Innovation meets momentum. That's the title of Charlotte Center City Partners' 2025 State of the City report, outlining Charlotte's upcoming development and growth over the last decade. That title couldn't be more accurate, as the organization looks ahead to 2025 and beyond to reimagine our ever-growing city and skyline.

City Editor Maria, here. There's a lot of data in the full report, but I've gone ahead and found the highlights for you.

Any red in the graphic shows "re-imagined" or renovated projects, like Bank of America Stadium. Green is under construction, purple are forecasted groundbreakings by 2026, and orange illustrates planned developments. | Graphic via Charlotte Center City Partners

New development

Charlotte's Center City, Uptown, and South End have $3.7 billion allocated to projects under construction or set to break ground in 2026.

Food for thought: The projects include 2.2+ million sqft of office space plus 338,800+ sqft of retail, more than 1,600 hotel rooms, and more than 7,100 apartments.

Center City's new developments include:

The Pearl, which will house Atrium Health and Wake Forest Medical School
North Tryon Tech Hub, housing UNC Charlotte's Co-Lab
Iron District
Queensbridge Collective

According to the report, as of January 2025, 10,000+ planned apartments and construction projects are underway, with another 2,000+ delivered in 2024, further fueling the excitement surrounding new space in the city.

The redevelopment of the former Duke Energy headquarters will provide housing and retail space. | Rendering via SK+I Architecture

Re-imagined spaces

What about existing or unused space? This is where innovation comes in. More than $1.7 billion from public and private investment is being used to modernize and revamp existing structures.

This includes renovations at Bank of America Stadium, the Spectrum Center, and the creation of Brooklyn & Church.

The days of vacant office buildings may be coming to an end. The report shows the frequency of people working in Uptown and South End has grown through 2024, standing at 81% of pre-pandemic levels. By redeveloping existing space, more businesses will be attracted to Center City.

More than 82,000 people attended Concert for Carolina at Bank of America Stadium. | Photo by CLTtoday

Tour like royalty

Uptown is expecting to draw even more visitors, thanks to major sporting events, concerts, and festivals planned for years to come.

Fun fact: Uptown welcomed more than 266,000 people on its busiest day, Oct. 26, 2024 — Concert for Carolina and the Charlotte Hornets' home opener.

To accommodate visitors and staycationers, several hotel projects are under construction, changing the purpose of buildings from "work" to "play."

Marriott's 13-story, 208-room Moxy Hotel is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2025.
KHP Capital Partners is converting the Johnston Building into a 245-room hotel set to open in the summer of 2026.
InterContinental is planning a 257-room hotel connected to The Carolina Theatre.

With all that's in the pipeline, be sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter — we've got a lot to brag about.