Townes at Millstone is a 133-unit townhome community in downtown Kannapolis, North Carolina, and it marks PPR’s first entry into the Charlotte metropolitan area. The grocery-anchored community, part of our growing allocation toward build-to-rent (BTR) properties, is anchored by the first Harris Teeter to open in North Carolina since 2020. The community sits in Millstone Village, a 20-acre master-planned urban infill development by Charlotte-based Cambridge Properties.
A Model Market Demonstrating the Thesis
The Charlotte MSA has been among the fastest-growing large metros in the country for several consecutive years. Between April 2020 and July 2025, the region added more than 278,700 residents, reaching a total of 2.9 million people last year. That growth is fueled by persistent in-migration from higher-cost Northeast and Midwest markets, drawn by relative affordability, a diversified employment base and expanding technology and healthcare sectors that continue to attract professional-class workers.
Kannapolis sits in Cabarrus County, roughly 25 miles northeast of uptown Charlotte. Downtown Kannapolis has been the subject of substantial public and private investment, and Millstone Village itself is located within the NC Research Campus, a 350-acre life sciences and innovation hub that has drawn more than $1 billion in institutional capital. That employment base creates exactly the kind of stable, professional renter profile that supports sustained occupancy and renter retention.
Charlotte-area median home prices rose sharply in the post-pandemic years. Buying the region’s median-priced home now requires roughly $106,000 in annual household income, well above what a large share of the region’s workforce earns, resulting in a meaningful workforce rental population, by necessity rather than preference. That cohort of financially stable, growth-minded and aspiring to single-family living, is the natural resident for Townes at Millstone.
The Grocery Anchored Advantage
Grocery-anchored real estate has long demonstrated resilience across market cycles. In commercial real estate, grocery-anchored retail centers have consistently outperformed unanchored peers on vacancy rates and stability, a pattern well-documented by ICSC. PPR sees a pattern playing out in residential real estate, where proximity to a premium grocer elevates both the renter experience and the long-term performance of the asset.
CoStar ranked Charlotte among the nation’s top-performing retail markets in 2025, reflecting the region’s strong consumer demand and the quality of its retail tenant base. A walkable grocer creates daily routine for tenants, and Harris Teeter is exactly the kind of anchor that drives retention by reinforcing community attachment.
The Bottom Line
With units planned for 2027 delivery, Townes at Millstone is structured for a long-term hold in a market with durable fundamentals. For PPR investors, it offers the same core proposition that defines the firm’s BTR strategy: high-growth markets, quality renter demographics and a community design built to reduce turnover and support durable performance.
Although owned through a predecessor fund, Townes at Millstone reflects PPR’s broader conviction in BTR as an asset class, the same conviction now backing the newly launched PPR Keystone Housing Growth Fund, which invests in already-built, stabilized BTR communities. Interested in learning more about the Fund? Dive deeper into our investment thesis here, or schedule a no-obligation call with the Investor Relations team.
