Charlotte, NC

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Jul 18, 2024 -Development

By 2035, SouthPark will be a walkable, mixed-use district — here’s how​

A message from: SouthPark Community Partners

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Get up to date: SouthPark is getting a major upgrade — one that'll make the area more walkable, energetic and accessible.
What you need to know: SouthPark Community Partners (SCP) recently unveiled the SouthPark Forward 2035 Vision Plan, a blueprint to shape the community's future and make it easier for people to connect and businesses to thrive.

• SCP's nonprofit mission is to lead SouthPark's advancement by driving economic vitality, creating memorable experiences and ensuring residents have access to a better quality of life.
• The new plan builds off the vision for the SouthPark Loop — a three-mile urban trail that connects SouthPark's experiences — and offers an inclusive, pedestrian-centered community center with active gathering spaces.
• It was developed through a review of prior SouthPark studies, robust technical analysis and several months of public engagement.

Plus, plus, plus: SCP has committed $1 million towards Vision Plan-related projects over the next three years.
What to expect: The goal is to evolve SouthPark from a collection of distinct centers to a cohesive mixed-use destination with welcoming neighborhoods, the region's best shopping and a vibrant employment hub.
The plan…
Is organized into three key themes — places, connections and mobility — that represent the best opportunities to affect transformational change in SouthPark. Plus, they reflect the community's top priorities.
️ Offers opportunities to expand the open space network throughout SouthPark, creating spaces to gather, recreate and explore.

• Ideas include a festival street along Carnegie Boulevard, renovations to Symphony Park, a park along Cameron Valley Parkway and a linear park along Fairview Road.

Offers six recommendations to improve the pedestrian and cyclist experience and establish SouthPark as a trail-oriented destination through the Loop as well as a Living Ends project to better connect surrounding residential neighborhoods and complete street retrofits.
Offers a phased approach to expanding transportation options to create a more inclusive and accessible place.

• Five catalyst project recommendations include a free shuttle program, the implementation of a mobility hub, the creation of a neighborhood bike share program and shared parking districts.

Why it's important: Charlotte deserves a clean, safe and consistent pedestrian network with innovative mobility strategies that better connect people and places.

• These existing and future open spaces will inspire new recreational and entertainment offerings to improve SouthPark's connected experience.
• Plus, more placemaking opportunities mean expanded amenity offerings for workers, residents and visitors.

"SouthPark's future vibrancy requires continual evolution in retail concepts, a focus on placemaking and programming, and a recognition that the cohesive experience within SouthPark will drive continued loyalty to the district as a whole," says SCP President and CEO Adam Rhew, "which is essential to ensuring SouthPark fulfills its promise as an economic engine for the Charlotte region."
Looking ahead: Home to four Fortune 500 companies and 32,000 workers, SouthPark is an economic driver for the entire region — and by 2035, it'll be a hub for open space and connection.

 

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The CEO is a Black also...Mr. Woods

New renderings: Work begins on Charlotte’s innovation district and med school campus​

Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte

Crews officially broke ground Tuesday on a state-of-the-art innovation district called “The Pearl” in midtown, which will house the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte.​

Why it matters: Charlotte is the largest U.S. city without a four-year medical school. Officials say The Pearl will be transformative for the region, spurring innovation, entrepreneurialism and employment in science and research.

• Over the next 15 years, The Pearl and its tenants will create more than 5,500 onsite jobs, per a statement from Atrium. All told, the project could create around 11,500 total throughout Mecklenburg County.

Details: On campus, you’ll find the Howard R. Levine Center for Education, which will house the school of medicine, Wake Forest University School of Business, Wake Forest School for Professional Studies and Carolinas College of Health Sciences.

• The campus will also have a 331,000-square-foot research building, retail, apartments, a hotel and open community spaces.
• The development is near the intersection of Baxter and South McDowell streets.

What they’re saying: The Pearl will be a “city within a city,” according to Gene Woods, CEO of Charlotte-based Advocate Health, which Atrium is part of.

• “Not only will The Pearl serve as a major engine of economic opportunity, but it will also house game-changing academic programs for learners of all degree levels and set the stage for innovative health science businesses to grow into the core companies of Charlotte’s future,” Woods said in a statement.

Context: The Pearl is situated where Brooklyn, once the largest Black neighborhood in Charlotte, was before it was razed in the name of urban renewal. The name is a nod to Pearl Street Park, the first park built on land the city purchased for Black residents.

• Neighbors surrounding the area have said they worry that The Pearl’s development could lead to rising property values and displacement of longtime residents and businesses.
• In 2021, the city and county approved an incentives deal worth $75 million combined for The Pearl.

Go deeper: Neighbors worry about ripple effects of Atrium Health’s Innovation District
What’s next: The med school is expected to seat its first class in 2024 and open the following year.
Renderings courtesy of Wexford Science & Technology.

 

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