Business

Buyer wants to resurrect Braewood plan

A buyer hopes to develop Braewood as a planned residential community.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 26, 2013

FLAT ROCK — A Fletcher developer who bought the 88-acre Braewood property in a foreclosure sale this month said he would like to resurrect a site plan that called for a 121-home residential development on West Blue Ridge Road next to the Mill House Lodge.

Matt King bought the bank-owned property for $1.078 million in a foreclosure auction on Dec. 10.
"It is under contract and I expect it to close by the end of the year," said Frank Smith of the auction company Stephen Jax & Associates. "It was a good auction. Almost every (registered) bidder placed a bid. It's a very appealing piece of property for a lot of different reasons."
The property was owned by TD Bank, the successor to Carolina First Bank, which in Feburary 2008 had loaned $2.5 million for the development proposed by Hilton Swing and his father, Ken Swing.
King also bought the Fox Glen property in Fletcher in a foreclosure sale and developed the subdivision. He has spoken several times with Flat Rock Village Administrator Judy Boleman about the process for reactivating a special use permit the village issued in 2007. The permit will expire on Jan. 8, Boleman said, because the landowner had not met the conditions of the permit, which required the developer to build roads and install utility lines.
"We plan to develop it," King said. "We want to restore the house and make it as good as we can. I like the original plan. I spoke to Judy (Boleman) and she said I could apply" to reactivate the permit.
The zoning permit authorized a 121-unit planned residential community on the undeveloped property in gently sloping woods on West Blue Ridge Road that would include walking trails, a 50 percent set-aside for open space and access to Jordan Lake. The property is across from Bonclarken between the Mill House Lodge and Flat Rock Middle School.
"He came in and reviewed the special use permit and the timeline," she said. "He is going to be applying to amend the special use permit (to extend the deadline) and he is going to make that application prior to Jan. 8. ... The site plan itself he likes. Most if not all of the stormwater permits and other state permits are active until 2018."
The application could go to the Planning Board as early as February and then to the Village Council for a hearing and council action, she said.

The property includes a house valued at $227,500 and two smaller buildings. The structures and acreage are currently assessed at $1.04 million.