Meeting |
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Report |
Meeting |
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Report |
June 15, 1999 |
| Click here for photos of this Meeting | |
| The man responsible for directing Bank of
America's development and building efforts in Charlotte's Center City gave Charlotte
Rotarians a progress report since his last talk two years ago. But, Jim
Palermo did that and more. He also elucidated why his bank is so interested
in the Uptown in Charlotte development (and, for that matter, any city where the bank does
business), as well as outlined some challenges yet to be solved. "Dramatic is the best word for the progress we have made in building a vibrant core for Charlotte," said the Bank of America executive vice president. "Our free enterprise system, especially here in Center City Charlotte, has never been more active or healthy than it is right now." "There is vitality on our center city streets. But we still face formidable challenges," said the man who is in his third decade with the city's biggest bank. "Our ultimate success at building a city we can proudly share will be judged on how we surmount these challenges." Palermo, the person responsible for Bank of America's more than 80 million (that's right million) square feet of office space in 39 countries (yes, countries), said his bank's interest in the center city is "no more than enlightened self interest. The economy of any community is strongest when it has a healthy core." Bank of America is interested in smart growth, which he said his boss, Chairman Hugh McColl, has talked about in several forums lately. Smart growth "involves cooperative efforts among business, government, community and environmental stakeholders." One of the tenets is "pro-growth," what Palermo described as channeling "growth into empty or underused tracts of lands within the boundaries of developed areas and to find a better, higher use for them." Center cities are ideal in this regard because they have the infrastructure already in place. The unofficial mayor of Uptown Charlotte said his boss made news recently at the International Downtown Association Convention held here: "It's hard to make a difference to your community if you're stuck in an office park, in a cow pasture." Palermo said much of Charlotte growth has followed a plan developed in the mid-1960s by A.G. "Gouldie" Odell. "That plan has been updated through the years, but it has stood the test of time." The plan envisioned housing in the center city. Palermo said that ball got rolling in the early 70s when "urban pioneers" targeted Fourth Ward. What has happened since in almost beyond belief. The Fourth Ward resident recalled that his boss "remembers how friends told him land in Fourth Ward would never be worth 87 cents a foot. Then, with his distinctive grin, he reminds us that today you can't touch Fourth Ward land for $20 a foot." That same development has continued in Third Ward where the number of households in the 90s has doubled from 300 to 600 and unimproved land selling for $2 a foot in 1990 is going for $25 now. Bank of America's biggest project now is the Gateway Village complex between Trade and Fifth streets in Third Ward. It will contain office space for the bank, which requires between 300,000 and 400,000 square feet additional space in Charlotte each year. But the project also includes housing, stores, services, parking and "more than an acre of quite gardens" requested by Third Ward neighbors. What will the project mean to Charlotte? Among other things, more tax revenue. The five-block site had an assessed value of less than $10 million in 1997. "When we're finished with the three blocks we're building in phase one, it'll be worth more than $250 million, with two blocks remaining." The same thing is happening in First Ward through a partnership between the bank, the Charlotte Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "The future of First Ward is bright," Palermo said. "We believe it is no exaggeration to predict that in a very few years First Ward development will generate $7 million a year in new tax revenue for the city. "There is simply no more efficient way to generate tax revenue than to develop the most valuable land in the city," the banker said. "That land is uptown. Because of growing tax revenues generated by center city development, the tax burden on the suburbs is lower than it would be otherwise." The Dunkirk, NY, native tackled the question of how to get more people uptown. They can work there and more than 60,000 do. They can play there and "increasingly, many of them linger after five... But the most important way to bring people to our center city sidewalks is to convince them to live there. Then you'll see them out because it is their neighborhood. Seven thousand people live inside the loop now and 1,200 more living units are under construction. Said the Canisius graduate, "We're beginning to reach the critical mass necessary to support services like Reid's Fine Foods, the first full-line center city grocery store in decades." After describing a glittering array of Bank America projects Uptown, Palermo said two challenges facing the center city "smack you in the face": little retail accessible directly from the streets and too many black-top parking lots. "We want more of the former and less of the latter." Most retail uptown is now centered in the Overstreet Walkway servicing the needs of those who work in the towers. "We need more retail that people on the street can see and want to patronize." He said the bank is working with the Chamber, Charlotte Center City Partners and developers to get more street-level retail going. On the question of parking lots, he quoted what McColl told the Downtown Association delegates. "The fact is that our tax code... creates strong financial rewards for property owners who knock down buildings and put up parking lots. If we had a more progressive tax policy, for instance, some form of tax abatement on incremental value for rehabilitating a structure or putting a vacant lot to good use, we might get more of what we want and less of what we don't." Palermo said public transportation is also important, pointing toward the bank's Charlotte Transportation Center project, which, by the way, was built on the site suggested in the Odell plan. "Public transportation has to be a much bigger part of our efforts to build a strong center city. Even with our strong dependence on our automobiles, many of us are beginning to embrace mass transit. He cited the Charlotte Trolley as a stimulus to the benefits of public transit with its design for electric streetcar service from SouthEnd to Eleventh St, through the Charlotte Convention Center and connecting "one of the city's most vibrant areas outside the Interstate 277 loop with all the newly thriving areas of the uptown. "Acceptance of a few miles of streetcar line can lead to much bigger ideas in public transportation," he said. Project also includes housing, stores, service. "A combination of buses and light rail could capitalize on smart growth benefits like higher density along major commuter corridors. And it could, in turn, provide the impetus for yet more smart growth. Think about the major motor corridors from the suburbs to the center city." The meeting was presided over by President Ronnie, his third from the last. Two new members were introduced. Tom Burgess introduced George Thompson, new senior minister at Providence United Methodist Church, and Bill Kinney introduced John C. Scharer, manager of the Charlotte City Club. David Couch of Tyler, TX, who has been a frequent visitor for the past several months while in Charlotte helping Bank America with Y2K readiness, exchanged banners. Pete DeWitt introduced guests and visitors, and even pronounced some of the names correctly. John Rogers gave the health and happiness report. Leslie Berry and Harry Brace are both at home recovering from recent illnesses. Bishop Charlene Kammerer gave the invocation. Those at the head table included Jeanie Swanson, Mark Norman, Don Carmichael, and Michael Elder, as well as the Bishop Kammerer, President Ronnie and Jim Kiser, a Bank of America colleague who introduced the speaker. * * * |
New Member
Dining Club, Private Charlotte City Club John C. Scharer was born in Derby, Connecticut, and resided in Connecticut until his graduation from college. In 1982, he received a B.S. in Recreation from Southern Connecticut State University. John began his club management career with the Atlanta Health and Racquet Club where he quickly moved up the ranks to the position of Assistant Manager. In 1985 he went to work for Vantage Southeast, a real estate development company, as Club Manager of the Atlanta Plaza Health Club. In addition to the day-today management of the Plaza Health Club, he would oversee the development and start-up of two additional clubs during his three-year tenure. Seeking bigger challenges, in 1989 John joined Club Corporation of America. During his seven-year tenure he managed the Ravinia Club in Atlanta, the Coast Club in Melbourne, Fla., the Halifax Club in Daytona Beach and eventually the Capital City Club in Columbia, one of the largest City Clubs in the over 200 Club Corporation properties. In 1996, John was recruited to manage the Charlotte City Club, overseeing a staff of 60 and with a membership of 1350. Over the past three years membership has grown by over 100 members, extensive refurbishing has been done throughout the Club quarters, and an expansion which will increase the size of one of the private dining rooms and add two additional private dining rooms is in progress. John and his wife Mary Beth have one child, Alex, age 6. They reside in Cornelius, are members of St. Theresa Catholic Church and enjoy sailing on Lake Norman. * * * DID YOU KNOW?The members of this club have contributed more than $20,000 to the Rotary Foundation to support scholarships to and from other countries for the brightest and best graduate students as a means of world understanding. These are the leaders of tomorrow. * * * DID YOU KNOW?When you MAKE UP, do not hold make-up cards. We are required to report periodically to the District Governor the Club's attendance, after which makeups are of little use. Please mail make-ups to the Rotary Office or bring to the next Tuesday luncheon. Reminder: MAKE-UPS are acceptable 13 days BEFORE or 13 days AFTER a missed meeting in your own Club. * * * |
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Copyright © 1998 The Rotary Club of Charlotte. All
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Revised: January 24, 2008.
