EYE MAGAZINE - THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
September 2007

NoDa still fighting off growing pains
City soon to choose new developer for mills project

By Amy Rainey

In the ongoing fight for NoDa’s soul, the future of the Johnston and Mecklenburg mills property is one of many battles. Neighborhood leaders have spent more than a year trying to ensure that whatever replaces the mills, near NoDa’s heart at 36th and North Davidson streets, is good for the eclectic arts district.

The NoDa Neighborhood Association recently decided to recommend Tuscan Development – one of four developers bidding on the land – for the project. The City Council will choose a developer in the next two months.

The association likes that Tuscan plans to restore the original mill buildings and has lined up galleries and stores that are interested, said group President Hollis Nixon. “We want artsy minded people on that site,” she said.

Perhaps most importantly, Tuscan’s proposal calls for a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, something NoDa residents desire.

The neighborhood association closely watches the booming area, discussing up to four proposed rezonings each month. It’s a never-ending effort to ensure that NoDa maintains its “artsy, edgy pioneering character,” Nixon said.

“That’s what honestly scares me,” she said. “You don’t want to lose what you’re fighting for.”

NoDa has changed tremendously since the ’80s and early ’90s, when artists began buying the old boarded-up shops to showcase their work.

As the area boomed, the neighborhood became unaffordable for some of the artists who helped make NoDa what it is. Rent has risen dramatically, and many houses have been remodeled from the small mill homes that once lined streets.

Residents would like to keep NoDa affordable because “that’s what made the neighborhood,” Nixon said, but they also don’t want to own in an area where they’ll lose property value. “So how do you balance that?” she said.

NoDa was a freeing place in the early ’90s, said Hayley Farrington, a metal artist. “There wasn’t that conservative Charlotte blanket keeping everybody down,” she said.

Farrington is restoring her 37th Street house, which has tripled in value since she bought it four years ago. Farrington, who enjoys looking down her street at the mills, wants to see the old buildings preserved. Still, her friends who used to live in the mills can’t afford to return to the area, she said.

She doesn’t mind that the neighborhood has changed, saying she enjoys the sense of community she now has with her neighbors. Twenty people came out to help her build a backyard shed, she said.

NoDa, also known for its gallery crawls, has become livelier and more populated in recently years, residents said. People are now starting families in NoDa and staying.

Ada Ryland, a resident and association member, said she is looking forward to the Fat City Lofts on Davidson Street, the prospect of a light-rail stop and other additions.

Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons opened Center of the Earth Gallery almost 20 years ago and helped push the neighborhood forward by recruiting businesses and holding gallery crawls in the early days. Sires said he’s proud of their involvement, but is excited that NoDa now “has a life of its own.”

As for the future of NoDa, Sires said he hopes the city is mindful of the artists and galleries, the very reason people are drawn there.

“I would hope that doesn’t get developed out of existence,” he said.