THE BUZZ
The iconic Eastland Mall ice skating rink on opening day, July 30, 1975.
D E V E LO PM E NT
EASTLAND’S FUTURE, AT LAST
EASTLAND MALL—with its million square feet of retail space, four anchor stores, and beloved skating rink—was the crown jewel of Charlotte commerce and the heart of the east side from its opening in 1975 to the mid-1990s, when high crime in a declining area began to repel shoppers and merchants. Sears, the last major anchor, shuttered in 2009, and the nearly empty mall closed for good the following year. The city bought the 80-acre property at Central Avenue and North Sharon Amity Road in 2012 and demolished the mall in 2013. For years, city officials entertained one eccentric proposal after another for the site: a film and television
14
production studio; a skate park with a wave pool; a mixed-use idea from an architect in Chile. Nothing took root until November, when the City Council unanimously approved a proposal from the real estate investment company Crosland Southeast. The mixed-use project includes features that residents of surrounding neighborhoods like Winterfield and Wilora Lake said they wanted: retail and office space for jobs, shopping, and community services; sports fields and buildings the local community could use; housing; and public and park space to encourage residents to spend time there. The second act of the
CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // FEBRUARY 2021
Eastland site “has literally been a decade in the making,” council member Matt Newton, whose District 5 includes the property, said in November. This seems like a good opportunity to review Eastland’s history and reorient ourselves toward a plan that’s finally in place. “This project, I believe, will provide the kind of impact necessary for that community to thrive,” council member Malcolm Graham said after a presentation in October, adding that he has fond memories of working at a menswear store at Eastland during the mall’s heyday. —Greg Lacour
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER ARCHIVES, CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY
A decade after the mall closed, the city finally lands on a concrete plan for the east side’s anchor
