Charlotte Development: Grow Up Or Out?

A new Charlotte high rise is in the works, but it won’t be in Uptown and not everyone is happy about it.

Monday night, the Charlotte City Council approved the controversial development of a 20-story office tower in Midtown with a 10-to-1 vote.
The plans include a 240-room hotel and space for new retailers.
The building will go up along Baldwin Avenue, between 3rd and 4th streets.
But people who live near-by in the Cherry Neighborhood, Elizabeth and Myers Park worry the building is too big, out of place and will cause even more traffic problems.

Myers Park Homeowners Association President Pamela May was one of the people who spoke out against the project Monday night.
“This building would be good for downtown, however we are not downtown and we don’t want to become downtown,” May said. “Our neighborhoods are green and vibrant. They’re where families live. We don’t want downtown to move into them.”

Charlotte is a rapidly growing city.
An estimated 60 people move here every day and that doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
If Charlotte doesn’t grow up, it will have to grow out and the city is running out of undeveloped land.