Real Estate

Civil rights attorney Julius Chambers (below) on the day in 1971 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor in the Swann case that began Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ desegregation efforts. His law partner, Mel Watt (left), later served 11 terms in the U.S. House and directed the Federal Housing Finance Agency under President Obama.

Cunningham, who served in the General Assembly. The law rm of Chambers Ferguson Stein took the top oor, from where it won far-reaching cases that included the 1978 suit that gave North Carolina its rst 20th-century Black representatives in Congress. Law partner Mel Watt went on to head the U.S. Housing Finance Agency.

“I had never heard or seen Black men, businesspeople coming together and building an o ce building,” ophthalmologist Dr. Wesley Clement, who chose Charlotte to launch his practice a er a nationwide search, remembered recently when I spoke to him at his home o Beatties Ford Road. “Seven stories!”

Chambers’ achievement was rare but precarious. Black people alone could not sustain it. Surely white Charlotteans would rent space, so welllocated within a 10-minute walk of the Government Center. Instead, white people ocked to a white-developed tower, Cameron-Brown, two blocks away. First Union Bank and small real estate rms opened o ces there, as did Charlotte-Mecklenburg government, which signed long-term leases for ve oors. Chambers’ tower, meanwhile, limped along, never fully rented.

Finally, the Black consortium gave up the struggle. It accepted an o er from Mecklenburg County in 1994 “for $579,270 less than its tax value and $1.5 million below the owners’ list price,” the Observer reported. The county immediately lled the tower with government o ces—including, ironically, those of CMS—and, in 1996, renamed the tower a er Bob Walton, a prominent Black political gure who had died two years before, toward the end of his eighth term on the county Board of Commissioners. The county permanently closed Walton Plaza in 2019.

Julius Chambers’ building was a proud achievement—but a reminder of forces that have stymied opportunity. Large, Black-developed real estate projects remain rare.

The county still owns Walton Plaza, part of the land package that awaits redevelopment as Brooklyn Village, and holds it vacant. Could county o cials nd a way to keep it standing as part of the new project?

TOM HANCHETT, a local historian in Charlotte since 1981, is the author of Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 and former sta historian at the Levine Museum of the New South. Follow him on Twitter at @historysouth.

REAL ESTATE Hot Listings

New builds for a new year. —Taylor Bowler

323 SARDIS LN. $999,000 LANSDOWNE Entertain guests in the spacious living area and dining room or relax outside on the covered back deck. Use the upstairs ex space for a playroom, gym, or home theater. 6 BD, 4 BA, 3,631 sq. ., Savvy + Co., savvyandcompany.com

2832 IRBY DR. $1,200,000 MYERS PARK This brand-new townhome along the Sugar Creek Greenway is walking distance from Park Road Shopping Center and Freedom Park. Make design upgrades to the gourmet kitchen, dining area, and family room or add an elevator to the three-story property. 4 BD, 4 BA, 3,034 sq. ., HM Properties, hmproperties.com

516 HERRIN AVE. $875,000 NODA This modern farmhouse has an open oorplan with a chef’s kitchen, dining room, and butler’s pantry. The master retreat has a massive walk-in closet and bathroom with a double vanity, large shower, and soaking tub. 4 BD, 3.5 BA, 3,046 sq. ., Pridemore Properties, pridemoreproperties.com

4000 COLUMBINE CIR. $3,495,000 FOXCROFT Natural light oods the main oor of this sprawling custom home. A detached two-car garage has ex space above, and the sweeping terrace overlooks an in-ground pool. 5 BD, 8 BA, 7,739 sq. ., Dickens Mitchener, dickensmitchener.com

Homes available as of December 1, 2020.