Uptown Condo Project Has Major Change Of Plans

The concrete eyesore once known as the Park Condos is slated to become Charlotte's first hotel-condo development.

The abandoned building was purchased last July in a private auction by Florida-based developer Small Brothers.

Michael Smith, president of Center City Partners confirmed the developer plans to turn the building into a mix of condos and hotel rooms.

Smith said, "If you go to Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, New York this combination of hotel condominiums and highly programmed complimentary spaces, it's a great model.

Channel 9 looked to see if Small Brothers has successfully completed projects like this in the past.

We found the company has ties to other projects in the Charlotte area, including the Great Wolf Lodge hotel in Concord.

They are also connected to other retail and residential properties around the country. But we did not find any other hotel-condominium projects like their latest proposal.

After two years of stalled projects and financial turmoil surrounding the building on South Caldwell and Third, Uptown condo owner Brian Jones said he is skeptical about this latest venture.

Jones said, "It would be more pretty but I want to see what it does to the homeowner market in the downtown area."

Our calls to Small Brothers to find out more details about the project were not returned.