Eastland Mall Project Crosses Final Hurdle For Development Of Sports Complex
A massive city owned property on Charlotte’s east side will soon have new life. City Council voted to give developers more than $41 million dollars for the final phase of the Eastland Mall project.
It has been more than 12 years since the city bought the 80 acre property. Since then, there have been many plans and proposals. Crews are already building residential and retail facilities on some of the land. The vote in favor of funding the project seals the deal to merge the ideas of several development partners to create an indoor/outdoor sports complex.
“The decision is not just a new development or infrastructure, it’s about creating the future that we’ve all been waiting for, a future where East Charlotte is a thriving part of Charlotte’s community story,” Councilwoman Majorie Molina who represents District 5 said.
The facility will include huge indoor and outdoor sports space for soccer, basketball pickleball, volleyball and more. City officials saw an opportunity to invest in amateur sports in Charlotte. At one point, Tepper Sports and Entertainment planned to make Eastland Charlotte FC Headquarters while creating a youth sports academy. Jim Cantalupo says Charlotte Sports Academy’s involvement will solidify a soccer presence in East Charlotte.
“This is going to bring soccer to that area, Dave and Charlotte FC could have done it, but now we’re going to be there to do it,” Cantalupo said. “We provide all levels of play from anywhere from three years old all the way up to 21 years of age.”
Charlotte Sports Academy, Edge Sports Global, Bolton, Ivory, and Cantey LLC, and Southern Entertainment merged their ideas to come up with the plan for the facility that officials say will be an economic anchor for the east side.
“We’re gonna be able to unlock about $169 million in annual economic impact,” Greg Asciutto, executive director for Charlotte East said. “500 jobs for East Charlotte. This is huge. This is it.”
Officials and developers say they are eager to break ground on the project that they claim is already attracting championships.
“This was the easy part, the hard part now is the building and operations and maintenance of it the upkeep of it,” Councilman Malcolm Graham representing District 2 said. “I know the right team is there to get it done.”
City council affirmed its desire to get the project done as quickly as possible. Charlotte Sports Academy says it estimates the outdoor fields will be ready for use in less than two years. There are plans for public access to the fields and facility for a small fee, similar to how people rent tennis and pickleball courts at county facilities.
