2 options cut from Eastland Yards list. Here’s why Charlotte wants to be ‘slow and right’
Eastland Yards won’t be home to a Target or an aquatic center after a Charlotte committee eliminated the two options.
The City Council’s economic development committee Monday voted to move forward with three options city officials and staff say better fit east Charlotte’s vision for the site of the former Eastland Mall on Central Avenue. They include a racket sports facility; soccer, entertainment and esports venue; and a publicly owned recreational facility.
The last option emerged because of the amount of money the city could end up contributing to a private facility, said Assistant City Manager Tracy Dodson.
City staff is expected to return to the council in the next two weeks with more details about each of the projects’ scopes and how they plan to talk to residents.
“None of the current proposals in front of us are perfect solutions. It is important that the city do its due diligence in analyzing and scrutinizing the proposals that are in front of us,” said Malcolm Graham, city councilman and economic committee chair. “I would rather be slow and right than fast and wrong in reference to the decisions we’re going to make.”
Councilwoman Marjorie Molina, who represents east Charlotte, said she didn’t feel comfortable with any of the proposals.
“I wish there was a recommendation today,” Molina said. “I beg of the people that I serve to give us just a little more time.”
CharlotteEAST, a community nonprofit, said city staff should have been prepared with a date for a final decision. For years the city-owned land sat vacant until construction began on residential development on the west side of the property in August.
“We look forward to future talks with both the Carolina Serves and QC East teams, are grateful for the Charlotte Water Project’s community engagement over the course of the last few months, but enough is enough,” CharlotteEAST said in an emailed statement. “If the City cannot finish the job it set out to do in 2012, it needs to turn to support from the County to bring this process to a close.”
What’s included in the three remaining options?
Carolina Serves racket sports district
▪ The local nonprofit’s new proposal includes 67 courts, down from the original proposal of 80.
▪ Carolina Serves is now asking for $28.3 million in public assistance, down from the original ask of $45 million. The new total project cost is $32.3 million.
▪ New renderings show a reduction of 65,000 square feet, 350 surface parking spaces instead of a garage, fewer tennis courts and more pickleball and padel courts. Padel is an indoor mixture of tennis and squash.
▪ The new proposal includes 24 green clay courts, six hard courts, four red clay courts, three indoor courts, 24 pickleball courts and six padel courts.
QC East @ Eastland Yards
▪ Developer QC East submitted an $83 million proposal for a gaming, athletic and concert venue and asked for $30 million in public investment.
▪ The development team is composed of Charlotte Soccer Academy, Southern Entertainment and Carolina Esports Hub, each bringing a different element to the project.
▪ Charlotte Soccer Academy would anchor and manage six artificial turf fields that would also serve as festival grounds, holding up to 5,000 visitors for major music festivals, local and national headliners and cultural festivals.
▪ An indoor space on the property would serve as a technology hub for esports and STEM education. It could also fit up to 2,500 people for events and concerts.
▪ District 6 Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari is a minority investor in the Carolina Esports Hub. Bokhari said he plans to abstain from council deliberations and votes on the site.
Publicly owned recreation facility
▪ Dodson brought up the option of a separate, publicly owned multi-sport facility for the council to consider.
▪ The idea has not been vetted or discussed Dodson said, but she brought it up to the council because she said she’s heard the idea mentioned as a possibility and because of the tens of millions local governments could contribute to a privately owned option.
▪ “It’s easy to build a facility,” Graham said. “The hardest part is the day-to-day operations, maintenance and upkeep of the facility. Those costs last forever.”
The QC East and tennis projects fit east Charlotte’s residents vision for the site better than the eliminated options, according to a presentation from city economic development staff.
Retailer giant Target proposed building a $35 million, 148,000-square-foot store on the Eastland Yards site and requested no public funding. Charlotte-based Bucci Development requested $35-$45 million in public funding for a 13-acre aquatics center that was expected to cost $50 million.
Poll results + what residents think
Results from a Charlotte Observer poll of more than 3,000 readers show the QC East project as the most popular with half of the votes, while the Carolina Serves project was the least popular, gathering less than 100 votes.
In the Observer poll of 3,245 readers:
▪ 1,622 preferred a joint concert, soccer and esports venue.
▪ 1,070 preferred a three-pool aquatic center that would fit 2,500 people.
▪ 509 wanted to see a Target built.
▪ 44 voted for a racket sports center with tennis and pickleball courts.
The publicly owned facility wasn’t revealed as an option when the poll was published Saturday.
One Charlotte resident told the Observer they’d like to see the space used for a large market hall or small business incubator. Two residents suggested combining the aquatic center, tennis courts and soccer fields into one sports site — similar to the proposal from Dodson.
“Participation should free to all to encourage use by underserved communities as well as already organized teams. Charlotte has certainly reached the stature to attract regional as well as state tournaments,” resident Suzy Hubbell said in an email to the Observer. “And— the there should be either free or low-cost child care.”
City disputes transparency criticism
CharlotteEAST Chair Greg Asciutto said the nonprofit appreciated the city’s improved transparency after Monday’s meeting. The neighborhood group previously raised concerns about the project’s bid process.
After receiving an unsolicited bid for the site in March, the city didn’t start a request for proposal process like it did last year after receiving an unsolicited proposal for the Charlotte Transportation Center redevelopment. This is because the site was already under construction on the residential side and other timing restraints, Dodson said in a news conference Monday.
“The difficult part in doing an unsolicited bid process is everybody’s kind of out there sharing what they’re submitting while they’re submitting it, which makes it hard to vet it,” Dodson said.
Molina disputed rumors the city hides process details from the council.
“There’s some times we’re caught off guard because some things are coming at us pretty fast,” Molina said. “But this process depends on having competent staff to help us achieve the goal.”
Graham agreed and said staff has been communicative and transparent with council and the public.
“I worked directly with them and Tracy (Dodson) is my best friend,” Graham said. “We literally talk every day about some form of economic development, including Eastland Yards.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2023 at 7:06 PM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Greg Asciutto’s name.
