Johnston YMCA in NoDa to close after sale

CHARLOTTE — A local landmark is slated to leave Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood.

In a statement, representatives for the Johnston YMCA confirmed they will be selling the property. They said they’ve worked with the community for several years to come up with a redevelopment plan for the property. They’ve reviewed a number of proposals, they said, and then they selected a developer.

Eventually, they decided to sell the Johnston YMCA property to the developer “without a future physical YMCA presence on the site.”

“This decision, while in the best interest of our Y, was extremely difficult for us to make, and we know that many community members will share in our disappointment,” the statement reads.

Representatives said they initially intended to keep the YMCA at the site, but said after careful consideration of the branch’s limitations and the association’s finances, they decided to shutter the Johnston YMCA.

“We remain committed to serving north Charlotte through youth-focused programming activities that will take place in collaboration with various community partners,” they said.

The Y is expected to stay open through the end of the year. They’ll also work with current staff to gauge their interest in other positions at the Y.

“We sincerely appreciate the continuing support of our loyal members, dedicated staff and volunteers, and involved community members who contribute to our success within NoDa and greater north Charlotte.”

The NoDa Neighborhood and Business Association was not happy to hear the news. They shared the following statement in response:

“The NoDa Neighborhood and Business Association are very disappointed to hear the news on the sale of the Johnston YMCA. For years, the NoDa NBA has asked the Y for their willingness to collaborate with us for a community center that brought value to both the NoDa community and to the YMCA, and we were ignored and pushed aside. To learn through a public press release of this sale when I personally had once again asked for an update a week ago is insensitive and shows the Y’s failure to be inclusive and respectful of the community they will no longer reside in. We can only hope that whatever developer that has purchased their lot will be more willing to work with the NoDa community and will work to uphold some of the very valuable community amenities that are so desperately needed in our neighborhood.

“The Johnston YMCA noted in their press release that they “worked with the NoDa community to come up with a plan for the redevelopment” and we feel that this statement is greatly exaggerated. We have asked the YMCA to retract the first line in their press release as it is factually untrue.”

Channel 9′s Anthony Kustura went to the over-60-year-old neighborhood staple and spoke with people the YMCA had a true impact on. That included Haven Anderson, who told Kustura he grew up here and learned to play basketball and flag football.

“The Johnston is where it began for me, right here,” Anderson told Kustura. “I think about all the wonderful things I experienced here and the great start I had.”

A large chunk of members froze or canceled their accounts in 2021, which led to a huge financial loss, the Y said. People in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood were still shocked when they heard the announcement.

“To hear they’re selling the whole thing and abandoning the neighborhood is a huge shock,” said Krysten Reilly, president of the NoDa Neighborhood and Business Association.

The Johnston YMCA was not only a gym for the neighborhood, but it also hosted many community events, like an annual toy drive. Many parents, like Keaira Fuller, rely on the Y for childcare; now they’re searching for new places to drop off their children while they work.

“It makes it really hard on a parent like myself, a single parent too, you know,” Fuller told Channel 9. “Just navigate through those things and then also work and everything like that in the meantime.”

Like the rest of the Queen City, NoDa is growing and won’t be stopping anytime soon. Anderson is hopeful that even without the YMCA in the NoDa neighborhood, the lessons learned will carry on.

“It will live on in people like me,” Anderson said. “The people that it touched will continue on.”

(WATCH BELOW: Counselors gearing up for after-school activities at YMCA of Greater Charlotte)

Counselors gearing up for after-school activities at YMCA of Greater Charlotte

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