As plans for former Eastland Mall site take shape, developer eyes 2020 start

The city bought the closed mall for $13.2 million in 2012 and, a year later, demolished the vacant buildings. It encompasses 80 acres, with 11 occupied by a K-8 language academy public school opened last year.

On Thursday, Sittema said one-on-one and small-group meetings with residents and other stakeholders in recent months led the developers to outline five main priorities for developing the site. The priorities consist of:

• Building soccer fields and other sports and recreation areas.
• Providing green space with trails, gathering places and pavilions suitable for community events and concerts.
• Developing a variety of housing at prices higher than what the market in east Charlotte currently would allow. The idea, Sittema said, is to compete with neighborhoods such as Plaza Midwood and NoDa, bringing in some new residents who will help spur demand for related development. Sittema mentioned townhouses in the low-$200,000s and some single-family homes in the $400,000 range along with other price points. “We’re not going to build vinyl-sided tract homes at the lowest price,” he said.
• Ensuring an active, pedestrian-friendly and safe environment with an activity hub such as a public plaza.
• Bringing jobs and convenience to the area and its residents with higher-quality shopping while also bringing in and creating restaurants that celebrate the east side’s international influence and diversity of cuisines.

Details are soon to come for a planned, large-scale community meeting on June 19 as city planners and the Crosland-Odell team continue to gather information and insight on what people want most on the Eastland property. The site is considered vital to boosting the east side, where household income lags the county average by 43%.

James Mitchell, a Democrat and head of the committee, urged Sittema and the city to keep pushing ahead on the Eastland site. Even though this is a city government election year, the abandoned mall project stands apart from partisan politics and should be pursued head-long, he said.

“The goal is transformation,” Sittema said.

He said honing potential costs and development options will likely be finished by the end of this year. From there, rezoning and other aspects would begin early in 2020, followed by the start of construction late next summer. Construction would take two years.

Eastland’s overhaul would likely be done in a couple of phases. Sittema estimated more than half of the 69 vacant acres could be started on as part of the initial phase. This week, for example, Crosland-Odell met with three grocers about participating in the project. Early talks are also under way with possible office tenants and medical groups.

“Each month, our team gets more encouraged that we’re going to be able to do this,” Sittema said. “There’s still no guarantee that this deal will get done. The conversations about the public investment are going to be critical to the success of the endeavor, but we (continue to) grow in our enthusiasm here.”