Council Quickies: Symphony Park in Line for Major Renewal

Charlotte City Council spent Monday holding its monthly committee meetings, then gathered in the evening to do its regular wrap-ups, allowing committee members to pass on any pertinent info to the full council. 

During the Jobs & Economic Development Committee wrap-up, Chair Malcolm Graham turned the floor over to leaders with the city’s municipal service districts — Charlotte Center City Partners, SouthPark Community Partners, and University City Partners — for presentations, which included looks at two notable projects in the works.

On the Agenda:

• Uptown Vibrancy Collaborative
• Symphony Park Renewal

Uptown Vibrancy Collaborative

During his presentation, Charlotte Center City Partners President & CEO Michael Smith presented the Uptown Vibrancy Collaborative, a new initiative focusing on public safety, perception, experiences and infrastructure renewal in Uptown that has already seen a $2-million total buy-in from companies based in Center City: Ally, Atrium Health, AvidXchange, Bank of America, Duke Energy, Hornets Sports & Entertainment, Truist Bank, Wells Fargo, and others.

The Uptown Vibrancy Collaborative will include a new “Own Your Block” policy in which the above-named and other property owners in Uptown will commit to taking their private in-building security “curb-to-curb” on their respective blocks in Uptown where they’re based, plus commit to cleaning and maintaining those blocks while also hosting programming there. 

To supplement the $2 million in private money, property owners in the Center City Partners municipal service district will see a property tax increase of $0.0082 per $100 value, or $82 annually per $1 million in property value.

The top goals for the new initiative are to host programming in Uptown every week of the year as well as address concerns related to office vacancy and public safety.

“We think programming is urban magic,” said Smith. “If you provide programming it creates a better comfort in the space. It does often provide employment, and it provides a safer environment, because the safest places are populated and active and highly programmed.”

Unrelated to the initiative, Mecklenburg County has also committed to have armed private security patrolling all Uptown parks beginning July 1.

Read more: People’s Budget Coalition Releases New Recommendations for City Budget

Symphony Park Renewal

Following Smith’s presentation, Adam Rhew with SouthPark Community Partners (SCP) presented a plan for a $21-million renewal of Symphony Park that will include two restaurants, retail, SouthPark Loop connectors, enhancements to the existing bandshell and more.

SCP is expecting $13 million in funding from the private sector and will utilize $8 million in existing bond funding from the city.

Simon Property Group, which currently owns the park and SouthPark Mall across the street, has committed $8 million to the project and would be responsible for building both restaurants and the retail establishments, plus park improvements such as the loop segment. 

Construction is expected to start in summer 2026 and be completed a year later.

The Charlotte Symphony, which has performed in the park since its inception and is the namesake of the park itself, is onboard with the renewal and will continue its Concerts in the Park series when construction is done. However, Simon may sell naming rights to the park during its capital campaign.

District rep Tariq Bokhari emphasized that the public money for this project was already allocated as part of the 2018 budget process for District 6 capital projects, so the money won’t need to be found or pulled from other projects.

“I personally believe this is much more than a normal park,” Bokhari said. “There’s economic development aspects to this … This will be an economic engine for this region, but we need to inspire others. And with this move, to get this first phase going, this is just the starting point of what I believe will be many phases of growth.” 

Charlotte City Council will meet again for an action review and business meeting on Monday, April 14.