Crews demolish Charlotte mayor’s home in historic McCrorey Heights

CHARLOTTE — A well-known home in Charlotte’s historic McCrorey Heights neighborhood owned by Mayor Vi Lyles was demolished Wednesday.

Lyles said the planned demolition is about repairing the home that she claims is currently unlivable, while at the same time preserving the neighborhood’s rich history.

Today the house on Madison Avenue will be demolished. I purchased this house as-is and, as the prior owner acknowledges, there are major structural issues in the foundation. When I rebuild, I will follow all the rules of the HDC and the neighborhood covenants.
— Mayor Vi Lyles (@ViLyles) February 15, 2023

A county permit shows the home, which is on Madison Avenue, was scheduled to be demolished. The permit was filed on Aug. 4, 2022, and approved on Aug. 10, 2022, five days before the Charlotte City Council voted to establish McCrorey Heights as a historic district.

Several public hearings were held on the district’s rezoning designation from June 200 to August 2022.

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Lyles said she bought the home as a fixer-upper and planned to move into it. She said she decided to demolish it and rebuild once she discovered problems with the home.

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The house was built in 1957. One of the people credited with part of its design was former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, the city’s first Black mayor and a prominent architect.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles' home in McCrorey Heights

Lyles said the home will be rebuilt to meet the historic designation standards and she has talked to the neighborhood association about her plans.

Decades-long McCrorey Heights residents have renewed pride in the neighborhood after working for years to get its historic designation status.

“This was the first Black neighborhood owned by Blacks,” said Joli Robinson, a resident. “They owned the land, and they owned the homes.”

However, just like any area in the shadows of Center City Charlotte, there has also been a lot of interest from developers.

“I am sick and tired of everyone that is coming into the neighborhood purchasing these homes and transforming them,” Robinson said.

Part of that frustration is being directed at Lyles.

“She’s doing what we don’t want the builders to do and she’s our Black mayor,” said resident Tori Burch. “I mean, I’m just going to have to call it like it is.”

Lyles said the neighborhood means a lot to her.

“One of the reasons that I own this house is that my father-in-law is on the corner of the block of Patton,” Lyles said.

A group of longtime McCrorey Heights residents is upset with the plan Lyles has to demolish the home she bought last summer. A change.org petition aimed at stopping that demolition reached 609 signatures as of Wednesday evening, with a goal of 1,000. However, Lyles said it wouldn’t stop the process.

Charlotte mayor set to demolish, rebuild her home in historic district

Burch and others are raising questions about what led up to the impending demolition.

“We were all shocked because we had worked so hard to get the historical designation,” Burch said.

Lyles said during a Tuesday news conference she bought the house with the intention of moving into McCrorey Heights as a full-time resident.

The mayor said that she later learned the house had severe water damage and issues with the foundation.

“I did buy the house as is, and I knew that it would either need to be a major fixer-up or a demolition,” Lyles said. “And at the time, it was as is, and so I chose to do it that way.”

Channel 9′s Evan Donovan spoke with the prior owner of the house, Ike Heard, Jr., the son of the home’s first occupant and the man who sold the house to Lyles. Heard Jr. said the only structural issue he remembered was a leaning pier under the home. Several builders and real estate agents told Channel 9 that if that was the only issue, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the home needed to be demolished.

Heard said he’s disappointed by the decision to demolish the home, but that the decision is up to her because she owns it.

Lyles said she has family history in McCrorey Heights, and is excited to live there when she retires. She also asserted that she didn’t use her position as mayor to gain any advantage and will follow all the necessary steps when rebuilding.

“It will be consistent with the covenants in the neighborhood, as well as the historic district,” Lyles said.

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