City councilman, brewery owner call for restrictions to be gradually lifted

CHARLOTTE — In uptown Charlotte, a renowned Greek restaurant is seeking rental assistance from Mecklenburg County due to losses as a result of COVID-19.

County commissioners will vote Wednesday night whether to provide Little Village Grill with three months of rent deferral for their Fourth Street location. The county charges Little Village $2,428.33 a month in rent. The restaurant is far from the only place struggling.

In Lower South End, the patio of Olde Mecklenburg Brewery sits empty. The clinks of glasses and laughs of patrons in the beer garden feel like a distant memory.

The founder of Charlotte's oldest craft brewery is asking for the state to start reopening.

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“I can control the number of people that come into my establishment,” John Marrino said. “I can control the number of people that enter my beer garden, how many people get in line at my beer garden and how far apart they stand just like they are doing at grocery stores, just like they are doing at Walgreen’s.”

Marrino made the argument Tuesday on Councilman Tariq Bokhari's FinTech Moshpit podcast. Marrino said Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is in a good financial position because of grocery sales, but he worries about smaller breweries that don't produce their product in that capacity. He said he has roughly 50 people still working and about 100 are out of work.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Bokhari said he disagrees with the ReOpen NC protests happening in Raleigh, and he doesn't think the state should just open as a free for all. But he is in favor of gradually lifting restrictions so places like Olde Mecklenburg Brewery can come back to life. He said now's the time for leaders to craft guidelines that allow restaurants and other businesses to start making money again while also keeping people safe.

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"It is time to reopen business and it is time to do so in a thoughtful but fast and nimble fashion," Bokhari said.

In a presentation to Charlotte City Council's COVID-19 Small Business Committee, Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner outlined the city and state's economic outlook due to the virus.

Wells Fargo Senior Economist Mark Vitner projects the Charlotte metro area will lose 159,000 jobs this year pic.twitter.com/zFAZQj8K1M
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Vitner said 540,000 jobless claims were filed in the last four weeks statewide. As many as 426,000 jobs may be lost in North Carolina in 2020 and 60% are projected to be recovered by the end of 2021. In Charlotte, Vitner estimates the Charlotte metro will lose 159,000 jobs.

Vitner said Charlotte is unlikely to see much net job growth over the next few years because of COVID-19. He said this will impact luxury apartments with the vacancy rate possibly hitting 12%.