Remember the Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO? That’s the comprehensive plan that Charlotte leaders adopted three years ago to guide growth. One contentious new rule allows duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in more places than before. The Charlotte Ledger has an update on just how many of them have been built since City Council adopted the ordinance. The Charlotte Ledger’s Ashley Fahey joined Marshall Terry for our segment, BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: First, remind us what the issue is here with these homes being built in more parts of the city and why the city made the change.
Ashley Fahey: So the city has been wanting to encourage and make it easier to build what they call missing middle housing, basically something between an apartment and a traditional single-family home. Duplexes, triplexes, and quads fit that, as well as townhouses. Townhouses have been able to be built, I would say, fairly easily pre-UDO. Beforehand, duplexes, triplexes, and quads – most places you needed to get a rezoning petition in order to do those projects, which of course is a timely and costly endeavor for a lot of folks.
So the point of this was to just make it a lot easier. Of course, that was one of the more controversial parts of the UDO. A lot of folks were worried that they were going to see a lot of dense housing in their neighborhoods and maybe ruin some of the neighborhood character, as well as the implications that come with denser housing, whether it's traffic or more crowded schools — things of that nature.
Terry: So how many have been built in the past three years?
Fahey: The analysis I ran told me that a total of 8,537 duplexes, triplexes and quads have either been submitted or approved through the city since June 1, 2023. I was expecting something much smaller than that. Just because more than 8,500 have been submitted or approved does not necessarily mean that many have been built. I would guess we’ve probably seen thousands of duplexes, triplexes and quads built since the UDO went into effect in 2023. Before the UDO, we were seeing hundreds built, versus thousands.
Terry: Staying with development for a moment, a firm has closed on land at The Pearl in midtown with plans for a residential tower. How big of a tower, and will any units be affordable?
Fahey: The plans call for a 20-story, 382-unit apartment project on The Pearl’s property. Nineteen of the units would be affordable. Most of the 382 units would be market rate and at the higher end of the market, as the project is described as a luxury apartment tower.
Terry: Finally, Bank of America says it’s changing its work-from-home policy. What does the bank say about it? Also, what does it indicate about work-from-home policies in general?
Fahey: The bank told employees last week that it is putting new restrictions on which days employees can work outside the office and clarifying what constitutes an in-office day. Like many Charlotte banks and large employers, Bank of America still requires office workers to be in the office at least three days a week. But in a memo sent to employees, the bank said it will no longer allow two consecutive workdays out of the office. Some employees might have taken a Friday and Monday to create a four-day stretch out of the office. Not necessarily not working, of course, but not being in the office. That practice is ending.
It’s a sign that employers are continuing to tighten in-office requirements. The financial services sector, especially, has been strict about requiring employees to be in the office. Many other banks have even stricter mandates than Bank of America. They’re building more parking in uptown for employees and things of that nature. To me, it suggests banks like Bank of America still see value in having employees in the office.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson & Associates.
