DEVELOPMENT

Island biogeography and the Uwharrie Trail

Your average roadmap of North Carolina represents the Uwharrie National Forest as a large, green blob covering most of Montgomery County as well as portions of Randolph and Davidson. In fact, that’s simply the proclamation boundary. Look at a detailed map of the national forest, and you’ll see a crazy patchwork of light and dark […]

What makes cemeteries truly scary: A case for green burial

Cemeteries are popping up in yards across our region. Ghosts and skeletons dangle from nearby trees. Zombies claw their way back to the surface of the earth, refusing to rest in peace. My sister and her kids place their graveyard, Eerie Acres, in a low spot along the driveway where fog often settles in fall. […]

Why is restoring NoDa’s textile mills so hard?

In any other time, the request might not have been so hard. But a nonprofit developer’s plea last week to use $2.3 million in city money from federal grants to help repair Charlotte’s historic Mecklenburg Mill came after a recession and a brutal, lingering downturn. It also came after the City of Charlotte had already […]

Developer Daniel Levine: I’d rather do nothing than not do it well

Developer Daniel Levine – who with his father, Al Levine, and uncle Leon Levine together own some 23 acres of prime First Ward Property – has become a key player for the future of uptown development. Until now, he hasn’t developed much, keeping the land as parking lots. But that’s changing. Levine has partnered with […]

The death and (new?) life of troubled subdivisions

Photos by Nancy PierceClick here to read related story.

City pushes Carolina Theatre rivals to work together on plans

Charlotte city officials are pushing two groups with competing visions for the future of the Carolina Theatre to work together to help save the history-rich venue that’s been vacant, on a prominent uptown corner, for more than 30 years. The two groups on Thursday pitched differing proposals for the city-owned facility to a Charlotte City […]

A burning question for Sun Belt cities

It was a hot night in a hot city the day after the hottest month ever recorded in the United States. By 7 the temperature had slid from the 90s to the high 80s, as I pulled up in front of a 1960s split-level on a half-acre lot in a vast subdivision of 2,450 single-family […]

Eastland Mall: To buy or not to buy?

In response to the news that the City of Charlotte is considering buying Eastland Mall in an effort to make the site attractive to an outside developer, possibly for use as TV and movie studios, PlanCharlotte.org sought opinions from civic and business leaders about the idea. They were asked: 1. Should the city buy Eastland […]

Stadium could be spectacular city amenity

A new Charlotte Knights stadium uptown will be a catalyst for urban development, add to the character of the cityscape and let families and friends savor a spectacular skyline view while enjoying America’s pastime. An analysis of multiple potential sites, plus interviews with more than 100 civic leaders and stakeholders all produced this conclusion: The […]

Don’t squander chance for a great public park

This article opposes plans to build a new ballpark for the Charlotte Knights uptown. Read architect Marley Carroll’s article supporting the idea here. Missing from recent discussions about granting more public money for a privately developed baseball park in Third Ward is any talk about the potential advantages of using the land for public purposes […]