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51-567: After a year of study by the Arts & Science Council, the 25-year Cultural Facilities Master Plan became a reality in November 2003. The plan was the next stage following a 1976 plan that led to such projects as Spirit Square , Discovery Place , and North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center . The $ 236 million first phase, including an $ 84 million endowment , included moving the Mint Museum uptown,

102-464: A decreased role for Spirit Square as a location for events. In August 1995, Spirit Square agreed to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts & Science Council recommendation to convert to an arts education center. In December of that year, it was announced that Spirit Square Center for Arts and Education would be taken over by the Blumenthal organization June 30, 1997. The 720-seat NationsBank Performance Place

153-796: A hub of large bank employment bases. Wells Fargo, whose Charlotte presence was Wachovia prior to being acquired by Wells Fargo, occupies numerous buildings in Uptown including 550 South Tryon , One Wells Fargo Center , Two Wells Fargo Center , Three Wells Fargo Center , and 300 South Brevard. Other banks that have a large employment base in Uptown are Ally Financial with 2,100 employees located in Ally Charlotte Center and U.S. Bank with 860 employees located in Truist Center . Uptown currently has 6,788 existing hotel rooms with 732 rooms planned. The hotels planned or under construction include

204-537: A more positive upbeat image of the Center City area. School teachers were provided with "historical" documents justifying use of the term to teach to students. Tryon Street was named after William Tryon , governor of the Province of North Carolina from 1765 to 1771. A major southwest-northeast thoroughfare across Charlotte, it follows NC 49 southeast of the Uptown neighborhood, and US 29 northwest of Uptown. Within

255-487: A new contemporary art museum named for Andreas Bechtler , a new Afro-American Cultural Center, and a 1200-seat theater. These projects were included in a 2001 bond referendum that voters rejected. The Cultural Facilities Master Plan led to the Campaign for Cultural Facilities in 2006. In addition to an endowment planned by the Arts & Science Council, and $ 35 million from Bank of America , Duke Energy and Wachovia Corp.,

306-432: A new entrance at 345 North College Street. Middleton McMillan architects had to use five buildings built between 1908 and 1980, some that were part of the church, and one which had been a printing plant. Ceiling heights and floor materials changed in the different buildings, making renovation challenging, and $ 400,000 had to be spent to remove asbestos after an estimate of only $ 75,000, due to incorrect plans. With changes in

357-620: A pedestrian bridge connection to the adjacent Westin hotel. Within recent years, multiple museums have opened in Uptown. The first phase of the Levine Center for the Arts opened in 2010, as part of the then-named Wachovia Cultural Campus. List of museums in Uptown: The Charlotte Observer has its headquarters in Uptown Charlotte. Uptown Charlotte is surrounded by Interstate 277 , an auxiliary highway which creates

408-556: A plan to spend $ 300,000 to renovate the education building on Seventh Street, and $ 2.5 million on the sanctuary. On June 1, 1976, the property was leased to Spirit Square Arts Council Corp. for 25 years. County voters approved $ 2.5 million in bonds in April 1977. In January 1980 after a $ 200,000 grant from NCNB , the 800-seat theater was named NCNB Performance Place. Joel Grey performed at the black tie opening ceremony April 15, 1980. Knight Gallery opened in November 1983 with 2,900 square feet,

459-633: A year, and is home to 35,000 residents. Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the country behind New York City . This determination is made by the dollar amount of assets held by banks headquartered in the city. The current banks with headquarters in the city are Bank of America with $ 2.8 trillion in assets as of 2020 and Truist Financial with $ 509 billion in assets as of 2020. Both banks have their headquarters in Uptown, with Bank of America's headquarters at 100 North Tryon Bank of America Corporate Center and Truist's headquarters at 214 North Tryon Truist Center . Uptown has also become

510-700: Is located directly across from Gateway Village, with Johnson C. Smith University 's campus located adjacent. Third ward is also the site of the upcoming Gateway Station transportation hub, which began construction in July 2018. The Gateway Station will house a Greyhound bus stop, an Amtrak station, LYNX Silver Line , and a Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) bus hub. Overall the Ward includes 7,600,000 sq ft (710,000 m ) of office space, 4,397 residential units, 367 hotel rooms, and 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m ) of retail space. The fourth ward lies directly to

561-639: Is located on east Seventh Street. ImaginOn is a collaborative venture of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the Children's Theater of Charlotte. The library provides services, books, CDs, DVDs and homework support for children and teens. ImaginOn contains the McColl Family Theatre and the Wachovia Playhouse, venues used by the Children's Theater for their performances. Uptown Charlotte has two major league sports venues. Bank of America Stadium , home of

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612-555: Is the central business district of Charlotte, North Carolina , United States. The area is split into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, and bordered by Interstate 277 and Interstate 77 . The area is managed and overseen by the Charlotte Central City Partners, which is one of the three Municipal Service Districts in Charlotte. Uptown Charlotte is the largest business district in Charlotte and

663-414: Is the hospitality center of Uptown with about half of the hotel rooms in Uptown and it is an important employment center as well. It includes 7,700,000 sq ft (720,000 m ) of office space, 840 residential units, 3,682 hotel rooms with 1,136 additional rooms under construction, and 518,000 sq ft (48,100 m ) of retail space. It is the location of Charlotte's "Government District" and

714-598: Is the site of the NASCAR Hall of Fame . The second ward was formerly the location of the predominantly black neighborhood, Brooklyn , before an urban renewal project took place. Today, second ward is home to Queen City Quarter , a mixed-use entertainment and retail complex; the Charlotte Convention Center ; the Victorian Gothic style St. Peter's Catholic Church ; The Green , a downtown mini-park; and

765-537: The 2007–2009 financial crisis , the only part of the tower built was the Knight Theater, until the Museum Tower opened in 2017. The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture would have four floors, cost $ 18.6 million and have 45,000 square feet (4,200 m) of gallery, classroom, and administrative space. It was dedicated October 24, 2009. After Wells Fargo announced its takeover of Wachovia ,

816-636: The COVID-19 pandemic they are the Moxy Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel at Belk Place, and the Hotel at The Ellis. Companies consolidating real estate has been a major factor in new commercial construction. Three such buildings that are a part of real estate consolidation are Ally Charlotte Center , Duke Energy Plaza , and the Bank of America Tower each is building a bigger building to unite at least two offices under

867-666: The Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC , opened in 1996; and the Spectrum Center , home of the Charlotte Hornets , opened in 2005; The Charlotte Knights , a minor league baseball team, play at Truist Field . The Charlotte Convention Center attracts over 500,000 people a year to its 280,000 square feet (26,000 m ) of exhibit space. The Convention Center is currently undergoing an expansion to add an additional 50,000 square feet (4,600 m ) of meeting space and

918-501: The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art+Culture (named for Harvey Gantt ). Duke Energy also has its corporate headquarters in the second ward. The third ward lies directly to the west of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is the quadrant bounded by South Tryon on the southeast and West Trade on the northeast. It is the Ward that house a lot of the entertainment and culture attractions in Uptown which include Knight Theatre,

969-578: The Intercontinental Hotel at Belk Place with 244 rooms, Brooklyn Village with 280 rooms, and Moxy Hotel with 208. Uptown needs more hotel rooms within walking distance from the Convention Center to attract more world class events. Charlotte's current hotel rooms count is fewer than its competitors for conventions. Austin: 13,629 Baltimore: 8,766 Indianapolis: 8,487 Louisville: 9,408 Nashville: 20,108 Tampa: 14,104 One step

1020-678: The Main Library , the Spirit Square portion of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, ImaginOn Children's Learning Center, Levine Museum of the New South , and Spectrum Center (home of the Charlotte Hornets ). The second ward lies directly to the south of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is the quadrant bounded by South Tryon on the northwest and East Trade on the northeast. Second Ward

1071-717: The Mint Museum , and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art , the Carolina Panthers ' and Charlotte FC 's Bank of America Stadium , Truist Field , home of the Charlotte Knights , opened in 2014, Romare Bearden Park , which opened in September 2013, and Gateway Village. Gateway Village, one of the state's largest mixed-use developments, is 1.5 million sq ft (140,000 m ) in size, and home to offices, shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and over 500 housing units. Johnson & Wales University 's Charlotte campus

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1122-565: The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County now known as Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. The Main library is located on North Tryon Street. In November 2019, new designs for the $ 100 million, 115,000-square-foot Main Library in Uptown Charlotte were revealed. The organization is planning to break ground in 2021 and complete the build in early 2024. ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center

1173-652: The uptown campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is in the first ward. The Center City Building is 11 stories and was completed in 2011. it includes 25 state of the art classrooms, design studios, meeting space, and performance spaces. The urban village includes a 4-acre (16,000 m ) park, which was completed in December 2015, 4,600,000 sq ft (430,000 m ) of office space, 1,182 residential units, 250 hotel rooms, and 192,000 sq ft (17,800 m ) of retail space. Current attractions include

1224-472: The $ 150.5 million plan was to be financed by property taxes on a development by Wachovia, as well as a 4 percent tax on car rentals which would have to be approved by the North Carolina General Assembly , and specifically by all legislators from Mecklenburg County . Wachovia was building an office tower and parking garage, though if financing was approved, the bank would also build four of

1275-422: The $ 56 million 145,000-square-foot Mint Museum Uptown opened, completing the $ 127 million campus. Charlotte's city council changed the name of First Street to Levine Avenue of the Arts, with new signs revealed November 16. 35°13′26″N 80°50′54″W  /  35.223966°N 80.848295°W  / 35.223966; -80.848295 Spirit Square Spirit Square , also called Spirit Square Center for

1326-411: The Arts and The Light Factory were using space and their futures were uncertain. The 15-member Spirit Square Community Task Force began working to find a way to maximize the site's potential and still keep the historic character. Originally, the sale of the property would have helped to pay for the new uptown baseball stadium , and arts groups would have had to leave, but a different financing method

1377-531: The Arts , is located in Charlotte, North Carolina . Its McGlohon Theater in the former First Baptist Church on North Tryon Street , named for Loonis McGlohon , is now part of North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center . Spirit Square opened in 1976 as an arts center offering dance, visual arts, theater and music. In 1972, First Baptist Church announced it was selling its buildings on North Tryon Street. In November 1974, Ferebee, Walters, and Associates said

1428-582: The Carolinas . Several Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in the district, including Bank of America , Duke Energy , Honeywell , and the east coast operations of Wells Fargo . Uptown contains over 33 million square feet of office space. Athletic and event facilities located in Center City include Bank of America Stadium , Spectrum Center , Truist Field , and the NASCAR Hall of Fame . Museums, theaters, hotels, high-density residential developments, restaurants, and bars are heavily concentrated in

1479-416: The Center City, with over 245 restaurants and 50 nightspots. Charlotte's central business district is referred to as "Uptown" by locals, although the term "Downtown" is understood and used by native Charlotteans since it references the same area of the city. There is some confusion brought about by the use of the terms "Uptown" and "Downtown" for Charlotte's center city area. The term "Up-Town", referring to

1530-401: The Uptown Charlotte street grid (which is skewed about 45 degrees from compass directions), Tryon forms the boundary between streets labeled "East" and "West". Many of the tallest buildings in Charlotte have a Tryon Street address including: Trade Street begins as a continuation of Elizabeth Street near the southeastern boundary of Uptown, and continues as a major thoroughfare northwest through

1581-578: The areas of Uptown that has seen the most development since 2015 to 2021 is the Stonewall Corridor which runs along Stonewall Street (known as Brooklyn Village Avenue since 2022 ) and next to I-277 South from McDowell St to Bank of America Stadium . The primary reason for the boom of the corridor is the abundance of land along the former Stonewall Street. After the I-277 interchanges were shrunk 5 big parcels of land each at least 2 acres were available on

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1632-473: The city is taking to change this a land swap with developer Millennium Venture Capital. The city will give MVC 1.9 acres of its property at 501 S. Caldwell St. in exchange for 0.7 acres at 401 S College, which is located next to the Charlotte Convention Center. MVC closed on this 2.3 acre lot on December 16, 2022. The land may be used for a convention center hotel of 800 to 1,000 rooms. However,

1683-462: The city is unwilling to offer any public incentive for the hotel. Due to the Great Recession 's effect on Charlotte construction in Uptown was at a virtual stand still between 2010 and 2014. The ground breaking of 300 South Tryon began a building boom in Uptown. Between 2000 and 2010 6 million square feet of office space was added to Uptown. In 2019 6.9 million square feet of office space

1734-537: The city said its contract with Wachovia required "successors" to finish the project, after which the city and county would buy the attractions. The campus was later renamed for Wells Fargo. After large contributions from Duke Energy and the Leon Levine Foundation resulted in the $ 83 million goal being reached, the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus became Levine Center for the Arts. On October 1, 2010,

1785-492: The city's first nonprofit gallery for contemporary visual art. In November 1985, the city gave Spirit Square $ 2.7 million for a renovation. As Spirit Square prepared to celebrate its 10th anniversary, a fund-raising campaign began in May 1986 for the rest of the $ 5.5 million expected cost. A $ 6.5 million renovation and 7,300-square-foot addition completed in 1990 gave the arts center the building that had been desired since it began, and

1836-817: The complex was to be the Duke Energy Center . Also part of the complex would be the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, the Bechtler Art Museum, and the Wachovia Condominium Tower. The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art would hold 1200 works of art assembled by Andreas Bechtler and his family during the previous 75 years, in a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m) building designed by Mario Botta . The Wachovia Condominium Tower would have had 42 floors and 410,000 square feet (38,000 m) of space, designed by Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio. Due to

1887-407: The cost of converting the old church into an arts center would be $ 1 million. In April 1975, a 100-member cultural arts committee asked Mecklenburg County commissioners to buy the buildings, which consultant Ralph Burgard said would improve the area. Commissioners voted to spend $ 335,000 to buy the buildings. A six-month study by Spirit Square Development Group, chaired by Alex McMillan , resulted in

1938-517: The five attractions. Discovery Place, which was planning renovations, was the fifth. The Charlotte city council was to approve an agreement with Wachovia on February 27. On December 1, the car-rental tax increased from 11 to 16 percent, with $ 1.35 million per year expected. Groundbreaking took place September 27, 2007, on the $ 158 million First Street Cultural Campus, also referred to as the Wachovia Cultural Campus . The tallest building of

1989-470: The former church was being used as a church. In 2007, Mecklenburg County wanted to sell part of the Spirit Square complex, but not McGlohon Theatre or Duke Power Theatre. In June 2006, commissioners voted to end subsidies that had reached $ 1.4 million a year. Instead, the county's focus would be on the new Wachovia cultural campus on South Tryon Street. By this time, Opera Carolina , Northwest School of

2040-497: The geographic location of Tryon and Trade Street—"uptown" actually does sit at a higher elevation than the rest of the city—was recorded as early as 1895 in the Charlotte Observer but fell out of use around 1929 for reasons unknown. The term "Downtown" was commonly used up until the mid-1970s by residents, media, and city leaders for the Center City. In 1973, a massive campaign was launched by local businessman Jack Wood to revamp

2091-408: The image of the downtown area and embrace the historic and arguably uniquely Charlotte term "Uptown" by reintroducing it to the general public. In September 1974 Charlotte City Council passed an official proclamation that said "The heart of Charlotte should be now and forever more known as Uptown Charlotte." On February 14, 1987, the Charlotte Observer began using the term "Uptown" as a way to promote

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2142-436: The interior design, the total space increased from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet. A carved rosette arch at the new entrance recalled J.M. McMichael, the architect of First Baptist. Stained glass from the church was taken out of storage and used to add character and recall history. With the opening of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in 1992, uptown Charlotte had a new location for performances. This led to

2193-404: The intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is that quadrant bounded by North Tryon on the northwest and East Trade on the southwest. Once considered one of the most dangerous areas in Charlotte, the first ward has become one of the more desirable because of gentrification under a HUD HOPE VI grants with many new developments under construction. The award-winning Center City Building which houses

2244-756: The north of the intersection of Trade and Tryon. It is that quadrant bounded by North Tryon on the southeast and West Trade on the southwest. It is mostly residential and has many stately Victorian homes. It is an official historic district , and is the location of Old Settlers' Cemetery and the three-acre Fourth Ward Park . It is a blend of historic residential neighborhoods, modern restaurants, and an employment center. The Ward includes 380,000 sq ft (35,000 m ) of office space, 4,844 residential units, 731 hotel rooms, and 52,000 sq ft (4,800 m ) of retail space. As of 2021 Uptown Charlotte employs 120,000 people across 33 million square feet of office space, hosts more than 18 million visitors

2295-472: The north side of I-277. One of the first new buildings on Stonewall to start the building boom was Regions 615 which delivered in the Spring of 2017 Since then others have included the Bank of America Tower completed in early 2019, Honeywell Tower began construction in September 2019, Ally Charlotte Center delivered in May 2021 and many other buildings. Charlotte Center City is served by two branches of

2346-401: The rest of the city. It serves as the division between "North" and "South" labeled streets within the Uptown street grid. The following major buildings have a Trade Street address: Buildings which have a College Street address include: Uptown Charlotte is divided into four neighborhoods, or "wards", by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets. The first ward lies directly to the east of

2397-494: The same roof. In the case of Ally Charlotte Center and Duke Energy Plaza it is at least 4 offices. Part of the consolidation efforts have been brought up by adopting a hybrid model of work after returning from the COVID-19 pandemic where most workers will work part time or full time from home. Obviously a smaller real estate foot print is needed. Duke Energy specifically is aiming to cuts its real estate foot print from 2.5 million square feet to 1 million by 2050. One of

2448-423: Was named Loonis McGlohon Theatre for Loonis McGlohon in a January 9, 1998 event. Other venues began taking over some of the events. Great Aunt Stella Center (Formerally known as The African American Culture Center located on 7th street) became the new home of cultural festivals and many of the musical acts. Chamber music moved to local colleges. Soon the renamed theatre was seeing less use, partly because it

2499-407: Was too small, but Children's Theatre of Charlotte had some performances there. By 1999, the 30-year-old Community School of the Arts was the main tenant. Actor's Theatre still used the 180-seat Duke Power Theatre, and North Carolina Dance Theatre used part of the space. Tryon Center for Visual Art used the galleries, and groups not related to the arts were renting space. For example, once again,

2550-633: Was under construction or planned, 8,458 housing units were under construction or planned, 2,310 hotel rooms were under construction or planned, 948,167 square feet of retail was under construction or planned. This pipeline includes a number of projects such as the Duke Energy Plaza , Seventh and Tryon which is part of the North Tryon Vision project, 10 Tryon, Ally Charlotte Center , JW Marriott Charlotte, FNB Tower , 650 S. Tryon, The Ellis, 500 W. Trade. Unfortunately three hotels have stalled due to

2601-517: Was used for the stadium. Opera Carolina did leave and Northwest School was considering it. Expansion of the library's main branch next door had to be considered, since the library might use part of the property. In 2008, a plan was announced to build a new main library and a 15-story tower while keeping McGlohon Theatre. 35°13′45″N 80°50′24″W  /  35.22917°N 80.84000°W  / 35.22917; -80.84000 Tryon Street Uptown Charlotte , also called Center City ,

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