Charlotte’s Gateway Station project finding momentum

CHARLOTTE — The Gateway Station project that will bring an Amtrak rail station to the heart of uptown and surround it with mixed-use development finally has real momentum.

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The Charlotte Business Journal has learned the Charlotte Gateway Steering Committee voted in March to begin exclusive negotiations with Charlotte Gateway Partners LLC for the project after seeking bids in a request for qualifications and request for proposals last year. The committee shortlisted three groups in the fall.

Charlotte Gateway Partners is a real estate joint venture of The Spectrum Cos., a Charlotte-based developer, and Republic, a real estate firm based in Washington, D.C.

According to steering committee meeting minutes obtained by the CBJ, the group was selected because of the team’s approach, integration of uses and a willingness to develop the entire site.

Darryl Dewberry, chairman and CEO of The Spectrum Cos., said the proposal is a “very mixed-use” project, with hospitality, retail, office and residential development in addition to open space — which he described as an “urban garden” — integrated within several blocks.

The selection of a development group is a major step forward in a nearly three-decade effort to bring a rail and bus station to uptown.

Read the full story here to learn more about what comes next.

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