Why does cool always cost public money? We are reaching zero hour on the decades-old Carolina Theatre drama. Atlanta developers want a — surprise! — subsidized project at the location, which would include condos and a overhaul of the theatre, vacant since 1978. One proponent says the deal would help Charlotte be a “cool city.”
Oh boy.
In a replay of the Cityfair disaster — remember Cityfair? An 80s-era Charlotte attempt at imposing cool on the site — what private-sector involvement there is in the project is chronically short of cash. Worse, a successful project would add to the glut of performance spaces in the city and take business away from the city-owned Ovens Auditorium, recently renovated itself.
The solution? Sell. Sell! Sell the property off and be done with it. Turn it into a revenue-producing asset, not a drag. Then, having sold off one of the most troublesome properties in city history, go out and sell some more. The city and Mecklenburg County both have absurd amounts of land sitting idle, especially all the West side land bought up in the wake of the airport expansion. (Don’t ask, there was a lawsuit.) There are millions sitting uptapped.
Selling off property may not be “cool,” but it is right.