Charlotte Razed Brooklyn. Ten Years Later, the Rebuild Is a Lawsuit. | CLT Daily

Description

Mecklenburg County has sued the developer it picked in 2016 to rebuild Brooklyn — the Black neighborhood Charlotte demolished between 1960 and 1967, taking 1,480 homes, displacing 1,007 families and closing 216 Black-owned businesses. A decade on, nothing has been built, the county says the developer offered "hollow excuses," and the affordable housing at the heart of the deal shrank from 550 units to 250 to a threat of none. Plus: gas prices lifted transit ridership across the country this spring while Charlotte's fell 6%, UNC Charlotte launches a School of Energy built around AI data center demand, and Ardrey Kell gets its third principal in three years.

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WFAE, Axios Charlotte, UNC Charlotte Atkins Library, WBTV

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
First, something you can actually use. Tomorrow night, the biggest night in American gospel music happens right here in Charlotte, in an arena you've driven past a hundred times, and most people here have no idea. I'll tell you what it is, and how to get in, at the end of the show. But first, this is CLT Daily. I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Friday, August 14th. Your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, Charlotte tore down a black neighborhood. Then it spent 10 years trying to rebuild it through one developer. This week that ended in a lawsuit. Start with what was there. Brooklyn in Second Ward, a few blocks from where the Spectrum Center sits now. The center of black life in this city. The first free library in North Carolina opened to black readers. Second Ward High School, 216 black-owned businesses. Between 1960 and 1967, the city cleared it. 1,480 homes came down. 1,007 families were moved out, mostly to the north and west sides. Most of those businesses never reopened. In 2016, Mecklenburg County picked a developer to build something back on that ground. Brooklyn Village. Shops, offices, housing, including affordable housing. It was framed openly as making good. Ten years later, nothing has been built. This week, the county sued. Donahue Peebles Jr., his company Brooklyn Village Partners, and his Charlotte partner, Monty Ritchie. The county's language is blunt. It says the developer failed to deliver and offered, quote, hollow excuses. The specifics. The county says Peebles knew about asbestos in the old Board of Education building since 2018 and did nothing, blamed market conditions without documentation, and missed last summer's deadline to tear that building down. That's why it declared him in default, a year ago tomorrow. It now wants the building demolished, Peebles off the project, and damages. Here's his side, and it isn't nothing. Peebles has said the county is asking his company to pay to clean up a building it does not own, and he has pointed to the Charlotte market. Those are real arguments, and a court will weigh them. But watch what happened to the promise while the argument went on. The affordable housing piece started at $550,000. mixed-income units. It was cut to 250. Then the developer warned that without a county subsidy, he'd drop it altogether and wait for the market to improve. And the county was not working blind. Charlotte Public Radio documented last year that Peebles had stalled projects and litigation behind him in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Washington. Durham ended talks after his ask for public money jumped from $61 million to $78 million. The building is still standing. That's the 10th year result. All right, here's what else you need to know today. Yesterday I told you the red line got its 10 stations. Here's the number underneath that. Gas prices pushed transit ridership up across the country this spring. Atlanta more than 25 percent. Dallas and Nashville about 20. Charlotte went the other way. Down 6 percent from a base already at 64 percent of pre-pandemic. The reason riders give is safety. Specifically, the killing of Irina Zarutska on the Blue Line last August. Riddership there fell 10.2% the next month. 19.1% by December. Charlotte is about to build new rail on a system people have stopped boarding. Second, UNC Charlotte is starting a school of energy. It says, The first in the country built around upgrading the electrical grid. The driver is artificial intelligence data centers and the power they need. Same demand that put a data center moratorium in front of city council. That expires November 5th. And Audrey Kell will get its third principal in three years. Susan Wills is retiring November 1st to move to England. Her predecessor was suspended, then retired in 2024. School starts in 11 days. Now, as promised, the stellar awards. Gospel Music's Biggest Night, the 41st, at the Spectrum Center tomorrow at 4.30. Kirk Franklin hosts. Tickets were still available this week, starting around $40. And the big free one, Charlotte Pride at First Ward Park. Saturday noon to 10, Sunday noon to 6. Parade, Sunday afternoon down Tryon. That's CLT Daily for Friday, August 14th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow. Same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

Description

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WFAE, Axios Charlotte, UNC Charlotte Atkins Library, WBTV

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
First, something you can actually use. Tomorrow night, the biggest night in American gospel music happens right here in Charlotte, in an arena you've driven past a hundred times, and most people here have no idea. I'll tell you what it is, and how to get in, at the end of the show. But first, this is CLT Daily. I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Friday, August 14th. Your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, Charlotte tore down a black neighborhood. Then it spent 10 years trying to rebuild it through one developer. This week that ended in a lawsuit. Start with what was there. Brooklyn in Second Ward, a few blocks from where the Spectrum Center sits now. The center of black life in this city. The first free library in North Carolina opened to black readers. Second Ward High School, 216 black-owned businesses. Between 1960 and 1967, the city cleared it. 1,480 homes came down. 1,007 families were moved out, mostly to the north and west sides. Most of those businesses never reopened. In 2016, Mecklenburg County picked a developer to build something back on that ground. Brooklyn Village. Shops, offices, housing, including affordable housing. It was framed openly as making good. Ten years later, nothing has been built. This week, the county sued. Donahue Peebles Jr., his company Brooklyn Village Partners, and his Charlotte partner, Monty Ritchie. The county's language is blunt. It says the developer failed to deliver and offered, quote, hollow excuses. The specifics. The county says Peebles knew about asbestos in the old Board of Education building since 2018 and did nothing, blamed market conditions without documentation, and missed last summer's deadline to tear that building down. That's why it declared him in default, a year ago tomorrow. It now wants the building demolished, Peebles off the project, and damages. Here's his side, and it isn't nothing. Peebles has said the county is asking his company to pay to clean up a building it does not own, and he has pointed to the Charlotte market. Those are real arguments, and a court will weigh them. But watch what happened to the promise while the argument went on. The affordable housing piece started at $550,000. mixed-income units. It was cut to 250. Then the developer warned that without a county subsidy, he'd drop it altogether and wait for the market to improve. And the county was not working blind. Charlotte Public Radio documented last year that Peebles had stalled projects and litigation behind him in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Washington. Durham ended talks after his ask for public money jumped from $61 million to $78 million. The building is still standing. That's the 10th year result. All right, here's what else you need to know today. Yesterday I told you the red line got its 10 stations. Here's the number underneath that. Gas prices pushed transit ridership up across the country this spring. Atlanta more than 25 percent. Dallas and Nashville about 20. Charlotte went the other way. Down 6 percent from a base already at 64 percent of pre-pandemic. The reason riders give is safety. Specifically, the killing of Irina Zarutska on the Blue Line last August. Riddership there fell 10.2% the next month. 19.1% by December. Charlotte is about to build new rail on a system people have stopped boarding. Second, UNC Charlotte is starting a school of energy. It says, The first in the country built around upgrading the electrical grid. The driver is artificial intelligence data centers and the power they need. Same demand that put a data center moratorium in front of city council. That expires November 5th. And Audrey Kell will get its third principal in three years. Susan Wills is retiring November 1st to move to England. Her predecessor was suspended, then retired in 2024. School starts in 11 days. Now, as promised, the stellar awards. Gospel Music's Biggest Night, the 41st, at the Spectrum Center tomorrow at 4.30. Kirk Franklin hosts. Tickets were still available this week, starting around $40. And the big free one, Charlotte Pride at First Ward Park. Saturday noon to 10, Sunday noon to 6. Parade, Sunday afternoon down Tryon. That's CLT Daily for Friday, August 14th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow. Same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

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