A landmark—but dilapidated—​80-year-old ​building near the corner of North Main and Catawba downtown will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use project that will likely include a restaurant. The property, which was once a pawn shop and is the home of the Blumengarten florist shop for one more week, was purchased by Legacy Pointe Properties for $447,500 in April.

Blumengarten will be moving to Hyde Park Storage Suites on Bailey Road next week.

Legacy Pointe owners, who are known for high-quality commercial projects, could not be reached for comment. But sources said the town will work a land swap with Legacy to include a parking deck in the project which is adjacent to the Veterans Monument at Rotary Plaza.

A parking deck is considered crucial to the new Arts Center which will be built just around the corner to the west of the Police Department.

Legacy Pointe’s project will represent millions of dollars of new investment downtown.

Town officials would not comment on the project, but it’s clear development is back in a big way in Cornelius. In the next year, there will be a new Mama’s Pizza by next year, a luxury condominium project on West Catawba not far from the new Hello Sailor restaurant and a new three-story office building going up on the northwest corner of Bethel Church Road and Jetton Road Extension.

Quantum Technology plans to build a 9,000 square foot, three-story building, according to owner Adam Jones. He has 16 people on staff currently and says expansion of the workforce is “very possible” once the new building opens.

Ground-breaking is expected around late fall, and opening the new building late next summer.

The Legacy Pointe property and building downtown are currently assessed at $225,700, according to Mecklenburg County tax records.