“All I had in my mind was, ‘This is a blank canvas – don’t screw it up!’”

                             

                           H. C. Bissell

                           Chairman and CEO

                           The Bissell Companies

Ballantyne Master Plan

The 2,000 acre project we know today as Ballantyne started in the early 1980’s when the Bissell and Harris families quietly began acquiring property surrounding approximately 400 acres of farmland that had been owned by the Harris family for decades.  In the mid-1980’s, a five year planning process began by engaging a team of nationally recognized urban land planners.  In 1988, the Urban Land Institute assigned a task force to study the initial conceptual plans and their full endorsement was secured.  The first few years of the next decade were spent coordinating what was to become the largest zoning application in the County’s history.  When the plan was submitted, the petitioner committed to providing:

“A high quality mixed use community offering substantial and concentrated opportunities for employment, shopping and a variety of housing types for rent or sale and priced to accommodate all levels of income represented by the large Ballantyne work force.”

The approved master plan provided for the following:

• 5,000,000 square feet of office
• 4,600 residential units
• 500,000 square feet of retail
• 1,000 hotel rooms
• Two public school sites
• Bike paths, sidewalks and parks
• Environmentally supportive open storm detention areas

Key infrastructure development for roads, water, sewer, power, landscaping, sidewalks and more all began in the early to mid-1990’s culminating with the construction of the first houses and office buildings in 1996.

Today, Ballantyne is recognized nationally as one of the most successful, well conceived and executed master planned communities in the United States.  Home to multiple global, national and local headquarters operations, a Starwood Luxury Collection resort hotel, a top ranked golf course associated with the nationally prominent Dana Rader Golf School, a huge array of restaurant and retail options, parks, schools and, true to its original intent, a wide variety of housing choices available to all income levels. 

The inspiration for Ballantyne was to create more than just a series of distinctive places for people to live, work, shop and recreate.  It was intended to link all those elements by creating a cohesive and unique sense of place.  Today, people choose to live in Ballantyne to take advantage of all that the area has to offer.

• Where the average commute time is short in minimal congestion
• Where people can walk or ride their bicycle to work
• Where they can work out during the day or share lunch with their family
• Where they can be engaged with their children in nearby schools
• Where there is convenient access to the airport or to the cultural, entertainment and government facilities provided in Uptown Charlotte.

Today, the focus of The Bissell Companies, developer for the 525 acres comprising Ballantyne Corporate Park, is to steadfastly adhere to the original principles established for Ballantyne - to create a community where residents and tenants alike can

Live, Work, Play and Stay