Charlotte commits $4.16 million to Brookhill Village

CITY OF CHARLOTTE

Charlotte City Council has committed $4.16 million to transition Brookhill Village into a mixed-use development.

Charlotte City Council is committing more than $4 million to redevelop Brookhill Village beyond affordable housing.

The panel approved on Oct. 12 a $4.16 million investment to transition the 36-acre site in South End into a mixed-use development with new infrastructure. The city will reimburse Griffin Brothers Properties through the 2026 bond referendum or other municipal sources as part of a $92.6 million public-private project. Among the upgrades are an entertainment venue and community events space.

“This has been a long time coming, and I’m incredibly excited to see this project move forward,” said District 3 Council Member Joi Mayo, who represents Brooklyn Village. “Tremendous work went into making this vision a reality. Being able to preserve affordable housing and green space while investing in infrastructure improvements and amenities is a win-win for the community.”

The initiative includes extending Dunavant Street across South Tryon Street to improve traffic and pedestrian flow between the Toomey and Tremont corridors. The project creates 8-foot-wide sidewalks that accommodate people with physical disabilities, new drainage, curbs, gutters and utility systems. More than 200 new trees and professional landscaping are included.

Brookhill Village, which opened as a racially segregated 418-unit development in 1950, is owned by the Spangler-Cornwell family. Griffin Brothers controls the ground lease through 2049. 

“We appreciate the City Council’s support and the partnership that has made this project possible,” said Griffin Brothers partner Mike Griffin. “There’s a lot of history at Brookhill, and we want to build on that while creating something that serves the community. The infrastructure investment will help us connect the site, create new gathering spaces and bring private investment, jobs and new amenities to the area.”

The project includes:

• Two new buildings for The Harvest Center of Charlotte to house corporate offices, classroom space, a commercial kitchen, gymnasium and other community space.

A permanent music and entertainment venue that holds around 4,400 people with a completion goal of March 2028

• Construction of 11 additional affordable housing units by 2028 that meets a goal of 100 such units

The developer estimates the project will bring approximately $88.5 million in private investment, including commercial, recreational, residential and entertainment uses. More than 250 construction jobs and about 75 permanent jobs are associated with the initiative.

City Council and Mecklenburg County in 2023 invested $3.5 million each as part of a $14 million plan to renovate 100 affordable housing units at Brookhill that were donated to The Harvest Center for the homeless.
The 36-acre parcel off South Tryon Street near Charlotte’s urban core is part of a hot housing market with upscale retail, a booming housing market and access to light rail.

Brookhill Village, though, is a neighborhood of low-income residents, run-down and shuttered homes and a complicated ownership structure that frustrated potential developers for years because of the relatively small window of time to recoup any investment before the ground lease reverts back to the Spangler-Cornwell family, heirs of C.D. Spangler, Brookhill Village’s original builder.

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