CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council voted on the future of the former Eastland Mall site Monday. At their meeting, City Council unanimously voted to move forward on agreements with Crosland Southeast, LLC, the developer on the project.
City Council also decided unanimously to move forward on agreements with Tepper Sports and Entertainment regarding its role in the Eastland Mall redevelopment and improvements to Bank of America Stadium.
The Charlotte FC MLS headquarters were originally part of the plan for Eastland, but that is no longer the case. Instead, the plan now includes the Charlotte FC Elite Academy headquarters.
The academy is expected to include training, tournaments, and camps. It will also be a place for Charlotte FC, international clubs, and national teams to hold open practices. The academy will allow for community use of the fields, in addition to camps, clinics, festivals, and other events operated by Tepper Sports.
The overall site plan is also expected to include affordable housing, a full-service grocer, and retail shops.
"Tonight has been a decade in the making," Charlotte City Council member Matt Newton said. His district will be directly impacted by the development.
According to the council meeting agenda, City Council originally agreed to the concept that up to $110 million of Hospitality Funds could be spent to develop an MLS facility at the Eastland Mall site, make improvements to Bank of America Stadium, and the development of a long term vision and strategy for a district in Uptown that retained MLS and National Football League in Charlotte for the long term.
Due to the economic disruption and damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued interest in building a partnership that benefits multiple parts of the City of Charlotte for both MLS and NFL, Tepper Sports and Entertainment and the city proposed to modify the partnership, according to the agenda.
The City of Charlotte's agreement with Tepper Sports and Entertainment for these expenses is down to $35 million in Hospitality Funds.
Melvin Tuitt said he grew up going to Eastland Mall and would like to see a development that serves the community.
“Now that I have kids now, something more for the youth,” Tuitt said. “I mean, preparing them for the future right now, you know, so we don’t fall into a crisis as we did here just recently of this year. Something that’s going to mold them, give them a better outlook on life itself.”
The Housing Justice Coalition demanded that the City Council vote no on the agreement with Crosland Southeast and the agreement with Tepper Sports.
The Coalition wrote in a statement, “There is too much public land at stake for the City to transfer to private developers as well as a billionaire without guaranteeing that people will not lose their homes and their businesses to gentrification."