In the fall of 2022, the N.C. Department of Transportation finished the $80 million track and signal work needed to open the Gateway Station and bring intercity passenger rail uptown.
All that was left was for the city of Charlotte to build a waiting area and ticket office for passengers, plus a few finishing touches on the station platform. The DOT could then move Charlotte’s Amtrak station from its current home — an outdated building on North Tryon Street near NoDa — to a prime location in the center city.
But that hasn’t happened.
In the last decade or so, the city has juggled three options for Gateway: building a permanent station as part of a massive mixed-use project of offices and residences, building a permanent station on its own, or building a temporary station to get the project up and running quickly.
Charlotte has done none of them.
Now the project could have a new life — if Charlotte is willing to let it go.
The new transportation sales tax starts July 1. There will be a huge influx of cash for rail transit. That money could quickly pay for a temporary, or even permanent, Gateway Station.
But it is unclear whether the city is willing to let the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority take the lead.
The new chair of the MPTA’s board, David Howard, said in an interview he would prefer to follow through on the city’s original vision of a mixed-use project in uptown — rather than getting Amtrak moved as fast as possible.
“I will advocate for a big mixed-use development,” Howard said. “A standalone building (station) is the fastest, but I don’t know if that’s what we want in uptown Charlotte.”
A bold plan, with little to show
The city’s vision for Gateway was formed about 25 years ago. Near the minor-league ballpark, it would be a transit hub that would spur a new downtown, at Trade and Graham streets.
Gateway would connect the Gold Line streetcar, the new Amtrak station, the planned Red Line commuter train to Lake Norman (which could open in about 10 years), the Silver Line light rail (planned but at least a decade away), plus a small bus station and a Greyhound station.
The development would also include offices, stores, and apartments.
But there are problems with the vision.
Since COVID, the office market has struggled as thousands of employees continue to work from home. And while that area of uptown may become a booming residential area, there is little momentum there today. Most of the energy for new housing (not to mention offices) is about one mile away, in South End or north of uptown along the Blue Line
And waiting to build a train station until the private development is ready prioritizes that development over more effective intercity rail service, essentially telling Amtrak riders they’ll be stuck using the inadequate North Tryon building until someone is ready to build apartments and offices around Gateway.
Instead of an attractive, useful, central rail station like Raleigh’s Union Station, Gateway has become one of several languishing public-private partnerships, including Mecklenburg County’s Brooklyn Village project and Inlivian’s (formerly the Charlotte Housing Authority) stalled redevelopment of Strawn Cottages in Dilworth.
The two private developers meant to build the offices, shops and apartments at Gateway, Spectrum Properties and Republic Metropolitan, could not be reached for comment.
Axios Charlotte has done some of the best reporting on the Gateway delays, highlighting tensions between the city and the state over Charlotte’s reluctance to build a $16 million temporary station to open in 2027.
"I am writing to express our increasing concerns about the City's ability to timely deliver the Charlotte Gateway Station, as evidenced through deviations from the overall ... schedule," NCDOT's Deputy Secretary for Multi-Modal Transportation Julie White wrote on July 31, according to the Axios article.
On Aug. 13, Charlotte Deputy City Manager Liz Babson told the DOT that the city could not pay for both a temporary station and a permanent one.
An influx of money
Those money problems can be easily solved, starting this summer.
Sixty percent of the new sales tax revenue — about $210 million a year — will go to the MPTA. Two-thirds of that transit money, or about $140 million annually to start, can be spent on rail transit.
The PAVE Act requires that the city transfer assets of the Charlotte Area Transit System to the MPTA.
The law also requires the authority to build the Red Line commuter train to Lake Norman first. The Gateway Station is part of the Red Line, and attorney Larry Shaheen, who helped write the bill, said the new transit money could be used for Gateway immediately.
The MPTA would have enough money in two months to build the temporary station. It could pay for it in cash.
The PAVE Act mandates that the MPTA be responsible for operating all transit, including buses, light rail, the streetcar and the Red Line, which will use the Gateway station. The authority is also responsible for all future transit planning.
But the city of Charlotte appears to still want to shape Gateway’s future.
WFAE and Transit Time asked Charlotte Deputy City Manager Alyson Craig who will make the ultimate decision for Gateway — the city or the MPTA?
Craig’s answer was vague, suggesting the city still wants to decide.
“The creation of the MPTA strengthens the existing public-private partnership supporting the CGS project by adding another partner,” she wrote. “It’s important that the MPTA is at the table as this project moves forward and we look forward to their participation.”
"At the table" does not sound like “decision- maker.”
Transit Time also asked whether the temporary station is now more likely because of the new sales tax.
“Regarding the Amtrak station, the budget remains the same,” Craig wrote. “We will continue to work with NCDOT to identify the fastest path to deliver a station into uptown.”
Howard, the new MPTA chair, has worked on Gateway as a Charlotte City Council member and as a staff member for the N.C. DOT and U.S. DOT. He said one reason Gateway has been delayed is indecision over whether the Silver Line light rail would serve the station.
“That was one of the reasons it slowed down, we tried to figure out the Silver Line alignment,” he said.
But the Silver Line alignment was decided three years ago, shortly after the N.C. DOT finished its portion of Gateway.
Different land owners
Some of the land around Gateway is owned by the N.C. DOT, and some is owned by the city of Charlotte.
It’s unclear if the city will transfer that land to the MPTA.
However, if the MPTA’s 27-member board wants to move quickly on Gateway, it appears the authority could begin negotiating directly with the N.C. DOT — and leave the city of Charlotte out.
The authority is hosting an all-day retreat Thursday to discuss its long-term plans.
