The Official Charlotte, NC Discussion Thread

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

Charlotte Black Restaurant Week dates announced - Q City Metro


Charlotte Black Restaurant Week dates announced
Culinary event extended for an additional week, taking place Oct. 19-31.

Chef Rob Bennett of The Belle Grille restaurant in Matthews. Photo courtesy of Black Business Owners of Charlotte
By QCity Metro Staff
September 14, 2020
Black Business Owners of Charlotte has added an extra week to its annual event spotlighting the city’s Black-owned food spots. Charlotte Black Restaurant Week, now in its fourth year, will run from Oct. 19 through Oct. 31.

Under the governor’s order, North Carolina restaurants can operate at a 50% capacity maximum to limit community spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, there’s a sense of urgency as local eateries seek opportunities to get customers through the doors.

Cathay Dawkins, founder and CEO of BBOC, says he’s scared that many restaurants aren’t going to make it. No industry has been hit harder by the fallout of the pandemic than the hospitality sector. Dawkins is hoping the extended schedule will help give restaurants the economic boost they need.

“We’re working closely with restaurants to ensure they follow strict guidelines put forth by Gov. Cooper,” he said. “We are also encouraging owners to add more outside dining, join a third-party delivery service (like Uber Eats) and use reservation services like Open Table.”

One of the signature events, Black Food Truck Friday, remains up in the air until organizers can find a safe location.

“We are treading lightly due to Covid and hope to do a drive-thru event,” Dawkins told QCity Metro.

Charlotte Black Restaurant Week has generated more than $4 million in economic impact since its inception in 2017, according to BBOC data. Dawkins says last year 87,000 patrons visited 18 participating restaurants and attended signature events.

The group is seeking sponsors to support its Operation Seed & Feed charity initiative by providing meal tickets to at least 500 local college students and people experiencing homelessness.

Through Sept. 30, interested restaurants can register to participate at charlotteblackrestaurantweek.com. All vendor fees have been waived. A final list of the week’s participating restaurants will be available in early October.

 

[Towlie]

Thinking about moving when my lease is up in January.

One thing I noticed about apartments out here

They over charge when it comes to rent. They nickel and dime you for shyt you dont need like valet trash pick up. And they force you into long leases by jacking up the price on short term leases. Cable/internet comes with my apartment but its added on to my rent. So they will advertise an apartment that's $900 a month but you end up paying $1150.


The apartment I'm saying in now is in South Park and is advertised as "luxury" living, but the appliances, fixtures and facade is old as fukk


And the fukking bugs I'm clearing spiderwebs every other week. Random mosquito bites. Cant open my windows or patio door becasue bugs will easily get in.


I might move to uptown. fukk it. I'm a probably end up paying over $1500 - $1600 for a decent spot but so be it.

Yea that's why we went house shopping 3 years ago. The rents kept going up and nothing was changing amenity wise.

Now we only pay $1000 a month for a decent size house. 2300 sq ft, 4 bdrm.

I just did a promotional marketing video for Axis Berewick. They have lots of amenities. Harris teeter, bunch of restaurants, and the outlets are in walking distance. The Berewick area in general had a few apartment complexes.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

Yea that's why we went house shopping 3 years ago. The rents kept going up and nothing was changing amenity wise.

Now we only pay $1000 a month for a decent size house. 2300 sq ft, 4 bdrm.

I just did a promotional marketing video for Axis Berewick. They have lots of amenities. Harris teeter, bunch of restaurants, and the outlets are in walking distance. The Berewick area in general had a few apartment complexes.

I just checked out their site. Seems reasonable..... but these yelp reviews echo the same issues I have where i'm staying now.

9/9/2020
This is the worst place I've ever lived in my life, and I'm counting the dorm I lived in freshman year of college where I shared a bathroom with 25 girls. Neighbors are so loud and inconsiderate. There is stomping, jumping, and music blasting from approximately 9am-1am every single day (I understand a lot of people are home due to COVID right now but some of us still gotta show up to the office bright and early). The front office does nothing about noise, maintenance issues, or BUGS. There was also an incident where a security alarm was blaring for 2 hrs straight with no explanation from management detailing what the alarm was or if anyone was coming to fix it. There are no redeeming qualities to this place, rent at your own risk! I'm just trying to save you.


11/27/2018
2 photos
Gym equipment is not being fixed for months
Doors in/out of breezeways are often broken or damaged

Computers are the slowest I've ever seen
Printer does not work 8 times out of 10

People are loud in the stairs, throw trash on the ground
and can't park.
The trash system is ridiculous they charge you wether you want it or not, 25$/m for a trash pick up 5 days out of the week and you trash has to look a certain way, be out by a certain time but not too early or you'll be charged extra. All the headache when they don't even recycle.

They recently implemented a parking system that doesn't make any sense when they should have assigned 1 parking spot per appartement.

I feel like a lot of new things are done just to say they're doing things but they don't take the time to think it through or fix the things that they already have...

2 stars for theirs maintenance system and personnel that's pretty good.

-------------------

It's like you have your top notch buildings that start out at $1500 - $1,600 for a > 600 sqf. apartment.

Then bootleg shyt. The have a pool and a little ass gym and call it "luxury" They will charge $1,400 for a 2 bedroom but the quality is inconsistent, and they have bullshyt fees for shyt you don't need.
it seems like most of these properties have the same m.o.

When I first moved here I stayed at South Park Morrison. 1 bedroom was like $1,500. I was only there for a few months, and I was thinking about moving back (it was an apartment my job paid for). But the reviews are bad. I guess a new property management company took over and they let the place go to shyt.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

I just checked out their site. Seems reasonable..... but these yelp reviews echo the same issues I have where i'm staying now.

9/9/2020
This is the worst place I've ever lived in my life, and I'm counting the dorm I lived in freshman year of college where I shared a bathroom with 25 girls. Neighbors are so loud and inconsiderate. There is stomping, jumping, and music blasting from approximately 9am-1am every single day (I understand a lot of people are home due to COVID right now but some of us still gotta show up to the office bright and early). The front office does nothing about noise, maintenance issues, or BUGS. There was also an incident where a security alarm was blaring for 2 hrs straight with no explanation from management detailing what the alarm was or if anyone was coming to fix it. There are no redeeming qualities to this place, rent at your own risk! I'm just trying to save you.


11/27/2018
2 photos
Gym equipment is not being fixed for months
Doors in/out of breezeways are often broken or damaged

Computers are the slowest I've ever seen
Printer does not work 8 times out of 10

People are loud in the stairs, throw trash on the ground
and can't park.
The trash system is ridiculous they charge you wether you want it or not, 25$/m for a trash pick up 5 days out of the week and you trash has to look a certain way, be out by a certain time but not too early or you'll be charged extra. All the headache when they don't even recycle.

They recently implemented a parking system that doesn't make any sense when they should have assigned 1 parking spot per appartement.

I feel like a lot of new things are done just to say they're doing things but they don't take the time to think it through or fix the things that they already have...

2 stars for theirs maintenance system and personnel that's pretty good.

-------------------

It's like you have your top notch buildings that start out at $1500 - $1,600 for a > 600 sqf. apartment.

Then bootleg shyt. The have a pool and a little ass gym and call it "luxury" They will charge $1,400 for a 2 bedroom but the quality is inconsistent, and they have bullshyt fees for shyt you don't need.
it seems like most of these properties have the same m.o.

When I first moved here I stayed at South Park Morrison. 1 bedroom was like $1,500. I was only there for a few months, and I was thinking about moving back (it was an apartment my job paid for). But the reviews are bad. I guess a new property management company took over and they let the place go to shyt.

This is why I pumped the breaks on moving to uptown or anywhere near there. A coworker of mine lived off Selwyn and was paying great rent for the area then they jumped the fukk up which forced him to move. Man if I’m paying over 1000 a month in rent that shyt better be immaculate lol. I shouldn’t be seeing run down apartment complaints in places that are over 1000 a month

 

[UserNameless]

This is why I pumped the breaks on moving to uptown or anywhere near there. A coworker of mine lived off Selwyn and was paying great rent for the area then they jumped the fukk up which forced him to move. Man if I’m paying over 1000 a month in rent that shyt better be immaculate lol. I shouldn’t be seeing run down apartment complaints in places that are over 1000 a month

1k ain’t shyt


That’s just barely above section 8 living in booming Sunbelt cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh


You gon either have to do more hunting ... get outside the city limits, lower your expectations or join cert gang because that shyt ain’t changing no time soon UNLESS the pandemic slows shyt up , which doesn’t seem to be the case . They STILL building high rise residential units in the Triangle heavy . Like shyt ain’t changed

 

[Towlie]

I just checked out their site. Seems reasonable..... but these yelp reviews echo the same issues I have where i'm staying now.

9/9/2020
This is the worst place I've ever lived in my life, and I'm counting the dorm I lived in freshman year of college where I shared a bathroom with 25 girls. Neighbors are so loud and inconsiderate. There is stomping, jumping, and music blasting from approximately 9am-1am every single day (I understand a lot of people are home due to COVID right now but some of us still gotta show up to the office bright and early). The front office does nothing about noise, maintenance issues, or BUGS. There was also an incident where a security alarm was blaring for 2 hrs straight with no explanation from management detailing what the alarm was or if anyone was coming to fix it. There are no redeeming qualities to this place, rent at your own risk! I'm just trying to save you.


11/27/2018
2 photos
Gym equipment is not being fixed for months
Doors in/out of breezeways are often broken or damaged

Computers are the slowest I've ever seen
Printer does not work 8 times out of 10

People are loud in the stairs, throw trash on the ground
and can't park.
The trash system is ridiculous they charge you wether you want it or not, 25$/m for a trash pick up 5 days out of the week and you trash has to look a certain way, be out by a certain time but not too early or you'll be charged extra. All the headache when they don't even recycle.

They recently implemented a parking system that doesn't make any sense when they should have assigned 1 parking spot per appartement.

I feel like a lot of new things are done just to say they're doing things but they don't take the time to think it through or fix the things that they already have...

2 stars for theirs maintenance system and personnel that's pretty good.

-------------------

It's like you have your top notch buildings that start out at $1500 - $1,600 for a > 600 sqf. apartment.

Then bootleg shyt. The have a pool and a little ass gym and call it "luxury" They will charge $1,400 for a 2 bedroom but the quality is inconsistent, and they have bullshyt fees for shyt you don't need.
it seems like most of these properties have the same m.o.

When I first moved here I stayed at South Park Morrison. 1 bedroom was like $1,500. I was only there for a few months, and I was thinking about moving back (it was an apartment my job paid for). But the reviews are bad. I guess a new property management company took over and they let the place go to shyt.

I was there a few times to film, it seemed cool. I guess they have some problems. South Park Morrison looks nice, I just wouldn't wanna live in South Park.

Celsius is across the street from Northlake, looks cool

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

I was there a few times to film, it seemed cool. I guess they have some problems. South Park Morrison looks nice, I just wouldn't wanna live in South Park.

Celsius is across the street from Northlake, looks cool

South Park Morrison seemed posh, but... white people's dogs be pissing and shytting all over the place. In the elevator. out in the hallways

They at least had stainless steel appliances, real wood floors. My apartment was nice. Everything still cheaper than comparable apartments i'm use to (north jersey). I guess that's why I see so many out of state plates from NY/NJ down here.


But those Axis apartments look nicer than where i'm living now (Camden Foxcroft). I would be paying $300 more a month plus I would have to pay for my own internet.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

1k ain’t shyt


That’s just barely above section 8 living in booming Sunbelt cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh


You gon either have to do more hunting ... get outside the city limits, lower your expectations or join cert gang because that shyt ain’t changing no time soon UNLESS the pandemic slows shyt up , which doesn’t seem to be the case . They STILL building high rise residential units in the Triangle heavy . Like shyt ain’t changed

I know lol. I just had to get used to all this because 1000 a month was a lot where I came from. I mean Concord is getting there too so it is what it is. Maybe I’ll change my mind at some point since I’m mostly in Charlotte anyway

 

[BeeCityRoller]

Unfortunately I still see rents rising next year with all the NY Area & West Coast transplants that will be coming in. With the vacancies going on maybe you can get 1-2 months free, and home pricesIf I had doubled down 3-4 years ago instead of 2 I'd be sitting pretty. I'd feel sick to my stomach if I had no choice but to get in a bidding war in this market.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

South Park Morrison seemed posh, but... white people's dogs be pissing and shytting all over the place. In the elevator. out in the hallways

They at least had stainless steel appliances, real wood floors. My apartment was nice. Everything still cheaper than comparable apartments i'm use to (north jersey). I guess that's why I see so many out of state plates from NY/NJ down here.


But those Axis apartments look nicer than where i'm living now (Camden Foxcroft). I would be paying $300 more a month plus I would have to pay for my own internet.

What do you think about Ballantyne?

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

What do you think about Ballantyne?

my ex lives over there. From what I heard it’s upper class living. A lot of expensive homes. I don’t know nothing about it tho.

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

Change Agents: In the shadow of JCSU, Dianna Ward is creating a new retail environment - Q City Metro


Change Agents: In the shadow of JCSU, Dianna Ward is creating a new retail environment
The Charlotte business owner, with two co-investors, will soon welcome three new tenants to the Five Points property they bought.

Dianna Ward, the majority owner of a real estate investment company, is bringing new retail to a building she bought in late 2019. (Photo: QCity Metro)
By Glenn Burkins
August 16, 2020
Change Agents is an occasional feature that spotlights people who are working to bring about positive change in Charlotte’s Historic West End. This article is the first in that series.

“This is it,” Dianna Ward said as she stepped from her black SUV. “This is the building — 1800 Rozzelles Ferry Road.”

It had taken some doing, had triggered some stressful days, but finally, the Charlotte business owner had achieved her goal.

In December 2019, Ward, majority owner of a newly formed investment company, had beaten the odds to buy a small commercial building in the Five Points area of Historic West End. The group paid $1.2 million, according to property records.

Now, with the building under renovation, Ward and her partners are preparing to welcome their first three tenants — a pharmacy, a pizza restaurant and an ice cream shop — with room still for two additional stores.

In a city under constant remake, Ward is one of several Black business owners who have turned their focus to Charlotte’s West End corridor, an area rife with both promise and perils.

In Five Points, the promise is becoming more visible.

Less than 30 feet from Ward’s property line, the city of Charlotte is building Five Points Public Plaza, a $5.5 million gathering space for the neighborhoods that surround Johnson C. Smith University. The plaza will include a small amphitheater, a splash pad, outdoor seating and public art. The James S. and John. L. Knight Foundation has pledged nearly $400,000 to support community-based programming for the plaza.

Just beyond the plaza, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is building a stop on its CityLynx Gold Line, a 10-mile streetcar system that, when completed, will connect east and west Charlotte with the uptown business district nestled in between.

Indeed, the economic revival that’s sweeping Five Points wasn’t lost on Ward when she purchased the property.

“I just looked around the city. I saw what was happening around the city, what people were doing, and I wanted to get involved,” she said.

Nurtured to succeed
Business ventures were nothing new for Ward, who was born in New Mexico, the third of five children. After holding down several corporate jobs, including a few in banking, she launched her first business venture, Charlotte NC Tours, in 2009. She now runs similar tour operations in Greenville, S.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Kansas City, Mo.

In 2012, Charlotte Center City Partners tapped Ward to run its bike-sharing program, Charlotte B-cycle.

Ward also once owned a 35% stake in a bike-share business in New Orleans, but when the ride-share company Uber offered to buy the company’s equipment, Ward decided to cash out. She used that money to launch Sankofa Partners LLC, along with two friends. (In the Twi language of Ghana, Sankofa translates to “go back and get it.”)

Ward said she grew up in a family where each child was nurtured to succeed.

“My parents would find what made us tick and exploit it,” she said. “What they found with me, although I played piano and guitar from the time I was in kindergarten all the way to college, was my love of investing.”

As a child, Ward said, she began buying mutual funds with help from a family acquaintance who sold securities.

“I just always knew that there was something inside of me that said, ‘You want to own something,’” she recalled. “My father always talked to me about investing and making sure that I had something that nobody could take from me.”

‘Holy terror’
The building at 1800 Rozzelles Ferry Road has had many lives. According to Mecklenburg property records, it was previously owned by Willie Lee Starr, a Black woman, who bought it in 1984.

Ward said she had noticed the building long before she ever thought of buying it. So when she and her business partners decided to make an offer, she reached out to Starr’s son, Jerry McJunkins.


But buying a commercial property is nothing like buying a house, Ward soon discovered.

“There’s all of this stuff,” she said. “You’ve got to make sure that the soil is ok, all the environmental stuff. I mean, it was a holy terror to go through that process, so you have to make sure you’re actually getting a good investment.”

Ward estimates that she spent at least $40,000 in up-front costs with no guarantee the deal would go through.

And it almost didn’t.

Disappointment
After signing a contract signaling her intent to buy, Ward’s initial lender backed away 24 hours before the contract was set to expire, leaving Ward in danger of losing the property.

“I was riding my bike from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and I stopped somewhere in the middle, and I was sobbing because I had put so much work into getting that deal,” she said. “It became more personal than anything.”

Ward remembers emailing McJunkins, dejected.

“I felt like, here’s this Black family that had trusted me to purchase this, and I had held it off the market that long. And I just had all of these, you know, woe-is-me kind of moments,” she recalled.

In her email, Ward offered to help the family find another buyer or come up with a plan to redevelop the property, and she said she’d do the work for free.

McJunkins wrote back, she said, assuring her that his mother wanted Ward to have the property — the family was willing to wait.

With help from J’Tanya Adams, who leads the economic development group Historic West End Partners, Ward was able to find a new lender, and within two weeks she was on her way to closing the deal.

Ward called Adams a “powerhouse,” a community force determined to make things happen along the corridor.

Adams, meanwhile, recalls Ward’s determination.

“She’s got a lot of passion, a lot of heart — a visionary, not afraid of hard work,” Adams said of Ward. “It was actually exciting to work with Dianna.”

Creating community
With the purchase now behind her, Ward said she and her Sankofa co-investors are eager to welcome their first three tenants this fall. Coincidentally, she said, all are business owners of color — a former JCSU student who is opening her second ice cream shop, a Latino man who lives nearby and is expanding his pizza business, and Dr. Martez Prince, owner of Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center, who got a visit from Oprah Winfrey in January when the media mogul stopped in Charlotte on her 2020 wellness tour.

With JCSU as a neighbor and all the redevelopment that’s coming nearby, Ward predicts the businesses will thrive, even during a slow economy.


Adjacent to the building Dianna Ward has purchased, the city of Charlotte is building Five Points Public Plaza, a $5.5 million gathering space for neighborhoods surrounding Johnson C. Smith University. (Photo: QCity Metro)
“We weren’t going to put a five-star restaurant in here,” she said. “That can come with somebody else’s development down the road. We know that right now, ice cream, pizza, pharmacies are all doing well, so we went after the people we wanted.”

As for her own investment, Ward said she’s not expecting to make a quick buck.

“The goal is to create generational wealth,” she said. “I’d be lying if I said that five or 10 years down the road, this building isn’t going to be worth (considerably more.) But in the short term, it is just about helping to create community.”

Ward said she was disheartened to see economic development bypass Charlotte’s West End while so much was occurring in other parts of the city.

For all of her business experience, Ward said her venture into commercial property has been filled with lessons learned — chief among them, she said, is the need to surround yourself with a good team. Many of the people who helped her, she said, were not of the same race but were willing to share knowledge she lacked.

“I’ve had a bad team around me before,” Ward said. “It is incredibly important to have people you can work with that actually know what they’re talking about. You’re not just bringing them on because they’re a cousin or uncle or this is my best friend. You’ve got to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing and people with integrity. I mean, you’re talking about a lot of money. ”

 

[The M.I.C.]

Change Agents: In the shadow of JCSU, Dianna Ward is creating a new retail environment - Q City Metro


Change Agents: In the shadow of JCSU, Dianna Ward is creating a new retail environment
The Charlotte business owner, with two co-investors, will soon welcome three new tenants to the Five Points property they bought.

Dianna Ward, the majority owner of a real estate investment company, is bringing new retail to a building she bought in late 2019. (Photo: QCity Metro)
By Glenn Burkins
August 16, 2020
Change Agents is an occasional feature that spotlights people who are working to bring about positive change in Charlotte’s Historic West End. This article is the first in that series.

“This is it,” Dianna Ward said as she stepped from her black SUV. “This is the building — 1800 Rozzelles Ferry Road.”

It had taken some doing, had triggered some stressful days, but finally, the Charlotte business owner had achieved her goal.

In December 2019, Ward, majority owner of a newly formed investment company, had beaten the odds to buy a small commercial building in the Five Points area of Historic West End. The group paid $1.2 million, according to property records.

Now, with the building under renovation, Ward and her partners are preparing to welcome their first three tenants — a pharmacy, a pizza restaurant and an ice cream shop — with room still for two additional stores.

In a city under constant remake, Ward is one of several Black business owners who have turned their focus to Charlotte’s West End corridor, an area rife with both promise and perils.

In Five Points, the promise is becoming more visible.

Less than 30 feet from Ward’s property line, the city of Charlotte is building Five Points Public Plaza, a $5.5 million gathering space for the neighborhoods that surround Johnson C. Smith University. The plaza will include a small amphitheater, a splash pad, outdoor seating and public art. The James S. and John. L. Knight Foundation has pledged nearly $400,000 to support community-based programming for the plaza.

Just beyond the plaza, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is building a stop on its CityLynx Gold Line, a 10-mile streetcar system that, when completed, will connect east and west Charlotte with the uptown business district nestled in between.

Indeed, the economic revival that’s sweeping Five Points wasn’t lost on Ward when she purchased the property.

“I just looked around the city. I saw what was happening around the city, what people were doing, and I wanted to get involved,” she said.

Nurtured to succeed
Business ventures were nothing new for Ward, who was born in New Mexico, the third of five children. After holding down several corporate jobs, including a few in banking, she launched her first business venture, Charlotte NC Tours, in 2009. She now runs similar tour operations in Greenville, S.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Kansas City, Mo.

In 2012, Charlotte Center City Partners tapped Ward to run its bike-sharing program, Charlotte B-cycle.

Ward also once owned a 35% stake in a bike-share business in New Orleans, but when the ride-share company Uber offered to buy the company’s equipment, Ward decided to cash out. She used that money to launch Sankofa Partners LLC, along with two friends. (In the Twi language of Ghana, Sankofa translates to “go back and get it.”)

Ward said she grew up in a family where each child was nurtured to succeed.

“My parents would find what made us tick and exploit it,” she said. “What they found with me, although I played piano and guitar from the time I was in kindergarten all the way to college, was my love of investing.”

As a child, Ward said, she began buying mutual funds with help from a family acquaintance who sold securities.

“I just always knew that there was something inside of me that said, ‘You want to own something,’” she recalled. “My father always talked to me about investing and making sure that I had something that nobody could take from me.”

‘Holy terror’
The building at 1800 Rozzelles Ferry Road has had many lives. According to Mecklenburg property records, it was previously owned by Willie Lee Starr, a Black woman, who bought it in 1984.

Ward said she had noticed the building long before she ever thought of buying it. So when she and her business partners decided to make an offer, she reached out to Starr’s son, Jerry McJunkins.


But buying a commercial property is nothing like buying a house, Ward soon discovered.

“There’s all of this stuff,” she said. “You’ve got to make sure that the soil is ok, all the environmental stuff. I mean, it was a holy terror to go through that process, so you have to make sure you’re actually getting a good investment.”

Ward estimates that she spent at least $40,000 in up-front costs with no guarantee the deal would go through.

And it almost didn’t.

Disappointment
After signing a contract signaling her intent to buy, Ward’s initial lender backed away 24 hours before the contract was set to expire, leaving Ward in danger of losing the property.

“I was riding my bike from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and I stopped somewhere in the middle, and I was sobbing because I had put so much work into getting that deal,” she said. “It became more personal than anything.”

Ward remembers emailing McJunkins, dejected.

“I felt like, here’s this Black family that had trusted me to purchase this, and I had held it off the market that long. And I just had all of these, you know, woe-is-me kind of moments,” she recalled.

In her email, Ward offered to help the family find another buyer or come up with a plan to redevelop the property, and she said she’d do the work for free.

McJunkins wrote back, she said, assuring her that his mother wanted Ward to have the property — the family was willing to wait.

With help from J’Tanya Adams, who leads the economic development group Historic West End Partners, Ward was able to find a new lender, and within two weeks she was on her way to closing the deal.

Ward called Adams a “powerhouse,” a community force determined to make things happen along the corridor.

Adams, meanwhile, recalls Ward’s determination.

“She’s got a lot of passion, a lot of heart — a visionary, not afraid of hard work,” Adams said of Ward. “It was actually exciting to work with Dianna.”

Creating community
With the purchase now behind her, Ward said she and her Sankofa co-investors are eager to welcome their first three tenants this fall. Coincidentally, she said, all are business owners of color — a former JCSU student who is opening her second ice cream shop, a Latino man who lives nearby and is expanding his pizza business, and Dr. Martez Prince, owner of Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center, who got a visit from Oprah Winfrey in January when the media mogul stopped in Charlotte on her 2020 wellness tour.

With JCSU as a neighbor and all the redevelopment that’s coming nearby, Ward predicts the businesses will thrive, even during a slow economy.


Adjacent to the building Dianna Ward has purchased, the city of Charlotte is building Five Points Public Plaza, a $5.5 million gathering space for neighborhoods surrounding Johnson C. Smith University. (Photo: QCity Metro)
“We weren’t going to put a five-star restaurant in here,” she said. “That can come with somebody else’s development down the road. We know that right now, ice cream, pizza, pharmacies are all doing well, so we went after the people we wanted.”

As for her own investment, Ward said she’s not expecting to make a quick buck.

“The goal is to create generational wealth,” she said. “I’d be lying if I said that five or 10 years down the road, this building isn’t going to be worth (considerably more.) But in the short term, it is just about helping to create community.”

Ward said she was disheartened to see economic development bypass Charlotte’s West End while so much was occurring in other parts of the city.

For all of her business experience, Ward said her venture into commercial property has been filled with lessons learned — chief among them, she said, is the need to surround yourself with a good team. Many of the people who helped her, she said, were not of the same race but were willing to share knowledge she lacked.

“I’ve had a bad team around me before,” Ward said. “It is incredibly important to have people you can work with that actually know what they’re talking about. You’re not just bringing them on because they’re a cousin or uncle or this is my best friend. You’ve got to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing and people with integrity. I mean, you’re talking about a lot of money. ”

Smart woman.

West side about to get hit with millions in overall upward value over the next five to ten years as the whole area transforms. I know near folks (and myself) are holding onto properties off Freedom, Wilkinson and Tuckaseegee waiting for city and CATS to bring a concrete plan for rail service over in that direction.

 

[Jimmy from Linkedin]

Brehs, before the name changes I used to give a lot of advice in the official gardening thread. Check my post history and see that I know what I'm talking about over there. I found this really great organization called Seeds For Change that employs black youth (mostly men, high school age, some women) and teaches them organic urban ag, financial literacy, life skills in general.

We need some other grown men out there with us to help these kids stay focused. I'm not able to be there every day. I am there most saturdays. I'll post some articles about it, but PM me for more information and especially to get involved. If you've ever thought about giving back with your time, this is it. Come out and grow some good crops. Right now we've got collards, mustard greens, turnip greens for sale also!

Male Mentors Needed for Community Garden and Market

Male Mentors Wanted: Charlotte Group Provides Fresh Food, Jobs to Underprivileged Neighborhood
By Tim Spears Charlotte
PUBLISHED 10:17 PM ET Jun. 08, 2020

The Coalition’s “Seeds for Change” community garden and market provides jobs to teenagers, educational opportunities, and fresh food to one of the city's most disadvantaged communities.

Seeds for Change wants to add a mentorship feature.

Young adults with mentors are more likely to go to college, less likely to use drugs, and more likely to hold leadership positions.

“Because what we’re doing is making a difference in the children's lives, which is going to make a difference in all our lives,” organizer Brenda Campbell says.

Anyone hoping to sign up for the male mentorship program can PM @Jimmy from Linkedin.

Seeds For Change sells fresh fruit and vegetables Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 2157 West Blvd Charlotte N.C. 28208

https://www.fox46.com/news/sowing-s...levard-coalition-community-garden-flourishes/

Sowing seeds for change: West Boulevard Coalition community garden flourishes
News

by: Brien Blakely, FOX 46 Charlotte

Posted: May 24, 2019 / 01:26 AM EDT / Updated: May 24, 2019 / 01:26 AM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) — With rising violence in Charlotte, CMPD has been very clear about how much they need people in the community to help them curb crime. One area stepping is the West Boulevard corridor by sowing the seeds for change.

At the Urban Farm off Romare Bearden at West Boulevard, all the fruits and vegetables grown at this quarter acre plot of land go back into the community.

“You know it’s a food desert, so our main thing is bringing healthy foods along the corridor,” says Brenda Campbell from the West Boulevard Coalition.

Campbell and Ricky Hall says part of the revitalization plan for the corridor is to open a farmer’s market and neighborhood co-op grocery store.

“We want to provide good paying jobs,” says Hall.

Many volunteers who work in the garden come from local schools, or companies. Hall mentors many kids in the neighborhood, many who work in the garden as volunteers, some who earn a stipend.

“Its about life long lessons so they can transfer and become productive citizens that’s what it’s all about,” says Hall.

Dez Cain is someone is one of the volunteers. He admittedly has straddled the law, but says he has benefitted by working in the garden.

“I understand the ethics and the patience that you get from doing this type of stuff. It’s hot right now got on jeans in the sun and I’m working…but to me I understand the effects that its going to have on the overall thing,” says Cain.

CMPD recently honored the West Boulevard Coalition with the Community Partner Award.

“Without active community members and active community participants.. we would not have the success that we do in terms of crime fighting,” Lt. Brad Koch says.

Community resource officers also attend the coalition’s meetings.

“Our most important asset that we have on a regular basis is the relationships between the community members,” Koch says.

“CMPD works in the community, but we live in the community, and the way in which you impact change if you have problems its your problem to solve. It’s our problems to solve and we work in partnership with CMPD,” says Hall.

The West Boulevard Coalition is getting results for thier neighborhood.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

I miss NJ




After a little over a year living here, it's just not hitting for me. Maybe its becasue my work life balance is way off, but I'm just not feeling it. I'm strictly east coast or west coast. The south is just not in me no more (I grew up in VA).

2 years. 3 tops and I'm out.