Yes, it would be that tourism will save Charlotte’s east side. That is, of course, a big chunk of the plan to redevelop Eastland. But Eastland isn’t the only example of the concept. It’s also seen in an even purer form in a proposal to turn Bojangles’ Coliseum into an amateur sports mecca. And there’s nothing amateur about the amount of money that the city might spend. Per the UPoR:
After seeking interest from developers to remake the Bojangles’ Coliseum area into an amateur sports complex, the city of Charlotte has received one proposal, from a Florida company, GoodSports Enterprises Global LLC.
GoodSports outlined a plan to spend $72 million to build a 150-room hotel, a 100,000-square-foot “field house” for indoor sports and 50,000 square feet of retail.
The Sarasota, Fla.-developer has asked the city to cover 25 percent of the construction cost, which is $18 million.
How exactly some hotel, wait-staff, and retail jobs are suppose to rehabilitate multiple square miles of obsolescent housing stock is unclear. And make no mistake, the housing stock is the real issue for the east side.
