This video is no longer available.
CHARLOTTE, NC – “This project is not dead,” says East Charlotte Resident Tracy Thomas. Thomas doesn’t want the city to give up on Studio Charlotte. “Council made a decision but not a vote yet,” she says. Thomas was part of a packed crowd at Steamers Sports Pub Sunday who rallied in support of the project. “For our economy, for the jobs it will bring, for the property values that it will increase,” she explains.
The city’s exclusive negotiating period with Studio Charlotte is up at the end of the month. Council members say they’re starting to have concerns about the viability and cost of the movie studio.
“We have spent a lot of time and a lot of money kicking the tires around Eastland,” says Studio Charlotte’s CEO Bert Hesse. Hesse says if a deal can’t be reached- he’s got other sites lined up.
“Some of them are in Mecklenburg County. Some are not in Mecklenburg County. And some of them aren’t even in North Carolina,” he says.
But advocates for East Charlotte say they don’t want that to happen. “It would be devastating for this project not to be on the east side of Charlotte,” says Donna Reed. Reed is CEO of Studio Charlotte’s community development partner. She hopes a deal can still be worked out. ‘We have all of the numbers. We have everything that they’re asking for. We have asked for a few things, and we are still in negotiations,” she says.
For Thomas.. she hopes the city doesn’t miss an opportunity. “We just can’t let this pass us by. So many people have overlooked East Charlotte for so long. And they say ‘We wanna be here,’ and you know what? We want them here,” she says.
