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City Council To Consider Next Step In Redeveloping Eastland Mall Site

DAVID BORAKS / WFAE

Charlotte City Council members Monday evening could take another step toward the proposed redevelopment of the old Eastland Mall site.

Last month, members of the city council’s economic development committee unanimously backed a plan to combine the proposals of two development groups to rebuild the largely-vacant mall site in east Charlotte. 

City staffers in August recommended moving forward with the blended proposal from Crosland Southeast and Eastland Community Development, Inc.

Monday evening, city council members are scheduled to vote on a preliminary investment of up to $250,000 for the project. The money would help pay for several activities including master planning, civil engineering, a community communications plan, and other work involving the 80-acre site and its proposed redevelopment. Crosland and the Eastland Community Development group would share the costs of that work. 

Eastland Mall closed in 2010 and the city demolished the buildings in 2013. A series of previous redevelopment proposals have failed to materialize.

The current proposals include a mix of uses for the site including shops, offices, restaurants and housing designed to attract millennials. City staffers chose the two development groups from among four proposals received in the effort to revitalize the property off of Central Avenue. 

It’s unclear how much the City might eventually invest to support the latest plan. Economic Development committee chair James “Smuggie” Mitchell said in August that the city could contribute at least $35 million — including about $20 million for infrastructure and $15 million for an amateur sports complex proposed by one of the developers.

Mark Rumsey grew up in Kansas and got his first radio job at age 17 in the town of Abilene, where he announced easy-listening music played from vinyl record albums.