I went looking for uptown Charlotte’s secret mall. Here’s what I found.

As a newcomer to Charlotte, I was given several suggestions of things to do and see. But nobody told me there was a mall hidden in plain sight in uptown.

I was sitting at my desk in The Charlotte Observer newsroom when one of my editors mentioned a “secret” mall in uptown, Overstreet Mall.

I had no idea about this. It seemed others in the newsroom also were confused. So I went on assignment to figure out what this mall is all about.

Overstreet Mall is a skywalk system that connects restaurants, retail, office buildings, hotels and more. It connects One, Two and Three Wells Fargo Center, Charlotte Plaza, BB&T Center, One South at the Plaza, Bank of America Corporate Center and Truist Center.

When doing research before I went to the mall, I gathered the impression that it was for the corporate, 9-to-5 office workers.

The idea for the Overstreet Mall came from the A.G. Odell Plan in 1966, which brought urban development to uptown, local historian Tom Hanchett explained. Odell was a famous Charlotte architect.

The mall was built in the 1970s to help revitalize uptown Charlotte. The federally funded project took inspiration from skywalk systems in Minneapolis and Montreal.

Attempts to reach a spokesperson for the mall were not successful.

During the 1980s and 1990s, as more office buildings went up, this expanded the walkways and retail space of the mall.

During the 2000s, a Center City Partners 2010 Vision Plan suggested removing the walkways of the mall and converting retail spaces into more office space. But in 2011, the 2020 Vision Plan re-imagined the mall. It recommended adding ground level retail space near the mall’s entrance and making hidden entrances more visible from the street.

What I found at Overstreet Mall

Overstreet Mall has entrances on Tryon and College streets, yet navigating them was a bit difficult.

I discovered a Reddit page on how to get into the mall, and that’s how I found myself in a parking garage on South College Street. Once I parked, I took the elevator up to the mall. When its doors opened and I walked out, I found myself standing between a Starbucks and Chick-fil-a.

This was on a recent Thursday during prime lunchtime; I was a little shocked by the lack of people in the mall. I saw some office-goers walking to grab a quick coffee or pick up their lunch, but there wasn’t much happening.

Another thing that struck me was it didn’t feel like a mall. If anything, it was an elevated food court.

There were a few lunch and coffee spots, a Walgreens, barber shop, stationery store, eye doctor’s office and a small branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. But that was it.

I passed several unused spaces in the mall. It was a bit disappointing to say the least.

While walking around I found myself in City Barbers. The barber shop has been there since 2011, and mainly serves local bank workers who stop in on their break, Russ Gibson, the owner said.

Paper Skyscraper was another store I popped into. The gift store has been in Overstreet Mall for about two years. Claiborne Williams, the marketing manager, shared with me the store’s main customers are office-goers who pop in on their lunch break to grab a quick gift.

This confirmed my suspicion that the mall was used mainly by office employees. Yet, where were they?

The Charlotte mall is not what it used to be

I stopped to talk to five of the office workers as they waited in line for their coffee at Starbucks. Workers shared that to them the mall hasn’t been as busy since the pandemic changed the world.

Before, the mall was busy, with dozens of restaurants and shops for people to use. Workers would go to have lunch, walk around or just take a quick break with their colleagues.

Then the world shut down.

It’s back open, but with some changes. Now the five-day, in-person work week isn’t a thing for many in the corporate world.

Gibson, at City Barbers, told me that after COVID, he saw other businesses leave due to lack of customers.

The office culture is also much different. People come in, do their work then leave, one bank worker said.

While I saw the occasional group or duo walking or eating in the mall, several people were walking around by themselves, headphones in, grabbing their lunch and heading back to work.

I went back to the mall again last Thursday, during prime lunch time, to see if the first experience was a fluke. It wasn’t. I passed several people walking to pick up their lunch and heading back to the office. I also saw many workers sitting by themselves eating their lunch.

The mall, at one time was a lively part of the uptown corporate scene, but now not so much.

For instance, one worker shared with me he only uses the mall to get his steps in during his break.

Many complained about the lack of restaurant and retail options in the mall. They suggested that if there were more places to eat or shop, it might entice people to utilize the mall.

Would the mall be better if there was more in it? Maybe.

The Overstreet Mall was designed to be a lively hub for office workers. Now it’s a reminder of what was.

This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 5:30 AM.

Sydney Sasser

The Charlotte Observer

Sydney Sasser is a business intern and the recipient of this year’s MS Van Hecke award from UNC. She is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has previously reported for Neuse News, The Durham Voice and The Intercept. In her free time she enjoys reading and cheering on the Tar Heels.

SS

Sydney Sasser

The Charlotte Observer