CHARLOTTE — ABC's reality show "Extreme Makeover" will be returning to the Charlotte area in December to knock down a house and raise another on the same lot, organizers announced Thursday.
About 3,000 volunteers will be sought for the weeklong project kicking off Dec. 11, said Frank Hereda and Wade Miller, owners of Charlotte-based Bellamy Homes, general contractor for the installation.
"Extreme Makeover" shot an episode in 2008 in the 4200 block of Sudbury Road in the Windsor Park neighborhood.
December's episode will be holiday themed and won't air until the Christmas season in 2012. It will be a two-hour special edition of the ABC program, which features Ty Pennington and designers partnering with volunteers to build a new home for a deserving family in a single week.
Hereda and Miller said the location of the home to be replaced won't be disclosed until the project begins. They said five families were under consideration by the program's producer, Endemol USA, to be chosen for the house.
They said they were familiar with all five properties and already had plans for a structure that would fit on any of the lots and wouldn't be out of place in their neighborhoods.
A rally to kick off the project will be held Dec. 1 at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont.
Miller, 31, and Hereda, 35, met as students at Perdue and launched Bellamy Homes in 2008. Their company builds about 40 pre-sold homes a year generally priced in the $200,000s. Their developments include the Berewick community in southwest Charlotte, Triveny Commons in Ballantyne and Verdict Ridge Golf and Country Club in Denver, N.C.
Although the show will be taping only two weeks before the Christmas holiday, they said they expect no trouble attracting volunteers. "I don't think getting support is going to be an issue," said Miller, who grew up in Charlotte.
People interested in volunteering or donating products can sign up the company's website, www.BellamyHomes.com.
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