how a large retail component might affect downtown retail stores.
Contact Ted M. Natt Jr. at (910) 693-2474 or tnatt@the
pilot.com.
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Comments
getreal 10 months, 2 weeks ago
The developer must know something I don't know. In this economy why on earth would anyone even consider this size development? Aren't enough homes on the market that are not selling? I don't know where they get their information, but if they think we are coming out of this in the near future I would love to see their crystal ball with the positive spin. If you would like a reality check, go to Zillow.com and look up your address for your house value. Please make sure you are sitting down first. I just don't get the push for housing development in this area for now or the near future. I hope they have to guarantee the water supply needed for something of this magnitude. Just ask Southern Pines about the water restrictions in place as we speak. What a crazy world we live in!
doughnuts 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Generally, the water restrictions apply to residents only.
Toda 10 months, 2 weeks ago
getreal => thanks for the link...Anyone want to buy a home on 2 acres?
cantstandya 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Hard to tell about the homes being built behind those gated communitiy fences but out in the other areas things seem to have slowed down,most country club developments seem to thrive even when all else is standing still.
getreal 10 months, 2 weeks ago
@Toda, I'm glad you liked the Zillow link. Here is another one near and dear to both of our hearts even thought it doesn't quite fit the topic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/opinion/songs-against-drilling.html?_r=2
Toda 10 months, 2 weeks ago
O' Yes getreal ... I like the comment by Belltower from SC. Wonder why our legislators haven't investigated Fracking to see the impact on all North Carolinian's?
handyssc2 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Me thinks Mr. Miller doth protest too much. What does Sonnenblick have to gain by lying about being in negotiations with the Bell Family to develop the retail portion of the Pine Needles (now aka: the Knollwood Tract) parcel? And why would Miller put forth a plan with 350,000 sf of retail space that is in the identical location and coincidentally just happens to be the identical size as the Sonnenblick factory outlet center that Miller touted back in February? If this PUD zoning gets approved and Sonnenblick shows up to develop his factory outlet center, the Bell Family's credibility will be significantly impaired. It's this kind of manipulation that promotes mistrust of developers.
handyssc2 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Kelly Miller says California developer Sonnenblick is not involved. However, according to a quote in the 07/05/2012 FayObserver: "California developer Bob Sonnenblick said Friday that the 350,000-square-foot outlet center first discussed several months ago remains very much a part of the plan. He said his apparent disappearance from recent discussions about the property has been by design. 'We have decided that we didn't want to be the lightning rod for all of the attention, so Kelly is going to handle all of the approvals,' Sonnenblick said. 'We think he's much better served to oversee that than we are from 3,000 miles away.' "
Who ya' gonna' believe?
coffecreme 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Not miller for sure. His track record in regards to investment property is not impressive
TooHot 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Hilarious. I haven't seen one of these snake oil proposals in a while.
tarheelborn 10 months, 1 week ago
Here we go again. I have oft said, one can never believe what the media prints and says. There MUST be a mistake or the Pilot is making a mountain our of a molehill..... I would ask (how in the heck can somebody even think of building this project) with the whole town being placed on water restrictions ? I haven't been down that way lately, but is Drowning Creek really THAT DRY? I don't think so. Southern Pine might pass the zoning, they might approve the plans, they might issue the permits and the DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS WILL SURELY GO OUT OF BUSINESS.
This is GREAT NEWS! ! ! Now they can Bulldoze all of Downtown, get rid of the rodent infested buildings skin off all the properties on BOTH SIDES of the tracks on Broad Street, BUILD A BEAUTIFUL PARK complete with Baseball and Soccer fields on all the vacant land and everyone move across highway 1 to The Bell Family's NEW SOUTHERN PINES! ! ! What a Welcome breath of FRESH AIR! New EVERYTHING nice and Clean and Beautiful.... I see nothing wrong as far as on the WATER FRONT. All the businesses being LOST or CLOSED, will be able to DIE OFF, therefore allowing all the NEW Businesses to step in and replace everyone closing. I see no difference in the water consumption. THIS IS GREAT!
cantstandya 10 months, 1 week ago
This area is reminiscent of Cary back in the early 80's,Cary was a unique in the way that it had a actual small town center,independent businesses,shops,now you cannot even recognize where downtown Cary once was,the penalty for growth is a debt we will pay, and is once in place it cannot be reversed,once inhabited by native North Carlinians,Cary now has been sold out piece by piece to developers,leaving the true residence to be ignored and eliminated from the decision making process,once that small town environment is gone,it is gone forever,I guess it all depends on what is most important to the citizans of this area as to what they want.
Thistle 10 months, 1 week ago
Wow! It's the good cop, bad cop charade. This is all an act, the developer and Mr. Miller aren't at odds with each other. This is what they'd like us to believe so that Mr. Miller can slip this through by looking like the good cop. With the current composition of The Town Council, it's quite obvious that Mr. Miller has made promises that he'll handle the approvals - they're already in his back pocket. No doubt, everyone's playing a few more rounds at Pine Needles. Here we go again......... small town ole boy cronyism at its best.
Take a drive along Camp Easter Road, Niagara Carthage Road, McDeeds Creek and look at the ponds in Pine Needles - there is no water, the ponds are at historical lows. If a development like this is built, where is the water going to come from? It's all one source out there and the water table is extremely low and vulnerable and continues to drop despite afternoon downpours. High density housing, manicured lawns, another golf course, outlet center....... no mention of protecting our resources, the resources that affect our entire community. Why should one developer and greedy landowner have the right to to lower the water table even more? Here's an idea Mr. Miller....... how about building a reservoir and a park on your property - something that gives back to the community in a meaningful way. That would be a real legacy for Mrs. Bell and The Bell Family.
cantstandya 10 months, 1 week ago
More than likely Hobbs Upchurch will find their way into the mix,reassuring all that with proper planning water will not pose a threat to development,if not them some other civil engineering consultants,all will promise a positive promise of enough water to go around,if not they will not prosper themselves in the planning and development phase of this project.
concerned1 10 months, 1 week ago
Sounds like a Progress Energy/Duke Power play to me. Go through the regulation process telling the regulators that Johnson will be in charge, which eased the regulators fears and the minute it passes, he "resigns by mutual agreement" and is out. LIES, LIES, LIES just to get what you want (or in this case need) to get the zoning passed. Does the Bell family really care about their credibility? Not after the money is in their pocket! They can buy credibility from the commissioners after this.