Last updated June 2026.
If you are 55 or older and you want new construction near Charlotte without the size and sprawl of the giant retirement communities, Encore at Streamside is one of the first places I bring you. It is David Weekley Homes’ active-adult community in Waxhaw, NC, tucked just minutes from one of the most charming small downtowns in our region. The buyers I take here are almost always weighing the same things: How much does a new home actually cost? What do I get for the HOA? Is staying in North Carolina worth it on taxes, or should I cross into South Carolina? And honestly, is a smaller community going to give me enough to do?
I am going to answer all of that the way I would in the car on the way to a showing. Encore at Streamside is a 322-home community that is still actively selling new construction in 2026, which makes it rare in our area, where most 55+ inventory is resale. That single fact is the whole reason a lot of my buyers choose it. This guide covers the prices and floor plans, the amenities at the clubhouse, the builder, the HOA, the Waxhaw location, the Union County tax picture, and the tradeoffs I make sure you understand before you fall in love with a model home.
What This Guide Covers
- Is Encore at Streamside the right 55+ move in Waxhaw?
- Encore at Streamside home prices and floor plans in 2026
- The builder: what David Weekley brings to the table
- Amenities at The Landing clubhouse
- The HOA and the low-maintenance lifestyle
- Location: downtown Waxhaw and Charlotte access
- Union County taxes vs Mecklenburg, with real numbers
- The tradeoffs: what to know before you buy
- Encore at Streamside vs Sun City Carolina Lakes
- Who Encore at Streamside is right for
- Frequently asked questions
Is Encore at Streamside the Right 55+ Move in Waxhaw?
For the buyer who wants a brand-new, low-maintenance home in a tight, walkable, age-targeted community, Encore at Streamside is one of the strongest options near Charlotte. It is a 55-plus active adult community by David Weekley Homes with 322 single-family homes planned, set in Waxhaw in Union County, NC. As of 2026 it is still actively selling new homes in both of its collections, with quick move-in homes coming available through the summer and fall and builder incentives running into 2027.
The age rule is the standard 55-plus structure. The community is designed for active adults who want to right-size into a new home without the burden of a big yard and a long maintenance list. What sets it apart in my mind is the combination: new construction, a real clubhouse that is already open, and a location next to a downtown people actually want to walk to. A lot of 55+ communities give you one or two of those. Encore gives you all three.
The only-a-local note: Encore sells partly on the idea that you can walk or take a golf cart into historic downtown Waxhaw. The reality is that it is close and easy by car, and the downtown is genuinely worth it, but check the specific homesite and the connecting roads before you assume a casual stroll. Some homesites are an easy walk and some are a quick drive. I always have buyers test that for themselves rather than take the brochure’s word for it.
Encore at Streamside Home Prices and Floor Plans in 2026
Encore at Streamside offers two distinct home collections, and the price gap between them is wide enough that it really shapes your decision.
The Classic Series is the entry point. In 2026 these start in the mid $400,000s and run into the mid $600,000s, with specific plans starting around $487,990 and reaching roughly $651,000. The Classic plans (the Lumina, Allure, Heirloom, Vibrant, and Flourish) generally run from about 1,602 to 2,423 square feet, with two to four bedrooms. These are the right-sized, single-level-living homes most of my 55+ buyers gravitate to.
The Tradition Series is the larger, more upgraded collection. It starts in the mid $500,000s and reaches into the mid $900,000s, with plans starting around $579,990 and the largest reaching past $900,000. The Tradition plans (the Venture, Preserve, Engage, Luster, and Harwin) range from roughly 2,045 to about 3,200 square feet, with more flexible space, larger primary suites, and room for a home office or a guest wing.
| Collection | 2026 Starting Price | Square Footage | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Series | Mid $400Ks to mid $600Ks | ~1,602 to 2,423 sq ft | Right-sizing into single-level living |
| Tradition Series | Mid $500Ks to mid $900Ks | ~2,045 to 3,200 sq ft | More space, larger suites, home office or guest wing |
My advice on new construction here is the same advice I give in any new community: the base price is the starting line, not the finish. Lot premiums, structural options, and design-center upgrades add up fast, and the model home you walk through has tens of thousands of dollars in finishes that are not in the base price. Before you sign, get the builder to itemize lot premium, structural options, and a realistic design-center estimate so you know your true number. And bring your own representation. The sales agent in the model works for the builder, not for you, and a buyer’s agent costs you nothing in this scenario.
The Builder: What David Weekley Brings to the Table
David Weekley Homes is one of the larger privately held builders in the country, and they have a reputation for design flexibility and a strong customer-experience focus rather than the bare-bones approach of some volume builders. For a 55+ buyer, the things that matter are single-level layouts, wide doorways and zero-step entries where available, and the ability to choose options that support aging in place. Those are exactly the levers David Weekley gives you in this community.
The practical advantage of buying new from a builder like this is the warranty and the fact that every system in the home is brand new. Compare that to a resale 55+ community where you inherit a 12-year-old roof and an aging HVAC. With Encore you are starting the clock at zero on the roof, the systems, and the appliances, and you have a builder warranty behind you. For a lot of retirees, that predictability is worth real money and real peace of mind. Still, I always tell buyers to hire their own independent home inspector at the pre-drywall and final stages. A new home is not a perfect home, and a third set of eyes catches things before closing.
Amenities at The Landing Clubhouse
One of the biggest knocks on new active-adult communities is that buyers move in before the amenities exist. That is not the case here. Encore at Streamside’s clubhouse, called The Landing, opened in June 2024 and is already in use. It includes a fitness center and generous space for socializing and gatherings, plus an event lawn for community functions.
Outside the clubhouse you get a resort-style swimming pool with a patio, pickleball courts, a dog park, walking trails, and a good amount of preserved greenspace. Just as important, the community employs a dedicated Lifestyle Director whose whole job is to organize events, classes, clubs, and social activities. That role is the difference between a community where amenities sit empty and one where there is something on the calendar every week. When I tour buyers who worry that a smaller community will be too quiet, the Lifestyle Director is the answer I point them to.
The honest comparison: Encore’s amenity package is well-appointed for its size, but it is not the 53,000-square-foot, two-clubhouse, golf-course operation you find at the largest communities. That is by design. You are trading sheer scale for a newer, more intimate setting where you actually get to know your neighbors. I cover that tradeoff in detail below.
The HOA and the Low-Maintenance Lifestyle
HOA dues at Encore at Streamside run about $330 a month, and the dues cover all amenities plus lawn care. That last part is the whole point of a community like this. The buyers I work with here are often coming out of a larger home on a half-acre that they spent every Saturday maintaining. The lawn-care inclusion means you can lock the door, travel for a month, and come home to a yard that still looks cared for. That lock-and-leave flexibility is one of the top reasons active adults choose new 55+ communities over staying in their existing home.
As with any HOA, read the documents before you commit. Ask what the dues include in writing, confirm the lawn-care scope (front and back, beds and shrubs or just turf), and ask the builder how dues are projected to change as the community finishes building out and the HOA transitions from builder control to homeowner control. None of this is a red flag at Encore. It is simply the homework I make every buyer do so there are no surprises in year two.
Location: Downtown Waxhaw and Charlotte Access
Encore at Streamside sits in Waxhaw, minutes from the historic downtown. That downtown is a real draw and not just marketing. You get locally owned restaurants and breweries, antique shops, a regular event calendar, and the kind of small-town character that buyers relocating from a big metro tell me they have been missing for years. For a deeper look at the downtown scene, I wrote a full guide to historic downtown Waxhaw.
On the Charlotte side, the location works well for a retiree who still wants metro access without metro prices. Ballantyne in south Charlotte is a reasonable drive, generally reached by I-485. Uptown Charlotte is roughly 18 to 25 miles, which runs about 25 to 40 minutes off-peak and longer during rush hour. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is around 27 miles and roughly 42 minutes, which matters a lot to the buyers who travel to see grandchildren or take advantage of being retired.
Healthcare is the one area buyers should think about over the long term. Today you rely on the Ballantyne and Charlotte hospital systems and facilities a short drive north. The good news for this corridor is that Novant Health is building the Wesley Chapel Medical Center, a 32-bed hospital, with an expected opening in 2030. That closes part of the medical-access gap that Waxhaw and the surrounding Union County towns have had. Weigh it as a positive trend for the area.
The local traffic caveat: the NC-16 and Providence Road corridor that feeds this part of Waxhaw carries heavy commuter volume, and the widening project that buyers ask about is on a multi-year timeline, with right-of-way and construction phases running into the late 2020s. For a retiree who is not commuting at peak, this is a minor issue. If you still work part-time or drive into Charlotte regularly, test the drive at 7:30 on a weekday before you decide.
Union County Taxes vs Mecklenburg, With Real Numbers
This is where I slow buyers down so they understand exactly what they are getting. For the 2025-2026 year, the Union County property tax rate is 43.42 cents per $100 of assessed value. The Town of Waxhaw adds its own rate of about 29 cents per $100. Because Encore at Streamside is inside Waxhaw town limits, you pay both, for a combined rate in the neighborhood of 72 cents per $100.
Compare that to Mecklenburg County, where the county rate plus the City of Charlotte rate combine to roughly 77 cents per $100. So Waxhaw’s combined rate is somewhat lower than Charlotte’s, but the gap is narrower than the “move to Union County to save on taxes” story sometimes implies. The bigger tax savings in Union County historically come in the unincorporated areas that pay only the county rate. Inside Waxhaw town limits you are paying for town services, and you should price the combined rate into your monthly budget honestly.
One more thing every Union County buyer needs to know: the county completed a property revaluation in 2025, and many assessed values jumped sharply, which reset tax bills even where the rate looks modest. When you are evaluating a specific home, look at the post-revaluation assessed value, not an old one, and run the actual tax bill. For a full breakdown of how the county rate works, I keep an updated guide to Union County NC property tax rates.
The Tradeoffs: What to Know Before You Buy at Encore at Streamside
Here is where I earn my keep as your agent. Encore is a strong community, but it is not the right fit for everyone, and these are the honest tradeoffs.
First, scale. With 322 homes and an amenity package sized to match, Encore is intimate by design. If your idea of retirement is a community with 200 clubs, a golf course, and multiple pools, this is not that. Some buyers tour it and love the smaller feel; others realize they want the big-community energy. Know which one you are before you commit.
Second, it is still building out. Buying in an active construction community means living next to construction for a while, and it means the HOA is still partly under builder control. That is normal, but it is a different experience than buying into a finished, established community.
Third, the price of entry is higher than a comparable resale home elsewhere. You are paying the new-construction premium. What you get for it is a brand-new home with new systems, a warranty, and design choices that fit your needs. For many buyers that is worth every dollar. For a budget-focused buyer, a resale community may stretch further.
Fourth, the tax and healthcare picture is improving but not finished. The new Novant hospital is years out, and the road widening is on a long timeline. You are buying into a corridor that is growing into its infrastructure.
Encore at Streamside vs Sun City Carolina Lakes
This is the comparison nearly every 55+ buyer in our market ends up making, so let me lay it out plainly. The two communities sit at opposite ends of the same spectrum.
Encore at Streamside is small (322 homes), new construction, in Union County, NC, near downtown Waxhaw, with a clubhouse, pool, pickleball, and a Lifestyle Director. You get a brand-new home, a quieter and more personal community, and a North Carolina address minutes from Waxhaw’s downtown.
Sun City Carolina Lakes is the opposite: roughly 3,160 homes, resale only (Del Webb finished building in 2016), in Indian Land, South Carolina, with two clubhouses totaling more than 53,000 square feet, an 18-hole golf course, and well over 100 clubs. You get unmatched amenity depth and the South Carolina tax advantages, but every home is 10 to 20 years old and the scale is large.
My rule of thumb: choose Encore if you want new construction, a smaller community, and a North Carolina location next to Waxhaw. Choose Sun City if you want maximum amenities, the deepest social calendar, and the South Carolina tax structure, and you are comfortable buying and updating a resale home. I take serious buyers to both, because the right answer is entirely about the life you want, not which one is objectively better.
Who Encore at Streamside Is Right For
Encore at Streamside is the right call for the active adult who wants a brand-new, low-maintenance home, values a smaller and more personal community over a sprawling one, and wants to stay in North Carolina near the character of downtown Waxhaw. It is ideal for the buyer right-sizing out of a high-maintenance home who wants to lock the door and travel, and for the buyer who wants the security of new systems and a builder warranty rather than inheriting someone else’s deferred maintenance.
It is less ideal for the buyer who wants the largest possible amenity package and club roster, the buyer chasing the lowest price of entry, or the buyer set on a South Carolina tax address. For those buyers, Sun City Carolina Lakes or another resale community usually fits better.
Two buyer scenarios I see all the time make the fit clearer. The first is a couple in their early sixties selling a four-bedroom on an acre in another state. They are tired of the upkeep, they travel several months a year, and they want a new home with new systems they will not have to touch for a decade. For them, the Classic Series at Encore plus the lawn-care HOA is close to perfect: they lock the door, fly out, and come back to a maintained home and a community calendar waiting for them. The second is a buyer who wants the biggest possible amenity menu and the lowest entry price, and is open to South Carolina. For that buyer I almost always steer toward a resale option, because Encore’s new-construction premium and intimate scale are the opposite of what they are optimizing for. Knowing which scenario you are in saves months of touring the wrong communities.
If you want help deciding, that is exactly what I do. I will walk Encore and its alternatives with you, get the builder to itemize the real all-in price, pull the comparable resale numbers, and tell you honestly which community fits the retirement you are picturing.
Considering a 55+ Move to Waxhaw?
Let’s tour Encore at Streamside together, get the builder to itemize the true cost, and compare it against the other 55+ communities near Charlotte. I represent you, not the builder, and the consultation is free.
Schedule a Free Intro Call704-774-7170 | steve@jarrellhomes.com | thelongleafgroup.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Encore at Streamside in Waxhaw, NC?
Encore at Streamside is a 55-plus active adult community by David Weekley Homes in Waxhaw, NC, with 322 planned single-family homes. It sits minutes from historic downtown Waxhaw in Union County and offers new construction, a clubhouse called The Landing, a resort-style pool, pickleball, walking trails, and a Lifestyle Director who organizes events.
What are home prices at Encore at Streamside in 2026?
The Classic Series starts in the mid $400,000s and runs into the mid $600,000s (roughly 1,602 to 2,423 square feet). The Tradition Series starts in the mid $500,000s and reaches into the mid $900,000s (roughly 2,045 to 3,200 square feet). These are base prices, so budget for lot premiums and design upgrades on top.
What amenities does Encore at Streamside offer?
The Landing clubhouse, which opened in June 2024, includes a fitness center and gathering space plus an event lawn. Outdoor amenities include a resort-style pool with a patio, pickleball courts, a dog park, walking trails, and greenspace. A dedicated Lifestyle Director organizes community events and clubs.
How much is the HOA at Encore at Streamside?
HOA dues run about $330 a month and cover all amenities plus lawn care, which supports the low-maintenance, lock-and-leave lifestyle these homes are built for. Confirm the exact dues and lawn-care scope in the HOA documents before you buy.
How close is Encore at Streamside to Charlotte and the airport?
Encore is minutes from downtown Waxhaw, a reasonable drive to Ballantyne via I-485, roughly 18 to 25 miles (about 25 to 40 minutes off-peak) from uptown Charlotte, and around 27 miles or about 42 minutes from Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
What are the tax advantages of buying in Union County versus Mecklenburg?
For 2025-2026, Union County’s rate is 43.42 cents per $100 and the Town of Waxhaw adds about 29 cents, for a combined rate near 72 cents. Mecklenburg County plus the City of Charlotte combine to roughly 77 cents, so Waxhaw is somewhat lower than Charlotte. Note that Union County’s 2025 revaluation reset many assessed values, so always check the current assessed value and run the actual bill.
Is Encore at Streamside a good fit for low-maintenance, lock-and-leave living?
Yes. The HOA includes lawn care, the homes are designed for single-level living, and the community is built specifically for active adults who want to travel without worrying about the house. New construction also means new systems and a builder warranty, so you are not inheriting deferred maintenance.
How does Encore at Streamside compare to Sun City Carolina Lakes?
Encore is a smaller community of 322 new-construction homes in Union County, NC near downtown Waxhaw. Sun City Carolina Lakes is a large, resale-only Del Webb community of about 3,160 homes in Indian Land, SC with two clubhouses, golf, and 100-plus clubs. Encore wins on new construction and an intimate feel; Sun City wins on amenity depth and South Carolina tax advantages. Touring both is the best way to decide.
About the Author
Steve Jarrell is a top real estate broker with The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty, serving Waxhaw, Union County, South Charlotte, and the surrounding markets. He helps active-adult buyers compare 55+ communities, negotiate new construction with the builder, and understand the tax tradeoffs across the state line. Reach Steve at 704-774-7170 or steve@jarrellhomes.com, or learn more at his bio page.
Helpful local resources: the North Carolina Department of Revenue property tax page for how NC property tax and revaluation work, and the David Weekley Homes site for current floor plans and availability.