$8M Excelsior Club resurrection takes another step forward with rezoning request
Redevelopment of the historic Excelsior Club in west Charlotte continues to move forward. And it’s next step is receiving a rezoning approval.
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A rezoning petition was presented to Charlotte City Council during a public hearing for the $8.3 million project Monday night.
The rezoning request is simple. Developer Shawn Kennedy of Kennedy Properties & Development, in partnership with Tim Sittema of Crosland Southeast, want to resurrect the Excelsior Club on Beatties Ford Road, which was once an iconic social and cultural hub for Black residents.
The petition seeks to redevelopment the site to include an indoor live performance venue, nightclub, restaurant, bar and community center.
It’s exactly what the Excelsior Club was before it closed for repairs a decade ago and never reopened. The club was demolished in July to make way for the development.
The public hearing was also simple; no one spoke in opposition.
Only City Councilman Malcolm Graham commented on the petition, noting that residents along Beatties Ford were excited with the redevelopment’s progress.
“You can feel the excitement,” Graham said during Monday night’s meeting. “Rich in history, tradition and legacy…the rezoning is a step in the right direction for getting it reconstructed and back in service for the community.”
Jimmie and Minnie McKee opened the Excelsior Club on Beatties Ford Road in 1944.
It was Charlotte’s first exclusive nightclub for Black residents and served as a vital gather place during the Jim Crow era.
The club was listed as a safe haven in The Negro Motorist Green Book from 1963-1967. And it hosted musical legends including James Brown, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole.
In 2016, business declined and the club was closed for repairs. Since then, it has sat vacant and the building began deteriorating.
Last year, Kennedy and Sittema presented their redevelopment idea for the club to the city and Mecklenburg County.
The new Excelsior Club will feature a restaurant and rooftop seating. In a nod to its community roots, the facility will offer live entertainment and free meeting space for local nonprofits, West Charlotte High School and Johnson C. Smith University.
The county and the city contributed $3 million to the $8.3 million project collectively. The developers are contributing $2.3 million specifically for the restaurant operations.
In June, Kennedy said most of the capital was secured but a $300,000 funding gap needed to be filled.
The site was demolished in July after engineering assessments determined the building was unsalvageable.
Some preservationists were displeased with the demolition. Charlotte hasn’t necessarily been kind to its historic buildings.
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For example, the 100-year-old Court Arcade building at 725 E. Trade St. will soon be demolished to make way for a large data center.
But Kennedy has previously said he plans to construct a near-replica of the building.
The rezoning decision should go before City Council next month.
Hendrick Motorsports’ rezoning petition to expand its complex at Papa Joe Hendrick Boulevard toward Morehead Road and Old Holland Road was deferred to next month.
The NASCAR team is looking to change about 23 acres from residential use to manufacturing and logistics.
City Councilwoman Joi Mayo, along with Councilmembers Dimple Ajmera and Renee Perkins Johnson, voiced a concern over the land and treescape buffer between the proposed industrial site and residents.
Currently, the rezoning petition doesn’t include maintaining an undisturbed buffer. That means keeping some portion of greenspace between the site and residents as opposed to planting new trees during construction.
Councilmembers would like to see Hendrick Motorsports commit to keeping some greenspace undisturbed before approving the project.
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, one of the city’s oldest businesses, wants to build a parking lot near its Product Knowledge Training Facility in Myers Park.
The 125-year-old company presented its rezoning petition Monday during the public hearing.
The lot would hold 25 cars at 537 Moravian Lane. There would be a pathway connecting the lot to the training facility at 520 Providence Road.
The cast iron and plastic pipe manufacturer wants the lot for clients who come to the training facility, according to attorney Collin Brown, who is representing Charlotte Pipe and Foundry.
“I know that people are not excited about a surface parking lot,” Brown said during Monday night’s hearing. “But we are talking about an area of town where parking is very precious.”
The site is vacant and in the middle of some single-family homes and businesses. If approved, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry would allow other nearby businesses and establishments to utilize the parking, including The Little Church on the Lane also on Moravian Lane. It would also install new storm water pipes to take care of existing water impacts.
The zoning committee and city planning staff do not approve of the proposal. But Brown said residents were open to the idea, noting that neighbors are weary of development and if something had to go in the space, a parking lot would be a “pretty good fit.”
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No one spoke in opposition of the parking lot.
