Christmas on Salem Street - November 30 & December 1, 2007

• Friday November 30^th will feature several fun filled events including horse-drawn Sleigh Rides, a tree lighting ceremony at the Chamber of Commerce, and a Scrooge scavenger hunt. Let's not forget the Christmas Carolers too!
• Saturday December 1^st will definitely be a fun time for the kids - A pancake breakfast at the fire station and pictures with Santa. Top it all off with a Christmas Parade at 5pm.

Apex Historical Home Tour - December 2^nd 1-5pm

Take a look into Christmas past during Apex Historical Society's Home tour. It will feature three homes, one cabin, the Depot, and the Maynard-Pearson House. A reception with refreshments will be held at the Maynard-Pearson House along with an Old Fashion Sweet Shoppe during the tour. I attend this event every year. It's one of my favorite. A lot of folks don't realize the rich history in Apex. This is your chance to learn more.

 Stone Creek Village is now open and located at the intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road.  Stone Creek Village includes townhomes by Centex starting in the $300s,  a Harris Teeter, Walgreens, and other stores continuing to open.  The retail at Stone Creek has higher end boutiques and shops as well as several restaurants from casual to fine dining. 

Searstone Retirement Community.  This is a not-for profit, age targeted 62+ retirement Community in the heart of Northwest Cary that's just getting underway.  Members of this community will have the convenience and vibrancy of city living, plus the ambiance of countryside living. The community choices will include Estate and Plaza Homes (211 when completed), an amenity-filled Clubhouse, and a Specialty Village of shops and services centered around the community's lake.  A couple of unique features include maintenance free living,  a home warranty while living in the community, and it will have personal health services available onsite at Brittany Place. 

Crosland is the latest to target the booming section of Wake County. Developers have flocked to land near the future intersection of N.C. 55 and Interstate 540. It is considered to be some of the best real estate in the Triangle because of its central location in the expanding region and proximity to Research Triangle Park.

The John Crosland Project will be an exciting new $100M retail establishment with a boutique hotel, movie theater, hospital, up scale restaurants, office space, and apartments. Recent infrastructure improvements to support the growth have prompted builders to plan thousands of homes. With critical mass already forming, commercial developers also are pushing west.  In northwest Cary, planners anticipate as many as 15 million square feet of shops, restaurants, offices, schools, churches and warehouses. It's going to be the next frontier.

I get a lot of ideas from my clients for my blog.  Today, I had a client ask me about shopping in Apex, the Apex downtown area, and what's going on in the area.  Here's my advice: 

Apex offers a variety of shopping experiences from large retail centers to its quaint historic downtown located on Salem Street. 

Beaver Creek Commons shopping complex, located in the Southeast quadrant of US Highway 64 and NC Highway 55, is the first completed phase of its largest retail center in Apex.  Anchored by a SuperTarget and Lowes Home Improvement, there is an additional shopping that includes Linens N Things, Office Max and PetSmart. 

Beaver Creek Crossing, the second phase of this mega-center, opened in November 2006. Consolidated Beaver Creek Cinemas is one of the anchors in this neighboring section to Beaver Creek Commons and is joined by Circuit City, Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Navy, TJMaxx/Homegoods, Ulta Cosmetics, Borders Books, Kohl's and Pier 1 imports are coming soon.  A number of different restaurants and food establishments can be found, such as Chick-Fil-A, Panera Bread, Qdoba, Chili's, Firehouse Subs, Red Robin Burgers and Longhorn Steakhouse. Both phases combined have a total of 600,000 Square Feet of retail shopping.  Some of the local small business owners include a children's haircuttery called Snip-Its, Subway, Hibachi Express, General Nutrition Center, EB Games, Beverly Nails, J. Andrew Salon, Cold Stone Creamery, Cingular Wireless and A Dinner Affair (which is one of those meal preparation businesses) which are either opened or will open soon.

Several other retail centers are just a quick drive down NC Highway 55 from Beaver Creek Commons.  Haddon Hall Commons and Olive Chapel Village, both anchored by major grocery stores (Harris Teeter and Lowes), have a vast array of business types ranging from service industries to unique specialty shops to restaurants.  While out and about shopping, more restaurants and service industries can be found at the adjacent Peakway Market Square.

Historic Downtown Apex offers a glimpse of the past with the amenities of today.  Shoppers in the downtown historic district can enjoy an eclectic mix of antique, home décor, and specialty gift stores intermixed with a variety of dining options, like my new favorite Peak City Bar & Grill.  Enhancing the shopping experience are free concerts offered on Friday nights in the Spring and Fall.  Additionally, "First Friday" nights, which occur the first Friday night of each month, will allow for later shopping hours at the downtown stores. 

The Town of Apex offers a variety of passive and active leisure opportunities to Apex Citizens and residents of Southwestern Wake County. With passage of a $13,000,000 bond referendum in November 2004, the Town currently has several exciting projects underway. They include expansion of the Apex Community Center, Phase 1A of the Beaver Creek Greenway, Phase 1 of the Beckett Crossing Greenway and the restoration of the Towns original Town Hall into a Performing and Cultural Arts Center. Future bond projects will be the completion of the Beaver Creek Greenway, completion of the Beckett Crossing Greenway, Renovation and Completion of the Haddon Hall Greenway, a 160 acre Nature and Environmental Education Park, and land acquisition for a future Athletic Complex. We are proud to offer this variety of leisure opportunities for Youth, Adults, and Sr. Citizens alike.

If you are looking to move to Apex, don't overlook the Town of Apex.