‘For us, it’s a game changer’: Apex development draws customers across central NC

From CBS 17 News

APEX, N.C. (WNCN) — A major new development is taking shape in Apex, bringing new homes, restaurants, and shops.

The 45-acre Sweetwater Town Center mixes restaurants, shops, and nearly 250 apartments. It is still under some construction, but is already drawing in events. Shop Local Raleigh held First Friday on the event lawn of the development, which is exactly what the developers want in the space.

Developer Marvin Waldo said he wants Sweetwater to have a small-town feel, a place where families have easy access to everything they need.

The development is bringing people in and not just from Apex. Steph Tucker and her family drive in every week to have dinner at Fratelli’s Delicatessen, one of the development’s businesses.

“This has become our spot every Friday night,” she said. “This area is providing us everything as a family that we kind of look for to be convenient and easy.

“It’s a game changer being able to hop on 64 and get somewhere that’s quality food,” she said. “It’s extremely convenient, and just a sign of the growth that’s coming this way.”

Miguel Ryan, a mechanic at a car dealership and a student at Wake Tech who lives right down the road from Sweetwater, said having the development close by makes his life a lot easier.

“It helps me because I work at a dealership as a mechanic, so long hours, early mornings, late nights,” Ryan said. “It’s very much convenient to have a place where I can very easily get gas, early breakfast, late dinner, whatever I need.”

One downside to the development is more traffic. But Tucker said it had not been a major inconvenience so far.

“You have to recognize with growth, there’s going to be a few pain points and that’s one of them,” she said. “The traffic to get here is not so bad that you think twice about going.”

Everything in the development is expected to be open by late September or early October. At that point, Sweetwater will host a bigger launch event.