First renders show Hornets training facility is a skyscraper

City staff on Monday shared a preview of a proposed training facility for the Charlotte Hornets in the downtown core.

Early renderings show a high-rise building for the NBA team where the existing Charlotte Transportation Center now stands, towering over the Spectrum Center.

The footage comes from a proposal from the Hornets and City of Charlotte staff last week to do $215 million in Spectrum Center renovations as well as a $60 million practice facility that would be paid for by the naming rights for a proposed new sports and entertainment district in the vicinity. Region.

District 7 Councilman Ed Driggs expressed concern late Monday that funding for the practice center was not set in stone.

Under the proposed agreement, the City of Charlotte would extend its lease with the Charlotte Hornets to 2045. The existing lease is set to expire in 2030. Under the proposed deal, the Hornets would begin paying $2 million a year in rent in 2030 and $1.1 million in capital investments beginning in 2024.

Construction is expected to start this summer on the renovations and the training center. The work could take four years.

The city’s economic development committee discussed the project Monday afternoon, and city council followed suit at its regular meeting. A Charlotte City Council vote is scheduled for Monday, June 13. The public is permitted to register to speak during the public comment period at next week’s meeting.

Driggs and District 6 Councilor Tariq Bokhari both said they were concerned the council was not being transparent enough about the project.

“I want to keep the team here,” Driggs said. “I just think we still have a little bit of work to do to properly present this thing to the public.”

City of Charlotte Chief Financial Officer Teresa Smith said about 60% of public feedback received was positive.

The new training facility would include two full basketball courts, expanded locker rooms and healthcare space. Renderings show the training facility replacing the existing Charlotte Transportation Center, moving the bus facility underground.

The rest of the tower would be filled with parking and development “to be determined” on the upper floors.

There will be a temporary bus station built over several years of construction on the transit and convenient facilities building, documents presented to the economic development committee show.

Plan B, according to the original presentation, is to build the training ground on the existing gravel pitch next to the stadium.

The money for the renovations will come from the city’s tourism dollars – car rental sales tax or hotel occupancy tax, for example – and will not affect the city’s overall budget, according to Smith.

The $215 million pool renovations would include:

• entries
• bathrooms
• escalators
• lifts
• new HVAC systems
• plumbing repairs
• roof repairs

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 06:00.