Charlotte-area lake getting its first waterfront restaurant
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — “I swam in this lake as a kid and I so I really wanted something here that was a positive.”
For said landowner Bob McRorie, Mountain Island Lake has been the best kept secret for years. The smallest of the three man-made lakes touching Mecklenburg County is about 3,300 acres and provides drinking water to residents in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.
For that reason, much of the shoreline is part of nature preserves, and there are no commercial buildings, no marinas and no restaurants — until now.
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“I live in this area, drove by, saw the sign,” McRorie said. “It had been up forever, and I sold my company. I did very well, and I said, I’m going to buy that property.”
That 5-acre property McRorie purchased in 2017 has about 550 feet of shoreline with a waterfront view down the main channel of Mountain Island Lake. It’s near the intersection of Brookshire Boulevard (N.C. 16) and Mountain Island Brook Lane.
After years of planning and wading through the restaurant struggles during the COVID pandemic, he’s finally broken ground on his waterfront restaurant.
“I didn’t go into this for the money aspect,” he said. “I went into it because I love this side of town and I wanted it to be something we’d all be proud of out here.”
Renderings show what the 8,000-square-foot space will look like, which will likely be a two-restaurant concept with a split kitchen.
“Deck on the back of the building, it’s going to be a pretty sizable deck,” said Mike Ratzlaff, with Ratzlaff Construction, which is heading up the project. “It’s going to be a nice spot to overlook the water, and really have a nice meal.”
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The lake is all residential – where development is actually allowed — but a small portion of this property was zoned commercial thanks to a once-wild biker bar that occupied the lot. Now, thanks to that commercial designation, McRorie was grandfathered in on the zoning paving the way for his restaurant.
He’s still working with Duke Energy to see if they’ll allow boat slips along the shoreline, but he already has a restaurant committed to moving in.
“I talked to the tenants, and they said, well, ‘This is a little bit early for us,’” McRorie said. “They did tell me they would give you an exclusive, however, the first exclusive when they make that announcement.”
The restaurant should be open at the end of this year or early next year.
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