CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's not much more than a dark room with ladders and ongoing construction right now, but this vacant space will soon be home to Kitchen + Kocktails, a new restaurant in Uptown's Queen City Quarter.
Queen City Quarter is the new name for what used to be known as Epicentre, once the crown jewel of Charlotte's Uptown revival. And while the present empty grounds and not-so-ancient history may scare some entrepreneurs away, Kevin Kelley says he picked this spot with a purpose.
"I love to come to things that are imperfect and make them beautiful," he said.
That's why he chose Queen City Quarter for Kitchen + Kocktails. He already has a couple of locations in Chicago and Washington D.C. As for getting people to give his new location a chance, Kelley isn't concerned.
"The fortunate thing is that I've been able to enjoy the Epicentre," he said. "We're still going to bring about 150,000 people a year to the location we're developing."
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James LaBar, the senior vice president of economic development with Charlotte Center City Partners, says the key to Queen City Quarter's success will be keeping the momentum of new businesses rolling.
"If a city's not changing and adapting, you got issues," he said. "I think everyone knew the heyday of the Epicentre's in the past, so I think one of the metrics of success is the number of businesses coming here."
LaBar said about 30 businesses opened in Uptown last year. One of his goals is to increase that number in 2024 with an even bigger vision for the future.
"You have to go beyond what you currently see," Kelley said. "Ideally, you have the vision to understand what it is to be, or what it could become."
That's why some hope that what Queen City Quarter could become includes the best parts of what Epicentre used to be.
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