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Charlotte approves plan to build school at Eastland Mall site

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte City Council voted 8-2 Monday to approve the sale of 11.4 acres at the former site of the Eastland Mall to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education.

CMS agreed to pay $65,000 for the site, which will be used to build a new K-8 school.

The city purchased the approximately 80.4 acre property in August of 2012.

Eastland Mall was demolished in 2013.

In addition to the school, the plan for the area includes residential and commercial development along with a park and a storm water retention pond.

The Eastland Mall site has been vacant for years and some neighbors have rallied against CMS’ plan to buy part of the site and build the magnet school. The rest would be used for a park, apartments and retail.

City leaders also approved to speed up their final payment on Bank of America Stadium upgrades. The change could allow the city to save $5.3 million.

The city agreed to pay $75 million for improvements, including upgrades to the new state of the art video monitors, over 10 years.

The final payment was set for December, 2017, but leaders are going to pay it off a year early so the city can take advantage of lower interest rates and speed up the upgrade process.

In exchange, the Panthers will extend the window of time the city can host college football and international soccer games, rent-free.

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