Developer rolls the dice on massive uptown casino complex // APRIL FOOLS EDITION

Plus: Morehead Street business requests historic status; Solving Chick-fil-A traffic problems; Revaluations examined; News of the Week: CMS reassignment, Atrium report, CATS says it's safe

Apr 01, 2023

🚨 🚨 NOTE: This newsletter is an April Fools’ Day edition — do not assume anything in it is real (except property tax values)! It was originally published on April 1, 2023, without this disclaimer.

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Good morning! Today is Saturday, April 1, 2023. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.

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New law loosening gambling rules leads to plans for mixed-use development with hotel, pool complex; ‘First Ward is an ideal spot’

Levine Properties is proposing a 600-room hotel and casino project on vacant land uptown, which could jump start development in the North Tryon corridor.

by Tony Mecia

Buoyed by new state legislation this week loosening rules on gambling, a Charlotte developer has revealed ambitious plans to build a mixed-use project in uptown’s First Ward that includes a casino.

The 7-acre site sits between 9th and 11th streets near First Ward Park and UNC Charlotte’s uptown campus. The location is adjacent to the Lynx Blue Line and I-277, as well as the future light rail Silver Line.

“With the growth of Charlotte, we’re seeing the opportunity to do a significant casino and hotel complex, and First Ward is an ideal spot for that,” said developer Daniel Levine of Levine Properties, a large uptown landowner.

Levine elaborated on the project in a breaking news edition of “Flyover Friday,” The Ledger’s occasional video series on Charlotte development, produced in conjunction with The 5 and 2 Project:

Components of the project include a 600-room hotel next to the casino, which will be designed with plenty of green space, walking trails, workforce housing and areas for public art and food trucks. Plans for the hotel are uncertain, but it is envisioned as having a rooftop bar with solar panels; one of the country’s largest lazy rivers; a signature restaurant catering to pescatarians called “The Card Shark”; and three spas: one for humans, one for pets and one for humans and pets together.

Asked about potential opposition to the project, Levine said: “We’ve got a lot of people who are interested in casinos and hotels and lazy rivers.”

The lazy river at the Fifth Ward Charlotte Resort & Casino in modern-day First Ward would be the largest between Gaffney and Greensboro. It would include pet-friendly cabanas, self-pouring beer stations and murals. (Rendering courtesy of LandDesign)

The project’s partners have settled on the name “Fifth Ward Charlotte Resort & Casino” — reflecting the most dramatic re-imagining of the center city since the existing four-ward system was established in the 1830s.

Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari said the city’s fintech industry is excited about the possibility, especially since the casino’s finances would be processed with blockchain technology, and Central Piedmont Community College has tentatively agreed to offer a pit boss financial management program. The Carolinas Fintech Hub is in discussions on naming rights, Bokhari confirmed.

“This could be huge for the city,” Bokhari said.

It is unclear if the project would require any tax money, following on the success of the city’s similarly structured NASCAR Hall of Fame project. But the development team has been in touch with city authorities, who are said to be excited about the prospect of the casino as a tourism draw — with the potential to attract the World Series of Poker and perhaps Wrestlemania. The N.C. House this week approved a new law allowing sports wagering and other games, as The Ledger reported on Wednesday.

The human-and-pet spa company Purrvana has agreed to open its first location in the Americas at the new Fifth Ward Charlotte Resort & Casino. (Rendering courtesy of Crescent Pet Communities)

Local real estate lawyers said the project will probably require a rezoning, but nobody is certain. The development would be governed by Charlotte’s new Unified Development Ordinance, which nobody really understands.

The casino will be managed by Missouri entrepreneurs Marty and Wendy Byrde, and famed Italian pianist Mia will entertain on the third-floor cocktail lounge.

New towers in jeopardy? Beloved longtime business requests historic status

Longtime adult establishment Uptown Cabaret is throwing a wrench in plans for two new towers off Morehead Street by filing for historic landmark status.

If approved, the designation would complicate plans by Chicago-based Riverside Investment & Development, which is planning a 45-story residential tower and a 42-story office tower on the site of Uptown Cabaret, Midnight Diner and several surface parking lots.

Uptown Cabaret has been in business since 1995 and has a historically significant facade and dancer poles, some of which are more than a century old. The site has been home to a series of different adult businesses hosting burlesque shows and “exotic dancers” since colonial times. The cast iron poles date from 1902 and are believed to be some of the first products made by W. Frank Dowd at the nascent Charlotte Pipe and Foundry down the street.

President George Washington is believed to have blown off some steam at the site in 1791, when he visited with early Charlotte settler Thomas Polk and famously declared the club to be “a trifling place but with a passable buffet.”

Later, it was the first stop between uptown and Dilworth on Edward Dilworth Latta’s streetcar line. In the 1920s, workers from the Ford Motor Co. plant at present-day Camp North End would borrow Model T’s to visit the club after work. And former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon held his first informal fundraiser there in 2013.

Local historians Dan Morrill and Tom Hanchett volunteered to evaluate the club and its historical contributions. The City Council has a fact-finding mission planned for Thursday.

Chick-fil-A and Carvana announce partnership to address traffic congestion

Struggling car retailer Carvana and fast-food chicken colossus Chick-fil-A said Friday they are teaming up to reduce traffic congestion by allowing drive-thru customers to idle their vehicles inside a Carvana car vending machine.

Mecklenburg County’s 6 Zaxby’s are worth more than Quail Hollow Club, records show (really)

Mecklenburg County officials on Friday again vigorously defended their methodology for computing 2023 tax revaluations, after Zaxby’s corporate officials questioned how the combined tax values of their six Mecklenburg County restaurants could (actually) exceed the tax value of Quail Hollow Club.

“It would have been a closer call had Zaxby’s not introduced the crunchy, flavorful and craveable Asian Zensation Zalad,” county tax administrator Ken Joyner said. “When you combine that with their signature Zax Sauce and the iconic Fingerz and Wings Mealz, and the fact that Quail Hollow has no special sauces or intentionally misspelled words as part of its core branding, it’s clear that the county’s six acres of Zaxby’s are (really) worth far more than the 257-acre exclusive golf club.”

The combined Zaxby’s (actually) were revalued at $13.3M, while Quail Hollow (actually) was assessed at $9.88M.

Zaxby’s attempts to use Zax Rewardz to get a discounted tax valuation were rebuked. Appealz are likely.

This week in Charlotte: CMS devises new assignment plan, Jeff Jackson video goes viral, changes urged at Atrium, CATS says buses are safe after spontaneous combustion

On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — especially if they appeared somewhere else, because it’s the end of the week, and we’re tired, and you probably don’t care anyway.

Education

New student assignment plan: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ planning department announced a novel new student assignment plan for south Charlotte for the 2023-24 school year. Under the proposal, south Charlotte neighborhoods will be divided into districts, and an annual lottery, or “reaping,” will be held to determine who is sent as tribute to a new pop-up high school on the site of the Dee-Dee Harris “pit” on Park Road.

Politics

Viral Jeff Jackson health video: A video by freshman congressman Jeff Jackson went viral on TikTok, after he shared his gripping saga of searching the Georgetown Safeway for a pair of tweezers to battle an ingrown toenail.
Making City Council life tolerable: Charlotte City Council members voted Monday to award themselves performance bonuses and vacation stipends. They also approved a plan to invest $5M in taxpayer money to search for the Fountain of Youth, which would allow council members to serve on the council in perpetuity.

Local news

More CATS woes: The Charlotte Area Transit System admitted this week that three of its buses spontaneously burst into flames last fall. There were no injuries, as the drivers escaped unharmed and no passengers were on board at the time. CATS said the rest of its bus fleet is probably safe, according to inspections last performed in 2013.
Moynihan mauled during testy Bearstein meeting: Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was in stable condition at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center on Friday, after a routine meeting on the future of the Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra took a dangerous turn. Moynihan, who agonized over the robotic bear orchestra’s fate for much of 2022 before personally banning it from Founders Hall, met with Bearstein on Friday near the conductor’s Mountain Island Lake den. But negotiations for a 30-branch tour broke down over Moynihan’s insistence that the symphony be overseen by Bank of America’s digital assistant, Erica, and that the musicians would be paid by direct deposit instead of with jars of honey.
Fresh pumpkin wall theme: The Elizabeth Community Association voted to spend $28 for a new thesaurus to help in picking a theme for its annual Halloween pumpkin wall. This year’s leading contenders include “equanimity,” “quietude” and “nonaggression.”

Business

Duke Energy success: In its annual report, Duke Energy said it was successfully able to provide energy when customers needed it 364 out of 365 days in 2022, including on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving and almost all other major holidays. “We have one job — providing energy to customers, who expect us never to make excuses — and our team is proud it excelled at that job 364 days last year,” CEO Lynn Good said.
Consultant’s report urges changes at nonprofit Atrium Health: An outside consultant hired by the small local charity Atrium Health suggests that the organization take steps to operate more like a business. Strategies that could generate additional money include partnering with like-minded nonprofits to grow, building additional hospitals to establish market dominance, compensating executives fairly and implementing more assertive billing practices.
New revenue stream for Business Journal: Citing a difficult economic climate, the Charlotte Business Journal has released a new schedule of fees for its award galas. Starting today, award programs such as “Real Estate Heavy Hitters,” “Healthcare Heroes,” “Most Buttkissed CEOs” and “Least Toxic Places to Work” will require payment for silverware ($50) and using the restroom ($75), and there will be an upcharge for adding ice to water ($15), the company said.

Sports

Food plans for basketball legend: Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry plans to open a food truck in Davidson that serves Indian cuisine, but he’s having trouble devising a name for it. “The leading contenders are ‘Steph’s Tandoori’ and ‘Steph’s Tikka Masala,’ unless I can come up with something that works better,” the Davidson College grad said.

From the Ledger family of newsletters

Monday

Physicists’ warning: UNC Charlotte physicists warned in a new report that South End apartment developers are approaching the limits of what is physically possible to be offered in luxurious amenities.
Axios adds to list of catch phrases: Building on the success of its definitely-not-annoying catch phrases, Axios is rolling out what it says is its second generation of helpful word combinations to break up blocks of text for its hungover and short-attention-span readers. Alongside journalism-saving phrases like “Why It Matters,” “Yes, But” and “Zoom Out,” Axios is adding to the lineup “Hey, Really, Check This Out,” “What Twitter Says About It” and “Yowza!”

Wednesday

New information on that amazing thing: The Charlotte Observer says it has eye-opening new information about a topic that could very well interest you, if you would do it the favor of please clicking on a link to obtain the eyebrow-raising details. The paper added that it hopes you are not too disappointed if the specifics turn out to be less fascinating than you had envisioned.
The Ledger decade: The Charlotte Ledger has declared the 2020s to be “Charlotte Ledger Decade,” in which the self-important newsletter keeps droning on about itself.

Transit Time

CATS introduces all-eclectic bus: In an effort to be more conscious of our fashion environment, CATS is introducing an all-eclectic bus route between the NoDa and Plaza-Midwood neighborhoods. The bus, decorated by local artists, will provide a quirky, offbeat bus ride for residents who just can’t be pigeonholed by the dominant culture.

Fútbol Friday

Comeback time for some player: A Charlotte FC defender you’ve never heard of from a country you can’t identify is trying to overcome a not-that-impressive obstacle to bolster a team that plays a sport you only vaguely understand.

A very happy April Fools’ Day from your friends at The Charlotte Ledger.

➡️ Many thanks to a small band of hooligan friends of The Ledger for suggesting ideas and writing portions of today’s fake newsletter.

➡️ And also thank you to uptown casino video actors Daniel Levine and Tariq Bokhari, who portrayed themselves.

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Related Ledger fake news April 1 editions:

“Big triplex plans for Myers Park” (April 1, 2021)
“The future of South End is underground” (April 1, 2022)

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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project

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