‘This isn’t right.’ Enderly Park parking dispute underlines effects of gentrification
A monthslong parking dispute in northwest Charlotte came to a head this week when Robbie McNair spotted new signs in the lot at the center of the debate.
McNair, owner of event and brunch space The Good Life at Enderly Park, has been clashing with management of Jim Noble’s businesses Noble Smoke and Bossy Beulah’s about a shared parking lot that all of the nearby businesses’ customers use. About two weeks ago, Noble threatened to have McNair’s customers’ cars towed.
And a few days later, McNair noticed the signs.
“Parking reserved for our guests,” one read between logos for Noble’s restaurants. “All others will be towed.”
Just a few months after reopening her business in February 2021 after a mandatory COVID-19 shutdown, McNair said she started having problems with Noble Smoke management about her customers parking in the shared lot. The issue escalated, she said, into an argument with one of the managers of Noble Smoke last week.
Noble provided a statement to the Charlotte Observer on Wednesday via email.
“First and foremost, I would like to set the record straight that I am not a racist. I have never and would never wish or execute harm on another person or business, and would never base a decision on race. ... I have no contention or ill will toward Good Life at Enderly Park; my contention is with our landlord who owns both properties,” it reads. “Our lease states we have 100% of the parking spaces with our shared tenants, Suffolk Punch Brewing and Bossy Beulah’s. On Monday, March 22, I found out that our landlord had given Good Life verbal permission and wrote in their lease to park in our parking lot. I had no knowledge of this until this week. I fully understand why Good Life is upset and angry. I am upset, as well, that we have conflicting leases and that misinformation on the part of our landlord created such strife.
“My goal now is to seek peace and find an amicable resolution for all parties. “
Even though the signs came down Tuesday, McNair said the problem extends far beyond parking — it’s a side-effect of white businesses and residents moving into historically Black parts of Charlotte, like Enderly Park, and pushing them out, she said.
“This happens in gentrification situations all the time — these guys have redeveloped this neighborhood,” she said. “They pushed us out of an area, right? And now they’re going to push us into another when they’re finished.”
Parking problems
Last May, McNair said that Noble contacted the Browder Real Estate Group, which owns all of the properties, to complain about Good Life customers parking in the lot.
The Good Life is legally considered a “place to assemble” because of its ticketed brunch events, so it’s required to have a certain amount of parking spaces within walking distance for a certificate of occupancy, McNair said.
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The parking lot near Noble Smoke on Freedom Drive across the street from The Good Life is a communal lot according to the lease agreement, McNair said.
“The tenant shall have the non-exclusive right with the landlord, other tenants and subtenants of the center, employees and invitees over all driveways and parking areas which are part of the common areas, subject to limitations set forth herein,” the lease agreement provided by McNair reads. “At any time and in landlord’s sole discretion, landlord shall have the right to designate parking spaces within the parking areas which are part of the common areas for any one or more tenants. ...”
McNair said Noble’s complaints were “unfounded” and “clearly not a capacity of usage issue” — the lot has not been full during the past year.
“That’s when I knew we had a bigger issue than what I thought,” she said.
Noble is no stranger to controversy. He spoke out in 2015 in favor of North Carolina’s infamous and later replaced House Bill 2, which restricted people who identify as transgender from using their preferred bathrooms.
McNair said a Browder Group’s office manager told her that her customers should park in the back of the lot.
Browder Real Estate Group representatives did not respond to multiple calls, but owner Matthew Browder responded with a statement via email Wednesday.
“We immediately responded to concerns by our tenants and are continuing to work with all parties involved to resolve the issue,” he said.
“I thought that was insensitive and not quite the thing to say, given all the circumstances, but it let me know where I’m standing with my landlord and the community,” McNair said. “And it’s shameful because this is a historically Black neighborhood.”
Then, a week ago, McNair found out about the signs that prohibited customers who weren’t patronizing Noble Smoke or Bossy Beulah’s from parking in the lot. That led to an argument with a Noble Smoke general manager, McNair said, followed closely by an email from the Browder Group’s office manager, who asked to meet.
Meanwhile, McNair said, her customers had nowhere to park.
“What was I supposed to do in the meantime? I’m only open on the weekends and the weekend is coming up … and his customers park right in front of my door,” she said.
This past Sunday, McNair said the Browder Group suggested an alternative parking plan that doesn’t include the shared lot in the lease. And according to McNair, Browder Real Estate Group hosted a meeting on Tuesday to resolve the dispute, but no Noble Food and Pursuits representatives attended. Later that day, the signs were removed.
“We agreed to the alternative plan because we had no other option … but I still don’t understand what this is about,” she said. “And why (Noble) has the green light to do whatever he wants.”
Symptom of gentrification
Colette Forrest has lived in Wesley Heights for nearly three decades, and in that time, she’s seen it change drastically.
Wesley Heights, just down the Freedom Drive from Enderly Park, has been the newest frontier of gentrification in Charlotte. Data shows that since 2000, the area has gotten significantly whiter and many of its original Black residents have been displaced as a result of rising rent and house prices.
Meanwhile, Enderly Park, though still a majority-Black community, is slowly following suit, bringing not only new white residents, but white business owners like Noble. Noble Smoke opened its Freedom Drive flagship location in summer 2019.
“Now you’ve got new neighbors that are driving and walking through and looking at you like, what are you doing in their neighborhood?” Forrest said. “They came here after me, and then gave me the impression that I didn’t belong.
“When white business owners and white homeowners come into an area that was minority-owned and minority-populated, they somehow do a Christopher Columbus and make you feel like they discovered it when in actuality you were living there before they even drove on the street.”
Forrest knew McNair’s mother, so she’s kept abreast of The Good Life’s success. When she heard about the recent parking dispute via social media, Forrest was outraged.
“Robbie shared with me her angst and how much revenue she was losing because of the parking issue,” Forrest said. “I’m like, ‘This isn’t right.” She is a good business owner,” Forrest said.
The signs were removed after the Browder Group’s attorney ordered Noble Smoke to remove the signs or be evicted for a breach of contract, McNair said. But Forrest says it’s a temporary solution to a systemic problem.
“I hope that Noble understands that he has to learn how to peacefully coexist with Black business owners, so we can build the Charlotte that we want where everyone feels like they have a right to be profitable and successful,” she said.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 6:15 PM.
