Retail is following people to Steele Creek

Retail growth.

Not long ago, the only retail in Steele Creek was a grocery store here, a restaurant there. Residents drove to Pineville or uptown to dine and shop.

But this former farming community is growing. Its population has jumped more than 70 percent since 2000. And new developments such as The Palisades, The Sanctuary, The Vineyards and Berewick are bringing about 5,000 more houses to the area.

Business owners and developers are catching on. Now, Steele Creek is home to the $50 million, 600,000-square-foot RiverGate shopping center, the $720 million, 180-acre Ayrsley and a slew of other shops, restaurants and offices.

Real estate experts say they don't see the boom slowing.

People will continue flocking to Steele Creek because it's close to jobs and Lake Wylie, those in the know say.

"Obviously, retail follows," said Jeff Michael, director of UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute.

Plans are already under way for new shopping complexes.

As soon as enough people move into The Palisades, for instance, developers will build a 15-acre commercial center and smaller "retail village" tucked among the houses.

Convenience retail, such as big-box stores, will continue to thrive, but look for development to follow the area's housing trends: mixed-use, master-planned and upscale.

"If you look at master-planned development, there's close to a $2 billion investment in these communities in this quadrant," said Charley Hodges of Cambridge Partners, which is developing Ayrsley with Henson-Tomlin Interests.

That means more mixed-use shopping developments and more shopping centers that market themselves as communities.

At RiverGate, for instance, developers say the blend of restaurants, shops and, nearby, a library and greenway trail, make the center a community gathering place.

And Ayrsley is fashioned as a city on the edge of a city, with offices, a movie theater, a YMCA, restaurants and shops.

In coming months, Ayrsley will play up its focus on family and women, creating a stretch of boutiques and cafes reminiscent of King Street in Charleston, Hodges said.

Some developments will be more eco-friendly, too, following the lead of neighborhoods such as The Sanctuary and The Palisades, he said.

And more commercial developers will capitalize on Steele Creek's unique resources, Hodges said.

"We have the opportunity, because of the close proximity to lots of jobs and master-planned developments, to have an entirely different feel than other parts of town," he said. "I think we've got a good start."