What an Underground Charlotte Transportation Hub Could Look Like

CHARLOTTE, NC (AXIOS) – The City of Charlotte wants to go [to] new depths and take the Charlotte Transportation Center underground.

What is happening: Monday’s meeting of the city’s economic development committee included discussion of a key part of improvements proposed last week for the Spectrum Center and the construction of the Charlotte Hornets, a new practice facility in a redeveloped CTC.

Why is this important: CTC, which opened in 1995, is “outdated from a mobility standpoint,” according to CATS CEO John Lewis.

• The city hopes the renovations will create a neighborhood that turns Brevard Street into a festival street.

Yes, but: It’s expensive to build underground in Uptown.

• Project cost figures are not yet public.
• But if the city decides to go that route, it has examples like Denver, Colorado to turn to.

Related: Charlotte Leaders to Discuss Second Draft Unified Development Ordinance

Howeverthe project comes with additional concerns beyond cost.

• General Council member Greg Phipps said he was not comfortable with a facility like this “in the basement with all the other extra stuff”. He also said he was concerned about air quality, with buses and CTC workers confined underground.
  
• However, CATS is transitioning to an electric fleet, and Lewis said fossil fuel-powered buses could use other stations instead.
• Mayor Vi Lyles compared the project to the airport, as both have underground elements.
• Also, the goal is to make CTC look like an airport terminal rather than a parking lot.

Details: The new CTC would consist of two towers, with street-level retail, the Hornets’ $60 million practice facility, as well as hotel rooms, offices or residential units.

• The Hornets’ new two-court practice facility would slip between the two towers.
• The city received three unsolicited bids for the project and selected Dallas-based Dart Interests and White Point Partners. The latter is a Charlotte-based development group that transformed Optimist Hall.

Yes, but: Plan B for a new practice facility is the gravel lot on Caldwell Street across from the Spectrum Center.

What they say : “The CTC is much bigger than a training facility,” Tracy Dodson, deputy city manager and director of economic development, said at Monday’s economic development committee meeting. “It’s a lot bigger than a transit facility, but first and foremost it has to be a transit facility. »

And after: The council would vote on the project, including renovations to the Spectrum Center, as early as June 13.

Take a look at the renders, all courtesy of the City of Charlotte.

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