Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials on Tuesday kicked off a plan to develop what they’re calling the airport’s front door with hotels, restaurants, shops and more. The airport is seeking a private developer to partner in developing 90 acres the airport owns around its main entrance at Wilkinson Boulevard.
Known as the "Destination District," Assistant Airport Director Stuart Hair said the first phase of the development will include a hotel and retail — such as restaurants and shops like pharmacies — and that there’s enough demand to fill the new space.
“We've talked to every type of developer that would take our meeting and have heard loud and clear from them that there is a demand right now in the market for these product types,” he said.
And despite the airport’s obvious importance for air travel, the heavy car traffic around roads like Wilkinson makes it ideal for non-aviation development.
“About 200,000 cars a day go through that area,” he said. “So it's really ideally located for hotel, restaurant and convenience retail development.”
The airport-owned land is clustered around Wilkinson Boulevard, North Josh Birmingham Parkway and Stafford Drive. One goal is to make the airport’s main entrance a more inviting place than it is now — mostly empty lots, freight yards and parking.
“We really want to activate this land and create a sense of place there at the front door of the airport. It'll really define that initial airport experience for the local traveler,” Hair said.
Hair said Charlotte Douglas hopes to pick a private developer to partner with by the spring. He estimated the first part of a new development could open in about two years if everything goes smoothly.
Two districts
Plans for the Destination District call for splitting the site in two. To the west, one area will include a full-service hotel and shops in the first phase, as well as a second phase with a luxury flag hotel. The other part of the district would include logistics, warehouse and industrial space.
Hair said the airport will retain ownership of the land, which it has acquired over the previous decades. Some of the land was purchased with federal funds to relocate people impacted by airplane noise from the nearby runways.
The planned Silver Line light rail is expected to run along Wilkinson Boulevard. Hair said the airport will preserve space for the future rail in the Destination District, even though the rail plans aren’t yet funded.
“We're not going to go develop the station, we're not going to lay down the tracks for light rail to eventually come, but we are going to protect it so that if a funding model does come forward for the Silver Line, it could locate and it could work well with Destination District,” he said.
