Nearly $115M approved for over-budget Convention Center upgrades

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Another city project is facing cost overruns.

Plans to upgrade the Convention Center with more breakout rooms and a pedestrian bridge originally had a $98 million budget. The actual cost is now projected to be $114.5 million.

"There's only so many times that we can have situations like this arise before the community loses faith in us," Councilman Tariq Bokhari said.

[ALSO READ: City's budget proposal allocates millions to finish Cross Charlotte Trail]

Tom Murray with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said of 51 bid packages, 22 came in over budget. Documents shown to the City Council on Monday night revealed things like concrete slabs, plumbing and stucco are all costing millions more than expected.

Fourteen out of 27 trades received zero or one bid. Five trades only received two bids.

"Contractors are overextended as it is, even in the residential section we see this happening," Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt said. "So, it is frustrating."

The city and CRVA are using $4.6 million of existing funds to pay for construction-related items such as furniture, materials testing and building commissioning.

To pay for the rest of the overruns -- council is using $11.9 million from the Convention Center Tax Fund despite questions from some city leaders about the capability of doing so.

"We don't have enough understanding of the funding capacity of the CRVA to know whether or not this is something they can absorb," Councilman Ed Driggs said.

Councilman James Mitchell proposed deprioritizing Phase 2 of the project, which would potentially free up $30 million if the Convention Center Tax Fund lacks the necessary capacity. Phase 2 of the project calls for either a hotel or expanded Convention Center on an adjacent lot currently owned by Duke Energy.

The Charlotte Convention Center is a major economic driver for the city. So, while the overruns are frustrating, some council members feel the upgrades are necessary.

"This is a revenue-producing asset of the city," Eiselt said. "A convention center in a city like Charlotte is the bread and butter of our business."

Murray warned city leaders a delay in voting on the project would result in the cancellation of three conventions in October 2021.

Convention Center overruns add to a list of projects that have recently had the same fate, including the Joint Communications Center and the Cross Charlotte Trail.

Cox Media Group