‘Abandoned’ Lake Norman-area housing community tops list of most delinquent taxpayers
A Greensboro developer who never completed a large Huntersville apartment community holds the top spot on Mecklenburg County’s latest list of most delinquent taxpayers.
The Pointe at Caldwell LLC owes the county $360,337.88, according to the county’s Feb. 4 list of the 100 most delinquent taxpayers.
The apartments, off N.C. 115 (Old Statesville Highway), are just south of the longtime Caldwell Station subdivision, where homes list for up to $575,000.
Two- and three-story apartment buildings appeared move-in ready when the Observer visited the site on Thursday, Feb. 20. Sidewalks also are finished, and a hydrant has been installed near the entrance off Old Statesville Highway (N.C. 115).
A locked gate, however, barred drivers at the entrance, and tall weeds surrounded the monument entrance sign.
The Pointe at Caldwell Station spans 2.5 acres and has a 2024 assessed value of $12 million, Mecklenburg County tax records show. The land is valued at $859,900, and buildings have a total value of $11,220,900.
The limited liability company formed by developer Hal Kern III and his H.M. Kern Corp. to build the apartments dissolved in January 2022, three months after its creation, a Charlotte Observer search of public records found.
Another North Carolina developer, Zachary Tran, then took over the project, creating and listing himself as general manager of a similarly named LLC, filings with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office show.
Tran founded Diamondback Investment Group LLC, which has developed apartment-condo communities in Wilmington, N.C., and Maryland and Pennsylvania, according to its website. Tran lives in Wilmington, according to his bio on the site.
”Most recently, Zach and Diamondback have nearly finished construction at The Pointe at Caldwell Station, a 297-unit, Class A multifamily property in Huntersville” according to Tran’s bio.
The property includes two three-story multifamily buildings, three two-story multi-family buildings and a single-story club-lodge, according to county tax records.
The county rates the Hardie plank-design vinyl building exteriors as “very good.”
Tran also recently acquired “three significant land parcels” in the Greensboro area rezoned “and currently has nearly 1,800 lots under development,” according to the Diamondback website.
His bio says he founded the investment group in 2016 and brought Kern aboard in 2017 “to grow the company.”
Kern’s bio on Linkedin lists him as CEO of Diamondback Investment Group LLC.
Kern and Tran didn’t reply to messages from the Observer.
Developer abandoned the site, planning director says
The Pointe at Caldwell LLC also led the county’s previous annual list of top delinquent taxpayers, Queen City News reported in March 2024. The Pointe at Caldwell owed $326,474.28 at the time, according to the station.
“The project has been abandoned,” Huntersville Planning Director Brian Richards told the Observer last week.
The development has outstanding zoning violations issued by the Huntersville Planning Department, Richards said. “The County Fire Marshall has outstanding issues as well,” he said in an email.
A county spokesman referred the Observer to the Huntersville Planning Department, saying the county had “nothing additional to add” beyond what Richards told the newspaper.
“As the situation evolves, we will coordinate with the Town of Huntersville,” Betsy Abraham, a county spokeswoman, said.
Mecklenburg County commissioner Elaine Powell, who represents the Huntersville area on the commission, declined to comment about the project.
Fate of the property remains uncertain
How the town and county governments will handle the abandoned site was unclear last week.
In Mecklenburg County, abandoned properties are available for purchase through tax foreclosure auctions, according to the Office of the Tax Collector.
Richards said the town and county plan to work with the developer “to clear all the existing violations and complete the project.”
“As of today, we do not have a timeline for this to occur,” he said. “The Town and its departments are keeping an eye on the site.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Abandoned’ Lake Norman-area housing community tops list of most delinquent taxpayers."