There may not be much commercial development in eastern Cabarrus County for now but expect that to change in the next five years or so, with a 765,000 square-foot shopping center and the extension of the George Liles Parkway in the works.

In 2007, Morrison Ridge, a commercial development that will be located at Stough Road and N.C. 49 just outside Harrisburg, received approval from the city of Concord. The project will be located at the western end of Cabarrus County's Westside Bypass, which will eventually connect the area to Kannapolis Parkway/George W. Liles Parkway and N.C. 3. Currently, the rural side of Concord where the future Morrison Ridge site is located doesn't have any significant commercial development.

Prior to the new development receiving approval, residents in eastern Cabarrus County and nearby Harrisburg have relied on Concord Mills and Afton Ridge for their retail shopping, but the planned construction and growth could offer alternatives.

At this time, Aston Properties, the Charlotte-based firm in charge of developing the project, has not revealed any specific tenants lined up for the development. There have been reports that Target and Lowe's Home Improvement were interested, but the developer has not confirmed that.

"We are moving forward with our anchor tenant lease negotiations and are working with the city to finalize the details of design and so forth, said George Dewey, president of Aston Properties, who added that there should be a lot more details finalized in the next four to five months regarding progress on the project.

When the project first received approval, Aston Properties projected the development would open in 2009 or 2010. The new estimated time frame for Morrison Ridge calls for it to open its doors in 2010 or possibly 2011.

The George Liles Parkway extension is currently on the Cabarrus-Rowan Urban Area Priority Project List, and calls for a short-term extension to U.S. 29 scheduled to begin in 2013, according to Phil Conrad, executive director of the Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization. The extension will eventually run from U.S. 29 to N.C. 49.

Residents of nearby Harrisburg have not been pleased with the prospect of potential "big box" tenants, as town officials turned down a zoning request by Lowe's Home Improvement in 2006, which caused some discord between the retailer and town council members.

A question surrounding the planned Morrison Ridge development is whether or not there needs to be more real estate in place before a big box retailer can settle in.

Bill Rinker, owner of Rinker Commercial Properties, said it's difficult to estimate how many rooftops need to be in a five-mile radius before a large retail center can successfully operate, but he believes growth coming in from Harrisburg will have a positive impact on the development.

"This development is drawing from the growth in Harrisburg," said Rinker, adding that the new four lanes on Hwy. 49 have provided easy access from Harrisburg to eastern Cabarrus county. "There are residential areas in both those communities."

There has been some speculation that the slowing economy has resulted in a delay in the Morrison Ridge project, but Rinker said he hasn't seen an unusual decline in the commercial real estate industry this year.

"Commercial real estate has slowed down in the last few weeks," he said. "It's just that time of year and we expect it to perk back up in August. We've been fortunate in Cabarrus county that we've been able to sustain growth."

Up until now, the area between N.C. 49 and Roberta Road has been an industrial area void of retail, but if nearby Roberta Church Road and Stough Road eventually become two-lane extensions of George Liles Parkway, the amount of traffic and congestion could be affected.

Richard Flowe, principal at Nfocus Design Inc. in Kannapolis, said that there are a few different ways to look at what could be causing the delays with Morrison Ridge.

"One way to view this project is to view it as if it's being affected by a slowing economy," said Flowe, who is not involved with this project. "Another is that it is being rescoped because of a total shift in traffic dynamics as a result of the extension of George Liles Parkway to U.S. 29, which in essence connects the site directly to I-85."

For now, Morrison Ridge can still be considered to be in the planning stages.

"As for the groundbreaking, that may be at least a year out roughly, but does seem certain," said Boyd Stanley, development review administrator with Concord's Planning Services.

Leaders in the city of Concord recently met with Aston Properties, and said the project continues to move forward.

"I have asked the developer to provide examples of projects in other cities and have sought the advice of the N.C. Institute of Government's Planning List Serv to see what's being built in other North Carolina cities for comparison," said Stanley.

Aston Properties has developed several projects in the Charlotte area, including Colony Place, Galleria Village, McKee Farms, Mint Hill Pavilion, and Specialty Shops on the Park.