Bottom Of The Ninth, Tied Score, Bases Loaded

I know it seems like I write this article every month, but things have reached a fever pitch (pun intended) for the new BBT Knights Stadium.

Rendering of the new Knights Stadium

First is was BBT announcing that they had come to a long term agreement for naming rights for the stadium.  Then Piedmont Natural Gas announced that they were becoming a Founding Sponsor of the stadium.  Then plans surfaced for Childress Klein to build a 21 story apartment building on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and South Mint Streets.

All of a sudden the concerns of this area becoming a dead zone are melting away.  The prospect of having nearly 600 people within one block of the stadium does that.  The rumor mill is also abuzz of a hotel to be built in the vicinity of the park / stadium.  Ideal for out of town visitors to come for games.
The new rendering for the stadium shown here is pretty dramatic.  The undefined buildings in the general area are meant as placeholders for impending development.  Tie this burst of new development in with the Duke Energy Center, the Museum Complex, Ally Bank Headquarters, and The Catalyst and the changes are incredible. 

This will be augmented by the construction of the new Amtrak Station and Commuter Rail terminal at Graham and Trade and it almost looks like a totally new city. 

There is a legend that Charlotte got the moniker Uptown back in the late 70's when people didn't like to talk about "down things" so in spite of the flight of retail out of the city, boosters started to call downtown "Uptown" to give it a more positive sound.

With this current expansion coupled with expansions in the First Ward around the new UNCC Classroom Building, and Second Ward around  The Madison and Skye and soon Uptown will mean the crossroads of Trade and Tryon while other downtown areas will give birth to other identifying names.

All this will increase the density of downtown Charlotte and help to raise property values.