Sept. 28, 2021

At their virtual meeting today, County Commissioners received an update on the “Innovation District” proposed for the old urban renewal land south of I-277, east of South McDowell, north of Morehead and west of Kenilworth. The real estate venture is tied to a plan to erect a medical school.

County staff shared that the paperwork anticipates a $75 milllion investment in local dollars for roads, utililties and other parts of the project. And in the blink of an eye, the timeline changed from a plan to lay out the nuts and bolts of the project to the board’s Economic Development Committee, to a plan to bypass the committee and hold briefings for all commissioners, because of the developers’ request for an expedited decision.

Commissioners raised concerns, mostly about transportation access and on protecting the nearby low-income Cherry community.

The video is an excerpt on the Innovation District, part of  the Mecklenburg County video of the commissioners’ Sept. 28 full meeting. Watch the full video here.