PrideBusiness FYI News & Notes Compiled by John Burton
The Park Church collaborated with various partners to bring 80 apartments to Charlotte seniors in 2023. In December 2021, The Park Ministries broke ground on a joint venture between Laurel Street Partners, the City of Charlotte, Bank of America and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Charlotte. The 80-unit affordable senior housing community which is slated for completion in 2023, has a total cost of approximately $16.8 million. Bank of America provided the construction loan and a tax-credit equity investment for the development. The Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund will contribute $4.3 million in financing to the project. The community represents the first phase of a larger masterplanned development on The Park Church’s 51-acre campus. Targeting seniors aged 55 years and up, with incomes below 80 percent of the area median income, the property will comprise 48 one-bedroom and 32 two-bedroom units ranging from 660 to 900 square feet. Rents will range between $400 and $1,400. Each unit will feature walk-in closets, ceiling fans, and fully equipped kitchens. Community amenities are planned to include outdoor green space, garden plots, a fitness center, individual storage units, and a multi-purpose community room.
Photo courtesy of the Park Church
West Charlotte Church to Bring Affordable Housing to Seniors
Bishop Claude Alexander of The Park Church and others at the Gilfield Park groundbreaking ceremony.
The community will be called Gilfield Park, after a prayer group that would become Gilfield Baptist Church, known today as The Park Church. It will be located 7 miles northwest of Uptown Charlotte, close to dining and retail options, as well as a bus stop.
Reverberations: UNCC Celebrates the Genius of Charlie Parker
Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, 1947
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Pride Magazine | www.pridemagazineonline.com
During the 2021-22 academic year, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) Department of Music is hosting a year-long celebration of the legendary Charlie Parker. A multifaceted jazz event, Charlie “Bird” Parker: Reverberations, will be presented on Wednesday, March 23 at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 South Tryon St., Charlotte, in partnership with the UNCC Department of Music, as part of their Charlie Parker 101 project. This program will explore Parker's influence on his musical collaborators and others. The evening will include live music, spoken word performance and a panel conversation, featuring internationally acclaimed saxophonist Charles McPherson, along with UNCC faculty Jeffrey Leak, Kelsey Klotz and Will Campbell. “We’re taking the opportunity to explore Charlie Parker — to share the breadth and depth of a musician who made an indelible impact not only on jazz, but on the communities and spaces he came into contact with,” wrote Dr. Kelsey Klotz, jazz historian and lecturer on the UNCC Department of Music website. “Parker’s genius reverberated well beyond the circles of musicians with whom he played and those who came after him, inspiring artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, and writers like Ralph Ellison and Ted Joans.”
