Dilworth Neighborhood Grille not going anywhere after rezoning petition filed for site
Read the signs: a popular Dilworth restaurant is here to stay.
Dilworth Neighborhood Grille is assuring Charlotte residents that there are no immediate plans to leave or close after a rezoning petition was filed last week with the city. The rezoning petition was intended more to protect the value of the property, allowing for any potential development years from now to not be restricted by height limitations or property uses, the restaurant owner told The Charlotte Observer.
“Ten, 15, 20, 30 years from now, it would not be ideal to be hampered with the restriction of going three stories,” Dilworth Neighborhood Grille owner Matt Wohlfarth said. Wohlfarth trusts his landlords when they reassured him there would be no immediate impact to the site.
“They said they have no intention whatsoever of doing anything different for the foreseeable future,” Wohlfarth said.
To make his point clear to the masses, Wohlfarth put a sign up last Friday along the well-trafficked East Morehead Street: “Our landlord is not selling or redeveloping.”
What the rezoning calls for
The Keith Corporation, a Charlotte-based commercial real estate firm, is seeking a mixed-use zoning designation to allow for additional building height, according to city documents filed last week. Site plans call for up to 275,000 square feet of office space and 15,000 square feet of retail as well as allowing up to 225 feet in building height on one portion of the site. The Charlotte Business Journal was the first to report about the petition.
Keith Corporation is not listed as the property owner; an LLC affiliated with another corporation, Giant Genie, is listed as the owner. The LLC paid $5.2 million for the property in Sept. 2013, Mecklenburg County property records show.
Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, which opened in 2004, sits in Cavalaris Village. The shopping center is also home to a CrossFit gym, a nail salon and events company The Big Chill.
Attempts to reach The Keith Corporation on Wednesday were not successful.
Breathing a ‘sigh of relief’
Wohlfarth said his landlords told him the rezoning petition was filed as a reaction to the city’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and concerns over the property being limited in terms of zoning.
Getting a mixed-use designation would allow for a developer to get more out of the site in terms of a higher, more dense project.
When the current landlords took over the property almost a decade ago, Wohlfarth said he “breathed a sigh of relief.” He’s enjoyed having them around as they’ve attentively addressed problems over the years. He remembers them paving the entire parking lot as opposed to just repairing patches. They’ve worked with new tenants to help get them into the village.
“They physically come out and get up on the roof and pull the leaves out of the drains before a massive rain storm,” he said.
The restaurant has a year and a half left on its lease, Wohlfarth said, with an option to extend for another 10 years.
Plus, he heard from his landlords that they recently turned down an offer from Atrium Health to sell the property. The hospital’s main campus is right up the road. The hospital’s $1.5 billion innovation district “The Pearl” is also being planned by the restaurant.
“I just trust them,” Wohlfarth said.
This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 3:55 PM.
