Developer previews 320‑unit Auburn‑Nightdale mixed‑use project; council presses on open space, parking and tax loophole

At a Garner Town Council work session on May 26, Toby Coleman, representing Brown Investment Properties and the property owner State Employees Credit Union, presented a development preview for about 14 acres at 4800 Auburn‑Nightdale Road, near the future I‑540 corridor. Assistant Planning Director Aaron Joseph introduced the item as a Tier 2 conditional rezoning request intended to better align the site with the town's Garner Forward plan.

Coleman said the team is proposing "about 320 apartments and about 12,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and bank" space, with ground‑floor commercial and upper‑story residential in four‑story apartment buildings and three‑story townhome‑style buildings. The proposal would retain commercial mixed‑use zoning while updating conditions to require vertical mixed‑use, limit vinyl cladding and add building‑design standards above the Unified Development Ordinance minimums. The site plan shown to council also included a bank branch with a drive‑thru and amenities such as a pool and dog park.

Staff flagged items for further detail, including tree preservation, buffer standards, road improvements and pedestrian connectivity. Coleman identified two specific modification requests: a request to reduce a perimeter buffer adjacent to a west‑side parcel from 45 feet to roughly 15 feet along a 150‑foot stretch, and a modification to address a current shortfall of approximately nine parking spaces, which the applicant said could be managed through shared parking agreements.

Councilmembers focused questions on several tradeoffs. Council member Singleton pressed the applicant for usable, flat open space: "We need open space for people to do whatever they want to do on a flat lawn," he said, noting he would not support the project without that amenity. Coleman and staff replied that the plan presented was conceptual and that open‑space locations will be refined in subsequent submissions.

Members also discussed height and density. While the draft zoning condition included a six‑story maximum, several councilmembers signaled a preference for four stories and called for staff and the developer to calibrate height, unit counts and parking to avoid expensive structured parking that would push rents higher.

Council member Vance raised concerns about a state property‑tax mechanism sometimes called the "Blue Ridge loophole," which has allowed some multi‑family property owners to reduce tax obligations in certain cases. Coleman and Chester Brown of Brown Investment Properties told the council they did not plan to rely on such exemptions for this project. Brown said he was "familiar with the Blue Ridge loophole" but had never participated in a development that used it and would not anticipate doing so here.

No formal action was taken at the work session. Planning staff and the applicant will refine zoning conditions and design details, including open‑space and buffer proposals, and the project will return for formal review through the town's rezoning and permitting process.