JERRY AT THE BAT
| Jerry Reese thinks Charlotte is about to bunt when the real play is to swing away. |
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Jerry is the 59-year-old Charlotte real estate lawyer who has consistently blocked local efforts to land minor league baseball uptown. His vision is to bring a major league club to Charlotte, making a multi-use stadium the centerpiece of a privately funded $4B redevelopment in Third Ward uptown. He's calling the 100-acre undertaking ?Brooklyn Renaissance.? (Nothing to do with theDodgers. Before ?urban renewal,? that part of town used to be a predominantly African American community called ?Brooklyn.?) Most of the land is owned by local government entities, which have been negotiating with the Charlotte Knights minor league club for a stadium in Second Ward. Jerry says his plan would serve Charlotte's uptown needs for the next 50 years. It would have office buildings, an adjunct to the Charlotte Convention Center, multifamily homes, and civic venues. Jerry says he's in the throes of completing a major (though hush-hush) land assemblage that should set the wheels in motion. ?There is nothing like this in the country,? he says. (This one?s going into extra innings.) |
