These are the 4 businesses that will help launch Charlotte’s Eastland Yards
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- City Council approved four businesses to occupy Eastland Yards.
- Tenants include a dance studio, salon suite, coffee shop and gelato shop.
- City aims to spur east Charlotte growth with housing, sports campus and retail.
Four businesses are preparing to set up shop in Eastland Yards, the mixed-use development on the former Eastland Mall site now leased by the city.
Initial tenants are slated to include a Latin dance studio, a salon suite, a coffee shop and a gelato shop, according to votes Charlotte City Council approved Monday. They’ll be the first commercial businesses to operate on the property that’s still under construction.
“I’ve been operating out of my car and out of my house for 12 years,” said Jennifer Geyer, co-owner of Rumbao Latin Dance Company. “Just having a place to call home is going to be really special and something we’ve been building to for a long time.”
City leaders celebrated the occasion as the fulfillment of a long-overdue vision for a site that’s sat empty for over a decade. East Charlotte has lacked a comparable economic engine since the mall’s decline and closure in 2010.
Eastland Yards is the city’s attempt to revitalize the 80-acre property with housing, retail, soccer fields and a massive sports complex.
“This is not just about opening stores. It’s about restoring dignity, opportunity and joy to the people who live on the east side that have shown incredible patience and incredible resilience throughout the last 10 years,” at-large Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said at Monday’s meeting.
These are the four businesses coming to Eastland Yards
The businesses will occupy first floor commercial space below Solstice Apartments, which will open to residents within the next two months, according to Shahid Rana, Charlotte’s director of economic development.
Charlotte must still undergo contract negotiations with each business before they sign a lease, Rana said. If negotiations go smoothly, they could set up shop by late summer or early fall.
Rumbao Latin Dance Company, which offers classes and hosts performances and recitals, will occupy one storefront.
The company has been renting space hourly in a few locations across the city, Geyer said. Rumbao will condense most of its operations under the new location and expand its offerings to include new classes for children and seniors.
A salon suite will occupy another storefront and rent to individual beauty and wellness professionals who want to use the space.
Two of the businesses are run by Manuel “Manolo” Betancur, the owner of eastside staple Manolo’s Bakery. Higher Grounds by Manolo will serve coffee, tea and light cafe food, according to the City Council agenda. The shop is currently operating a brick and mortar location inside Myers Park United Methodist Church.
Artisen Gelato is his second concept that currently has locations in Matthews and south Charlotte. The new shop will serve gelato, sorbet and desserts that are vegan, gluten-free and allergy-friendly.
Betancur told the council he needed two separate spaces to avoid cross-contamination with allergens since some of his patrons might have dietary sensitivities.
Councilman JD Mazuera Arias, whose District 5 includes the Eastland site, said he grew up visiting the mall with his family because it was the only theater that had Spanish subtitles so his mom could watch with him.
“The fact that after decades of this space not being activated, it’s now finally coming to fruition is so incredible and so cool to see,” Mazuera Arias said. “It’s a childhood dream come true that we’re bringing back an economic incubator to the east side.”
The four businesses will occupy about half of the available commercial space, said Tim Sittema, co-owner of Crosland Southeast, the development firm working on the retail space.
“If there are any course corrections or adjustments that council would like to make, please tell us, and we can move forward in the next round to try to incorporate whatever thoughts or concerns that you have,” Sittema said at Monday night’s meeting.
At-large councilwoman LaWana Slack-Mayfield was the sole vote against the salon suite. All other businesses received unanimous approval.
Slack-Mayfield said a salon might be more appropriate to bring in as a later tenant as the development grows rather than one of the first. She suggested the city look at other local small businesses in the area that have been displaced by Charlotte’s growth that might not have been aware of this opportunity.
What else is coming to Eastland Yards?
Charlotte purchased the former Eastland Mall site in 2012, and city leaders spent years kicking around plans on what to do with it: a movie studio, a Hispanic-themed mall, the Charlotte FC headquarters.
Sittema told the City Council his firm was selected to develop the property in 2018. It wasn’t until 2022 that Charlotte finally broke ground, and it would take another year before the city council finalized plans for the destination’s centerpiece: the Eastland Yards Sports Campus.
“If I was to put a culprit to a lot of the timeline concerns, COVID really slowed it down,” Rana said.
The sports campus will include six soccer fields, multipurpose courts for basketball or other sports, a fitness center, a community learning center and other leasable space.
Charlotte has been in negotiations with the sports campus developers and is looking to finalize an agreement “very soon,” but there’s not a clear timeframe for a groundbreaking yet, Rana said.
So far, the only active tenant in Eastland Yards is Evoke Living, a senior living complex that opened in November 2024. The 72-unit apartment building offers affordable housing for people 55 years and older.
It’s not clear when the council will consider another batch of businesses to occupy the remaining 8,000 square feet of commercial space, Rana said. He envisions two to three “larger” tenants for the space, like restaurants or food operators rather than retailers, he said.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
