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HARRISBURG AREA LAND USE PLAN Among the major drivers that are having an impact on housing and employment in the planning area are the following: • Downtown Charlotte, the primary employment and entertainment center in the region; • University Research Park; • University of North Carolina at Charlotte; • Concord Mills; • North Carolina Research Campus; • Philip Morris site; and • Transportation facilities, including I -485 and the CATS northeast corridor light rail line. Refer to the Harrisburg Area Land Use Plan Market Analysis in Appendix D for more information about these major economic drivers. Conxniercial (Retail and Office) Developnient Activity Retail construction in the planning area has been more prevalent since 2000. Of the 698,919 square feet of retail space currently in the planning area, 53.0% has been completed since 2000, mostly within the NC -49 corridor. The overall retail vacancy in the shopping centers in the planning area is 6.2 %, slightly higher than 5.7% for Cabarrus County. In the county, unanchored specialty centers, which are typically the first to experience vacancies when the market weakens, had the highest vacancy of 21.8 %. Cabarrus County completions of all types of retail space outpaced net absorption in the five years between 2004 and 2008, creating an oversupply of 69,961 square feet overall, which caused the vacancy rate to peak at 5.2% at the end of 2008. (Vacancy was the lowest in 2007 at 3.6 %.) This compared favorably to a 6.9% vacancy rate for the six - county Charlotte market. Reported rents in the greater Charlotte market at year -end 2008 were, on average, $2.20 more than Cabarrus County. The planning area has approximately 245,000 square feet of office space, and approximately 51.8% of the total office inventory has been completed since 2000. Office space is primarily concentrated along NC -49, with some recent completions on Rocky River Road near the Brookdale development. Only general office space was completed in the planning area prior to 1980. Since that time, strong population growth in Harrisburg has increased demand for medical and professional services. A total of 3.5 million square feet of commercial (retail and office) space has been approved in the planning area. Approved square footage per development ranges from 1.7 million square feet within EPIC to 150,000 within Magnolia Springs. In addition, Morrison Ridge and the Mills at Rocky River, two developments which lie outside of the planning area but have not been constructed, have a combined total of 1.3 million square feet. With these nearby commercial developments, approximately 4.8 million square feet of retail and office space have been approved that would serve the planning area. Of this total, only 300,000 square feet have been constructed, most of which is in PART II: EXISTING CONDITIONS AUGUA&NIR number 1 G -1 Page 327