CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queen City is buzzing over talks of a new practice facility for the Charlotte Hornets.
It would be built near the Spectrum Center, and after years of discussion, city leaders voted to approve it at a Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday, March 25.
About a month ago, Hornets Sports and Entertainment announced a new plan to invest $70 million to $100 million more in private funds for the practice facility.
The original plan had the city of Charlotte putting $60 million toward it, but instead, HSE asked the city to invest $30 million toward the facility and the other $30 million into upgrades for the Spectrum Center.
In turn, the Hornets want full ownership of the new practice facility.
Some city councilmembers have already expressed concern about the benefits of putting city money into a building it won’t own.
"We are actually gifting $30 million for the practice facility to the team because the team will now own that," Charlotte City Councilmember Ed Driggs said. "We are in, at least, a wash situation. And, in fact, given the income from tax receipts we can expect under the proposed development, we are probably ahead."
Despite not owning the practice facility, city leaders are optimistic about the economic growth benefits this would have for Uptown.
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.