Midnight Diner to be displaced by $750 million project near South End and uptown
A Chicago developer detailed plans Thursday for a $750 million project to bring three buildings with a mix of commercial and residential uses to a prominent intersection leading from uptown to South End.
Riverside Investment and Development announced the proposed development plan at the intersection of East Morehead Street, Morehead Square Drive, South Tryon Street and East Carson Boulevard.
The site is near Midnight Diner and LendingTree’s new headquarters that occupies one of the two 11-story towers at South Tryon Street and Carson Boulevard. Part of the project would bring large, outdoor open spaces, as well as retail features and improve upon the street network.
In a statement, Riverside Chief Operating Officer Anthony Scacco said the company was excited about the project — its first in Charlotte — and hopes it will “help transform the area between uptown and South End.”
Construction is expected to start at the end of 2022.
A popular diner moving
Brian Dominick, who has owned the property since 1995, will relocate his Midnight Diner nearby, Riverside stated in its news release. But it did not say where it would go.
The popular 11-year-old railroad car diner known for comfort foods is open 24 hours at 115 E. Carson Blvd.
The one-story, nearly 3,000-square-foot Midnight Diner sits on about 0.28-acres, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
It’s part of a 3-acre parcel on South Tryon Street that includes the Uptown Cabaret strip club, also owned by Dominick.
In September, Midnight Diner said on social media it would not be closing and plans to open more sites.
“We are absolutely and unequivocally not closing. We are currently planning on opening 2 new locations to serve our customers better,” the company said on Facebook.
RedEye Diner at Epicentre in uptown also is owned by Dominick. Dominick did not return multiple calls by the Observer for comment.
Street improvements planned
In his statement, Scacco said the company hopes the project will lead to a top “live-work-play environment that will contribute to the city’s already impressive growth story.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with local officials to ensure thoughtful urban planning at this important location,” he said.
Riverside said that over the past year, it has been working closely with the city of Charlotte Transportation Department and the North Carolina Department of Transportation “on analysis for replacing the existing College Street Connector via enhancements to the surrounding street grid.” This included a traffic study and evaluation of the entire street grid around the site.
Each of the surrounding streets — Morehead Square Drive, South Tryon, East Morehead and East Carson Boulevard — would be widened, the firm said.
Additionally, Morehead Square Drive would be realigned to keep northbound moving traffic headed to College Street, north of Morehead Street. And there would be new bike lanes and pedestrian crossings in the area, along with a pedestrian connection to the Carson Boulevard light rail stop, according to Riverside.
Observer staff writer Catherine Muccigrosso contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 5:33 PM.
