Charlotte group wants to bring affordable housing and a grocer to West End site
A West Charlotte Church’s Chicken and nearby vacant land are set to become affordable housing and a grocery store if a local nonprofit can buy the land. It’s asking for the city council’s help.
Historic West End Partners is looking to transform a corner of Five Points along W. Trade Street into a mixed-income, mixed-use development.
The project would have office space and a small business incubator, but the real amenities are 145 units of affordable and market-rate apartments, as well as a 13,000-square-foot grocery co-op store.
Historic West End Partners has already bought one piece of the puzzle. It purchased the Church’s Chicken site in March for $1.25 million, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
Now it’s looking to buy the rest of the vacant parcels.
Tapping into Charlotte’s affordable housing fund, Historic West End Partners, along with investment group The Integral Group, are asking the city for over $4.1 million to help purchase the land.
The nonprofit presented its proposal to Charlotte City Council on Monday night.
A grocery store in a food desert
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an area is considered a food desert when at least 500 people, or 33% of the area population, live more than one mile away from a supermarket or large grocery store.
The two closest grocery stores to the proposed redevelopment, Aldi and Harris Teeter, are both over a mile away.
It’s been decades since the Historic West End has had access to a traditional grocer, J’Tanya Adams, the partners’ founder and executive director, previously told the Charlotte Observer.
And Adams has been looking to change that since starting Historic West End Partners in 2010. The nonprofit advocates for cultural preservation and economic development in the Historic West End.
In 2024, the nonprofit, along with Local Initiatives Support Corp, purchased a Beatties Ford shopping center to create, Thrive Food Hub. The site, at 1121 Beatties Ford Road, includes a renovated commercial kitchen space, and open space for meetings and dining.
In the proposed development, the nonprofit will work with Weaver Street Market to bring food to the corridor. The co-op owns four stores in the Raleigh region.
Affordable housing in Historic West End
The development will be anchored by the market, along with office space and a business incubator.
And on top will be the apartments.
Most of the apartments, about 116, will be for those making 80% of the area median income or less. For a family of four, that’s an income under $89,750. About 29 of those units will be reserved for those making 30% AMI or less. For a family of four, that’s an income under $33,650.
The remaining units will be listed at market rates.
What’s next for Historic West End Partners?
The $4.1 million would come from the city’s affordable housing fund, specifically through a short-term loan to help developers buy land along transit lines. The loan terms are three to five years and require the development to include affordable housing, especially in the 30% AMI range.
At Monday night’s meeting, city council members praised the plan, noting that it provides housing and food security along a corridor with access to transit, but has lacked investment.
It’s a type of development they’d like to see replicated throughout the city.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
