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Image Credit: Jason Keen/Michigan Central
Every thriving city has a center of gravity—a catalytic project or district that draws people, drives investment, and shapes identity. In this article, we explore how communities are using a range of economic development anchors —sports complexes, mixed-use districts, and innovation hubs—to spark momentum and build lasting value.
Charlotte, North Carolina, rose to prominence in the 1980s as one of the country’s most prominent financial hubs. Today, the city is home to Bank of America, and many other financial institutions have a significant presence there. While finance remains Charlotte’s top industry, officials have long worked to diversify the economy. Now, an expansive new project combining the booming technology and health care sectors is poised to change the city’s reputation and trajectory.
The Pearl is a mixed-use development that’s anchored by Charlotte’s first four-year medical school, Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte. Developers broke ground in early 2023 on the 26-acre, multi-phase project, which is set to include some 35,000 square feet of office and lab spaces and 35,000 square feet of retail spaces; residential development, including affordable housing; and community gathering areas.
“It’s a transformative project for the city,” said Tracy Dodson, chief operating officer at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA), the city’s economic development organization. “It’s creating a new industry sector for our community and providing local workforce opportunities.”
The Pearl is a public-private partnership that started after Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist Health merged in 2019. Dodson said that Eugene Woods, president and CEO of Charlotte-based the former Atrium Health (now Advocate Health), helped spearhead the medical school. The project gained momentum and expanded when Atrium partnered with Wexford Science and Technology, a Baltimore-based developer that works with universities, academic medical centers, and research institutions to build mixed-use communities.
Atrium is investing $1.5 billion in the district, while the city and Mecklenburg County are investing a combined $75 million in infrastructure improvements.
The Pearl is located in Dilworth, Charlotte’s first streetcar suburb, which is situated just south of the downtown area and noted for its historic homes and bungalows.
“The location is important because of its visibility and access for the broader community,” Dodson said, who served as Charlotte’s assistant city manager before joining the CRBA in 2024.
The 14-story medical school will be at the heart of an innovation district that will serve as an incubator for research and new technologies, helping smaller businesses flourish and grow. The development will focus largely on life sciences, including medical technology, device innovation, and pharmaceuticals. The district is expected to create 5,500 onsite jobs and 11,500 jobs in the Charlotte area over the 15-year buildout.
The first phase includes the medical school, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025, along with several other educational and science facilities, including a 10-story research facility. Dodson said the complex will serve as a recruiting tool for innovative startups and talent. The lab and office space in phase one is already filled with tenants, which is helping generate interest from hospitality and residential developers, as well as venture capitalists.
The Pearl is expected to extend its reach as it becomes more established and companies start manufacturing products.
“From a manufacturing standpoint, we are well-positioned on the border of two states and within a 14-county region,” said Dodson. “I think we’re going to see ideas turn into concepts and be made into products really quickly.”
“‘Ten years from now, Charlotte is going to be known for The Pearl as much as it’s known for financial services,” she continued. “In watching this project come to life, and how all the pieces have fallen into place, we have real momentum. That’s a testament to putting all the ingredients together on the front end. It has created an incredible model for broader partnerships right out of the gate.”
Sports venues are another powerful economic development tool, although it’s an approach that has seen a fundamental shift over the years. While arenas and coliseums that host professional teams are still a big draw, more communities are developing youth sports complexes that cater to travel tournaments.
Rather than host a dozen or so big games each season, these mega-complexes often host 50-plus weekend events annually and a multitude of programming for residents throughout the year. Because they are reliable sources of foot traffic, these facilities are a highly coveted anchor for real estate development.
“It’s no longer just about field count or square footage. Although that’s important. Families want an experience—quality food, engaging entertainment, and activities for every age,” said Jake Whittaker, senior vice president of Development at The Sports Facilities Companies. “Tournaments should feel like a weekend well spent.”
Moreover, cities and real estate developers often collaborate to create these sports and entertainment complexes. And with rising construction costs, local governments are finding increasingly creative ways to pay for them, including TIF (Tax Increment Finance) districts, special-use or special tax entertainment districts, and hotel and tourism taxes.
“It’s a win for the developer who has public participation in their project, a win for the city that receives the benefits of new hotels, retail, and restaurants, and a win for kids and families who have improved access to sport and entertainment opportunities,” said Whittaker in the case study.
The AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk in Overland, Kansas, is a shining example of this kind of project. Phase one of the project opened in the fall of 2024 and includes eight basketball courts that convert to 16 volleyball courts and an NHL-size rink seating 1,500 spectators. The sports park has over 70,000 square feet of family entertainment options, including a bowling alley, wellness center, gaming center, restaurant, sports training, and even a roll-glider single-person roller coaster experience. The complex is expected to welcome 800,000 visitors annually.
The sports complex anchors the 277-acre Bluhawk development, which offers a who’s who of shopping, dining, and entertainment options. At full capacity, the Bluhawk development will offer 200,000 square feet of leasable space, 110,000 square feet of office space, and an apartment complex.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” said Greg Jackson, general manager of AdventHealth Sports Park.
Ever since Henry Ford manufactured a four-wheeled vehicle known as the Quadricycle in his Detroit shed in 1896, the city has been synonymous with the automotive industry. Yet the Motor City is also noted for its devastating decline, as cheaper manufacturing overseas, economic recessions, and labor disputes contributed to Detroit filing for bankruptcy in 2013.
A dark symbol of this precipitous fall was Michigan Central Station, an 18-story terminal that served as Detroit’s train hub from 1913 to 1988. In the decades after the 640,000-square-foot building shuttered, it attracted crime, drugs, and vandalism.
“Michigan Central Station symbolized everything that had gone wrong with Detroit,” said Quentin Messer, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “At one point, it brought thousands of people from all across the country, but then it fell into disrepair, and that became the world’s view of Detroit, and in some respects, of Michigan.”
Today, however, the iconic, grand Beaux Arts structure is the beating heart of Michigan Central, a visionary, 30-acre campus designed to change how the world moves. And perhaps more importantly, it’s changing how people see Detroit.
“It’s been amazing to see the rebirth and the commitment to the creativity and innovation that made Detroit what it is,” said Messer.
Fittingly, it was the Ford Motor Company, helmed by Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, that launched the project when it purchased the building for $90 million in 2018.
In addition to Ford, Messer said that multiple state agencies invested nearly $130 million into the project, including the MEDC, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
“We all came together and said if you want to transform mobility in the 21st century, it’s going to require regulatory integration across multiple state agencies,” Messer said. “We’re proud to be a part of this public-private partnership.”
After nearly seven years of renovation and work, Michigan Central Station opened in the summer of 2024 as the centerpiece of the $1 billion innovation hub focused on mobility and transportation. The Station serves as Michigan Central’s main ecosystem and accommodates a diverse mix of larger tenants and established companies.
Other properties on the multi-building campus are also up and running, including Newlab, a former post office that now houses nearly 100 manufacturing and mobility startups. Elsewhere, parks and outdoor plazas are taking shape. Once complete, the campus will have 1.2 million square feet of commercial public space, along with retail and a hotel, helping attract local and global visitors and spur economic development.
“It’s going to have a scene and the kind of electricity and vibrancy that happens when disruptors come together and organically create,” said Messer. “It’s going to enable us to compete for and win projects, and not just in mobility, but in other sectors as well, because it’s going to reposition us at the forefront of advanced manufacturing.”
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