Mecklenburg Commissioners on Tuesday discussed a new proposal to redevelop Brooklyn Village uptown. The county hasn’t been able to get anything built since the first developer was picked in 2016.
The county selected Florida based the Peebles Corporation ten years ago to rebuild the historic Black neighborhood of Brooklyn in Second Ward. But Peebles never built a single apartment, and recently sold one parcel to a different developer, First and Early of Charlotte.
First and Early’s proposal calls for the same amount of total square footage – 630,000 square feet – but with less office space and fewer apartments. There would be a 150-room hotel.
Construction would begin three years after the county approves First and Early’s proposal.
Some Commissioners were pleased with the proposal, and said the county needs to move forward. But Susan Rodriguez-McDowell wants more than 10% of the units set aside for affordable housing, and Arthur Griffin said the project doesn’t honor the past.
“What I would ask you to do is to figure out what’s meant by preserving Brooklyn’s legacy,” Griffin said. “I don’t see that anywhere.”
Commissioners will vote on the deal in November.
The county has filed a lawsuit against the Peebles Corporation over the other parcels in the Brooklyn project.
