CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte City Council committee on Jan. 5 recommended considering four retail tenants for Eastland Yards next week. But the endorsement includes a notable caveat: Each lease will be considered separately, a nod to concerns about ensuring suitable local ties and fit for each of the businesses.
Committee members JD Mazuera Arias and LaWana Mayfield told city government administrators during the meeting that they are concerned about whether the city’s minority and small-business vendor certification program was mined for candidates and prospects to fill the retail space.
Todd DeLong, assistant director of the city’s economic development division, told the committee that the subleasing program at Eastland Yards represents a first for the city and will likely bring hiccups along the way.
“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “This is untested. We’re not really sure how this is going to work. There’s going to be some mistakes along the way. So, we ask for some patience as we’re trying to work through this.”
DeLong and others in city government, along with master developer Crosland Southeast, embraced the novel strategy as a way of ensuring small area businesses benefit from the redevelopment of the city-owned site.
Eastland Yards encompasses 80 acres of land — formerly occupied by a shopping mall that closed in 2010 — 6 miles east of uptown at the intersection of Central Avenue and North Sharon Amity and Albemarle roads.
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VIDEO: County breaks ground on Eastland Park in east Charlotte
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