BizWorthy

Architects in Charlotte are increasingly being asked to do something new: Design buildings with features that would look good in Instagram posts. The push seems to be coming from building owners and marketers who want the free publicity that can come with social media buzz. But the request is rubbing some architects the wrong way.

There's a lot of young tobacco and vape users who are angry right now. That’s because the Food and Drug Administration began to immediately enforce a ban on the sale of tobacco to anyone under 21 on Dec. 20, the same day that President Trump signed legislation raising the minimum age of purchase. 

Charlotte’s Epicentre, with its bars and nightclubs, was once a center of nightlife in the city. But following a pair of deadly shootings last year, some business owners in the uptown complex say they’ve seen a drop in customers. 

One symptom of Charlotte's growth is an increased demand on hospitals. The state has approved 76 additional beds in Mecklenburg County to accommodate that growth, and Atrium and Novant are vying for them. It's up to the state to decide which hospitals get them. This week, regulators heard from doctors and county residents on the subject. In this week's BizWorthy, Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter joins us to break this down and talk about this week's other business news -- including soccer.

A huge swath of homes in Dilworth is being sold to a medical affiliated company. The Charlotte Ledger business newsletter reports the homes, about two dozen, all are in an area adjacent to Atrium where the hospital already owns 25 homes. Atrium earlier this year announced plans to expand its presence in the neighborhood. 

The $66 billion merger between Winston-Salem’s BB&T and Atlanta’s SunTrust is set to be finalized this week.  The new bank, to be called Truist, will be headquartered in the Hearst Tower in uptown Charlotte. 

For more on what happens next with the merger and other business news "Morning Edition" host Marshall Terry is joined by Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger business newsletter for our segment BizWorthy. 

Finding a good assisted-living home for a loved one can be tough work. But there’s a new tool that may make the search a bit easier. 

Last week the Charlotte Observer’s parent company, McClatchy, announced it will stop printing Saturday editions at all of its papers next year. The California-based company, which also owns the Raleigh News & Observer and the Rock Hill Herald, is about $700 million in debt. 

Charlotte’s SouthPark Mall and the area around it will look very different in a few years.  There are plans to add a three-mile greenway encircling the mall and a park, along with more offices, apartments, and restaurants. Some of the development gets underway at the end of the month.  

More big change is in the works for Charlotte’s South End. Two companies announced last week they’re building a 23-story office tower. Lowe’s is also building an office tower for 2,000 tech workers.

It’s a shift for the neighborhood that for the past several years has been marked by the rise of countless apartment complexes.

Bank of America employees got some good news this week. For a third year, the bank is handing out an extra bonus – and it isn’t chump change. That means there’ll be more cash floating around Charlotte this holiday season. 

Atrium Health has announced big expansion plans on about 70 acres at its main campus in Dilworth. The plans call for a medical school and office space. The hospital system also wants to build a hotel.

The CEO of American Airlines, Doug Parker, is facing mounting pressure. Charlotte’s dominant carrier has a heap of problems, including a falling stock price, labor union tensions, and unhappy customers and employees. There’s been some chatter that Parker may be not be keeping his job.

Big swaths of land have come up for redevelopment recently in neighborhoods close to uptown, like Plaza Midwood and South End. In this week’s BizWorthy, we hear about another prime spot — in NoDa — that has been home to a fourth-generation family business.

Wells Fargo named its new CEO last week. Charles Scharf, who was the head of Bank of New York Mellon, has a long Wall Street resume. The job he’s inheriting comes with a lot of political scrutiny as the bank continues to try to clear its name after it emerged that employees opened millions of fraudulent accounts to meet high pressure sales goals. The Charlotte Ledger’s Tony Mecia joins us now in the week’s BizWorthy segment. 

It appears Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is asking the city for a big sum to upgrade Bank of America stadium - up to about $200 million. However, this money isn’t for football, it would be for soccer. 

This week Charlotte had another big jobs announcement. Online mortgage company Better.com announced it is expanding in Charlotte, going from about 20 people to 1,000 in five years. It follows substantial job announcements for the city by Lowe’s, Avid Xchange and Truist.

Charlotte is now less than a year away from hosting the Republican National Convention – and the planning has begun. Not just by city officials and convention organizers, but people hoping to rent out their homes for big money during that time.

There’s a trend around Charlotte of finding new uses for old buildings. Think textile mills converted to loft apartments. It appears some of that is now moving to Ballantyne.

New accusations have surfaced against a financial adviser well-known for his appearances on Charlotte TV stations. Jim Heafner closed his firm earlier this year amid allegations he gave shoddy advice and invested clients’ money with a Florida company under scrutiny from regulators.