How this organization is working to preserve Charlotte's history

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As more land in Charlotte gets developed, homebuilders and commercial developers are seeking to remake sites into denser uses, particularly in hot urban neighborhoods.

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Sometimes, that interest includes large lots with homes and other structures designated as historic landmarks. But instead of bulldozing an estate dating back decades or centuries, a nonprofit that launched earlier this year is hoping to act as something of a facilitator to preserve historic landmarks forever while allowing builders to develop parts of those properties.

Preserve Mecklenburg was co-founded this spring by Dan Morrill, longtime consulting director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, and Frank Bragg, chairman emeritus of Bragg Financial Advisors. The goal is to prevent land owners from filing a certificate to allow demolition of a historic building, waiting a year if a stay-of-demolition is placed on the property, then selling the property to a builder who can then legally raze the building and develop the property anew.

Instead, Preserve Mecklenburg approaches owners of historic properties looking to sell in an attempt to obtain an option to purchase. If successful, Preserve Mecklenburg will then look for an assignee for that option — a developer willing to save the building from demolition forever by putting restrictive covenants in the property's deed, then developing the rest of the site into new uses.

What's frequently left out in conversations about historic preservation is how to make those properties economically feasible, Morrill said.

"You cannot expect people to sacrifice their economic self-interest for the sake of preservation," he said. "If you don't have economic viability, it's very, very difficult to save anything."

Read more here about what the group is up to.

Cox Media Group