New apartments proposed in Canton
May 3—CANTON — The number of multi-family rental units in Canton will more than double if plans for a 160-unit apartment complex off Champion Drive and Livestock Market Drive come to fruition.
Michael Parrott, a 2017 Pisgah High School graduate and former fullback for the University of Miami, is putting his masters degree in finance and real estate development to use in his hometown through his new company, Mill Ridge Properties.
Parrott asked the Canton governing board if there was water and sewer capacity to serve the apartment complex, Ridge House, which is in the early planning stages.
He presented a detailed plan and conceptual drawings outlining the $25 million project that will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments to be rented at market price. The apartment complex will include six buildings that are four- and five-stories high, that will provide apartments, a clubhouse, an open courtyard with green space and ground-level retail opportunities. There will be two commercial out-parcels and 340 parking spaces.
"I have a contract on the land with 120-day due diligence period," Parrott told the Canton board members. "It's contingent on your blessing."
The town board confirmed there is both water and sewer capacity for such a project.
Parrott's research showed there are currently 141 multi-family rentals in Canton, with five of the six complexes built before 1965. These include nine units on Pisgah Drive where one-bedroom units rent for $1,000 a month; 16 units at Newfound Street built in 1918 where one-bedroom apartments rent for $1,1000; 60 units at Smokey Meadows, built in 2009, where one-bedroom rentals average $850; 12 units at Center Apartments built in 1060, where no rental rate was listed; 24 units on Park Street where the average rental was unavailable and another 20 units on Park Street built in 1934 where one-bedroom units average $875.
Parrott said his development would offer market-rate quality at market-rate price.
"The market demands a product that is, at the very least, taken care of, but more than that, updated," Parrott said, noting units that haven't been worked on in years are renting at market price, but that renters are not getting market quality.
Retail space
Retail opportunities will be on the front portion of the development to keep traffic away from the rental units, he explained. Parrott envisions a mix of local restaurants, a couple of national chains, a convenience store, a UPS or Fed-Ex site, a barber shop and essential services.
Using local labor, trades and services will be a priority, Parrott said, and his development will not only increase property values, but offer economic development opportunities and municipal revenue gains.
Town Manager Nick Scheuer said the project is in keeping with the town's vision and said there would still be a zoning compliance step to pass. Police Chief Scott Sluder said he could see no significant extra burden on law enforcement services should the development go forward.
More Canton housing
This is the third project in six months Canton leaders have green-lighted when it comes to the town's water and sewer capacity.
Last fall, the Canton governing board agreed to be Mountain Project's sponsoring agency for a $750,000 grant to cover infrastructure for an 18-unit subdivision on almost 6 acres of land between Canton and Clyde.
The grant for the Smoky Mountain Partnership affordable housing project wasn't authorized and the nonprofit is in the process of seeking other grants to offset development costs.
Just last month, the board agreed to make water and sewer services available to a 54-home subdivision west of town widely known as the Patton farm.
Patrick Bradshaw with Civil Design Concepts presented a request for services on the 20-acre parcel which was estimated to require 20,000 gallons daily of both water and sewer capacity.
