Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 6

114 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 ALBEMARLE , NORTH CAROL INA capital to help support the effort. What has come to be known as the “Pfeiffer Effect” is the catalyst to a downtown revival that is seeing the emergence of downtown living spaces to meet the need for students and a demand from retirees who desire to downsize. New shops, restaurants, and the renovation of the old downtown Albemarle Hotel are being planned as a vibrant village – offering a quality of life that is safe, inclusive, and evolving. According to City Manager Michael Ferris, “When Colleen Keith became President of Pfeiffer University, we had heard she expressed interest in a downtown presence. Mayor Michael and I worked with the University to find a suitable location and examined several properties. When Pfeiffer identified a County property used as the County Museum, we approached the County with the idea of the property exchange. We provided the County a larger and more suitable building for their museum which had been our former City Hall Annex. The City Council wholeheartedly supported the agreement executed between the City and Pfeiffer. We acquired the museum property and our crews removed the old building, then, we deeded the property to Pfeiffer for the Health Sciences Building location. The project provides Pfeiffer a great location for their new graduate programs and brings investment, jobs, and an age group that our downtown was lacking.” Albemarle is a city of about 16,000 and is part of the Charlotte Metropolitan Region, about 45 minutes east of downtown Charlotte. It is blessed with a backyard playground comprised of lakes and national and state parks that further contribute to the desirability of a place to call home. Being located in the geographic center of the state and part of the Charlotte regional economy, new industry is taking a look at the community as an ideal place to locate, with its amenities and proximity to urban