Great cities have great urban cores and Charlotte has one of the most vibrant in the Southeast. Creative public/private initiatives are key to building the robust Center we enjoy today, and Charlotte Center City Partners has played a vital role in bringing many of these ideas together.

The context for many of our new and ongoing developments was established in the Center City 2020 Vision Plan,which serves as a framework for future development in the Urban Core. Center City Partners orchestrated the public process for approval of that plan. In the Fall of 2008 we partnered with the planning staff of the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to start the process for the 2020 Vision Plan.

We also worked with County Parks and Recreation Department to produce a Center City Open Space Plan for Uptown and South End. Other initiatives are detailed below.

Rail Trail Vision

Charlotte’s Rail Trail will be a vibrant public park that winds through the very heart of our city, where the unexpected can be found around every bend.

The 3.3 mile trail will connect communities and knit together neighborhoods from Sedgefield, Southside Park, Brookhill, Dilworth, Wilmore, South End to Uptown. But it will belong to everyone in the Queen City. The Rail Trail will become the place to discover cafés and bars, explore galleries, see artists at work, stumble upon an impromptu concert, stroll with your family, or relax on a bench and watch the city come alive around you. More Information

Romare Bearden Park

Romare Bearden Park is designed to cover the space between Church and Mint Streets and MLK Boulevard and 4th Streets. The Park is named after Romare Bearden, an internationally renowned artist who as born in Charlotte in 1912 and at one point lived in close proximity to the location of the proposed park. Romare Bearden Park is designed to allow people to gather, relax, and mingle in an open space in Uptown Charlotte. The project broke ground on on the 100th anniversary of the famous artists’ birthday on September 2, 2011with anticipated completion in 2012. More Information

BB&T Ballpark – Home of the Charlotte Knights

The Charlotte Knights’ Uptown Stadium is part of a proposed “Land Swap” plan that originated in the 2010 Center City Vision Plan. The “Land Swap” is an exchange of public and private property in Uptown Charlotte that creates two major urban parks, a AAA Uptown Baseball Park as well as Brooklyn Village in Second Ward which includes affordable and workforce housing along with shops and offices. The project was delayed for many years due to funding issues. The County Commission created new deadlines for the project in the summer of 2011, requiring that the Knights account for adequate funding by June 30, 2012, begin construction in October 2012, and finish construction in time for the 2014 season. More Information

LYNX Blue Line Extension

CATS is beginning work on the 9.3 mile north extension of the Blue Line light rail. The new line will extend from 7th Street Station north to UNC Charlotte with 11 new stations and peak service every 7.5 minutes. A $580 million grant from the Federal Transit Agency will fund half of the total cost for the new system. CATS projects more than 25,000 riders daily.
Work is now underway to relocate public utilities and acquire right of way for the rail line. Construction will begin in 2014, and service is scheduled to start in 2017. More Information

Charlotte Streetcar Starter Line

On December 12th, 2012, the City of Charlotte broke ground on the first segment or ‘Starter Line’ of the Charlotte Streetcar. This new 1.5 mile segment will run from the Charlotte Transportation Center to Presbyterian Hospital at 5th and Hawthorne. The Starter Line is funded by a $25 million urban circulator grant from the Federal Transit Agency and $12 million in matching funds from the City. The mode of transit will be 3 replica historic streetcars that CATS already owns. Passenger service is scheduled to begin in March 2015.
The 2030 Transit Plan calls for ultimate build-out of the streetcar line to a 10 mile route with modern streetcars and 37 stops from the Rosa Parks Transit Center on Beatties Ford Road to the Eastland Transit Center on Central Avenue. More Information

Charlotte Gateway Station

The NC Department of Transportation owns 27 acres of land along the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks that run through the Third and Fourth Ward neighborhoods of Center City. This land will be developed into a multi-modal transportation hub surrounded by mixed-use development with office, residential and retail space. The Gateway Station transportation hub will include a new Amtrak train station and will accommodate transfers from commuter rail, regional express buses, Greyhound long-distance buses, and transfers from the future Charlotte streetcar line.
In November 2012, NCDOT announced that the Hines real estate and development firm was selected as the Master Developer. More Information