Kannapolis’ Mayor Expects 100,000 People In 20 Years

KANNAPOLIS, NC — For nearly every city in America, downtown is the focal point. Kannapolis’ epicenter, is no different.

Shops, breweries, and restaurants line Laureate Way. Enough attractions to bring people downtown, even on a Monday afternoon.

“I can go hit 2 or 3 shops, 4 or 5 shops, get popcorn from Popcorn Place, grab a beer,” continues resident Andrew King, “it’s definitely very enjoyable.”

A stark contrast from 20 years ago when Cannon Mills shut down, taking much of the local economy with it.

“The entire downtown was boarded up,” said mayor Darrell Hinnant.

Hinnant and other city officials decided to take a huge gamble by buying up the entire downtown. That bet paid off.

“In the last ten years, the property value downtown, just downtown by itself, went from $18 million to over $100 million,” explained Hinnant.

At the time of the purchase, only six businesses were up and running, Mayor Hinnant tells me now there’s 50.

“The entire downtown is a park. It is open all the time,”

Between the Cannon Ballers and the newly revitalized Gem Theatre, the city is focusing it’s attention on entertaining it’s exploding population. The city has seen nearly 12% growth in the last three years.

The mayor projects the city will continue to add about 1,000 people per year for the next decade. He believes within 20 years, the city’s population will hit 100,000.

“We don’t think we’ll lose that small town charm even at 100,000. When you compare that to a million people who are living next door to you. We got a long ways to go before we lose the small town charm,” explained Hinnant.

Kannapolis certainly has plenty of space to keep up with the new development that’s coming in. New houses and apartments are already popping in different corners of the city. Same can be said for jobs. The Chick-Fil-A distribution center is one of three new businesses coming in that’s projected to add about 1,000 jobs.