Uptown

Duke Energy completed the sale of two properties in uptown Charlotte last week as it prepares to consolidate office space at its new headquarters tower on South Tryon Street. Redevelopment plans for the two buildings include apartments, shops and offices.

After three years of waiting, the Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade has returned. The event makes its way to uptown this Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21.

Three buildings in the former Brooklyn neighborhood were reborn into the Brooklyn Collective where small businesses, nonprofits and local artists come together to serve the community.

Duke Energy is officially without a corporate headquarters - at least for now. The company says all its employees have now moved out of the uptown Charlotte office tower that has been known as Duke Energy Center.

Some of Charlotte's largest banks are preparing to bring workers back to the office in the coming weeks, and that could bring back some life to restaurants and retail stores in uptown that have been deserted for much of the pandemic.

As workers return to uptown Charlotte offices, demand for parking spaces is rising. Expect spaces to be pricey and in short supply again this fall.

The Levine Museum of the New South is selling its uptown Charlotte location. The site is worth at least $7.7 million. Also in this week's BizWorthy: Some uptown law firms are calling employees back to the office. Will other businesses follow suit and wind down work-from-home policies? Plus, liquor sales in Charlotte have been going up. And up. And we take a look at claims about local hospital safety ratings.

Duke Energy plans to move its headquarters to a new building it's constructing across the street from its current home in uptown Charlotte. The company says it's adopting a new workplace model that dramatically reduces its need for office space.

Throughout most of the year, uptown Charlotte was a ghost town. We're going to ask a few experts if our center city will ever return to how it was before the pandemic? And how did businesses fare throughout this whole ordeal?

Testing continues this week on Charlotte Area Transit System's $150 million Gold Line streetcar extension. CATS says service could begin in late spring.