Eric Andrews remembers hearing "rumblings" that something was changing in Chatham County around 15 years ago. That's when the Pittsboro-based real estate broker at Realty World Carolina Properties said landowners began to come into his office with offers for their tracts of land.
Once, he said he remembers a gentleman walking into his office with trembling hands. He had been offered $800,000 for 40 acres for a landlocked parcel that didn't even have access to a road.
"He goes, 'What should I do?'" Andrews said. "And I said, 'You should take it.'"
What Andrews knows now is that those tracts are home to Chatham Park Development, a controversial master-planned community being developed by Preston Development Company. The first parcel of land was purchased by investors in January 2006, according to Vanessa Jenkins, Senior Executive Vice President at Preston Development.
Since then, Jenkins said in a statement, the project has grown to approximately 8,500 acres – over 6,400 football fields.
Plans for the development include up to 22,000 residential units, up to 22 million square feet of non-residential development, and at least 1,320 acres of open space, according to the Town of Pittsboro's website. For Pittsboro, which has a population of just more than 4,700, Chatham Park could triple the Town's size.
And then, there's the Disney of it all.
Asteria
In December 2023, Storyliving by Disney announced plans for Asteria, a 1,500-acre Disney-branded residential community located within Chatham Park. The location in Pittsboro will be the second community of its kind nationwide, with the first located in southern California.
Jenkins said Preston Development connected with Disney through a local broker and Asteria's developer, DMB Development, in 2021. DMB did not respond to a request for comment.
Construction for Asteria began in June 2025, with home sales expected to begin in 2027. Final plans for the community also include a clubhouse, a wellness center, a community garden and a trail system for residents.
Disney Experiences declined to comment on Asteria, instead linking to a 2023 press release, which said plans for the community include 4,000 residential units geared towards 55+ adults.
Andrews said one of the big draws to Chatham County is its proximity to the "highly educated workforce" transferring to the Triangle.
"These people were having kids, and the grandparents wanted to be nearby, but not necessarily in the same neighborhood," he said. "And, you know, with access to sports and (an) international airport and good medical facilities, this area checks a lot of boxes."
Residential concerns
While the development will bring plenty of new retail and shopping opportunities to the area, the move from "small town America" to "massive development," as Andrews puts it, has drawn pushback from many locals.
"I think there's a huge concern about affordability, and there's a huge concern about property taxes," Andrews said. "So, you know, with all this great growth, people fear that it's going to get too expensive to live here."
No development, Jenkins said, comes without challenges and growth concerns – especially one the size of Chatham Park.
"It is a process that never ends, but begins with building relationships and trust by delivering what you promise and letting people judge," she said.
On Jan. 8, The Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of environmental advocacy groups Haw River Assembly, Chatham Climate Action Network and 7 Directions of Service in Chatham County Superior Court against the town of Pittsboro.
The lawsuit argued the town's Board of Commissioners' approval of a 5-000-acre conceptual plan for the South Village development of Chatham Park "strips away political accountability."
"This structure locks in the framework for the largest development in state history while stripping future elected boards and the public of the oversight to which they are entitled," the lawsuit reads.
"This is not about anti-growth or about stopping Chatham Park," according to a press release from Haw River Assembly. "This lawsuit is about transparency, accountability and getting this important and massively impactful process right."
Communications Specialist Caitlin Murphy said while the town is limited in what it can say during ongoing litigation, town officials remain committed to "transparency, fairness, and responsible stewardship."
Jenkins said Preston Development is working to address the local economy with more job opportunities and housing diversity that have not been available in the past.
Though not named as defendants in the lawsuit, legal representative Bradley Evans with Ward & Smith P.A. said in a statement the developers generally deny the plaintiff's disputes and plan to intervene in the case to "protect their interests."
"The developers of Chatham Park have worked cooperatively with the Town of Pittsboro and the broader community for years in connection with this exceptional project and expect to continue to do so," Evans wrote in an email.
In the meantime, Chatham Park has another 30 years of development to come. The next phase of construction, Jenkins said, includes the opening of Chatham Park Way from 15/501 North to 15/501 South, Asteria home sales and the development of a UNC Healthcare site.
