Rhonda Hartweg

The church will launch “Under the Arbor,” Friday, May 10 – a summer series initiative that will take place the second and fourth Fridays each month from now through August. The Friday night events, which will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will feature local musicians and other entertainers, with the May 10 event featuring the musical group “Trinity.”

“Kind of what we’re thinking is that we are really trying to promote multi-generational events. It’s a focus on unity. We are a large church with multiple services, but we are trying to have more things that are open to anyone to attend,” Hartweg said. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we could provide this setting where people could come hang out awhile?’”

Summer tends to be a different season for the church, Hartweg said, with many members in and out of town on vacation and students on summer break. The church wanted to find another avenue to promote community while providing an inviting atmosphere for those looking for a church to call home.

It’s a mission at Harrison to create relationships beyond the church doors, Hartweg said. The church is known for its outreach and services to the community, like the annual fall festival and other ministries like the food pantry and backpack program. Hartweg, who has been at Harrison for around a year, said the summer series will be an additional way to spread the love of Christ to the community.

“We’ve done other events like this in different contexts,” she said. “The community being in Charlotte really offers more opportunity.” Hartweg previously served at a church in Wingate, where she also spearheaded outreach projects and community missions. “Wingate is a college town, but we did things like this there in areas like the park. When I came here, I was so excited because Harrison is so involved in the community. It’s a huge mission and fellowship thing.”

Hartweg said the church is still looking for musicians and other entertainers to perform through the later months of the summer. On May 24, “Under the Arbor” will feature singing and dancing Latin-style with Javier Perez and friends. She’s still waiting to hear back about entertainers for June and is still looking to schedule some for July and August. If the series is successful, Hartweg said the church might consider extending it into September.

“We have a lot of musicians that don’t necessarily play in the worship band. We have professional storytellers and even a clowning ministry,” Hartweg said. “I started out asking people in the church, but we also want more people from the community, as well.”

Entertainers interested in participating should contact Hartweg at rhonda.hartweg@harrisonumc.org.

The evenings also will include activities for kids, like sidewalk chalk and other outside games, Hartweg said, and will sometimes include games for adults. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring snacks and nonalcoholic beverages to make the evening more enjoyable, though Hartweg said the church will most likely provide lemonade and light snacks. People can even pick-up dinner for the
family and bring it to the event, she added.

“They can bring anything. We wanted to make it a time where people are coming home from work,” Hartweg said. “We’re just trying to make it easier for people to come on the campus and get to know people. It’s all about relationships – not where they find themselves. It doesn’t have to be a traditional church service.”

The summer series will take place under the arbor at the church, which has existed on the campus since the church was established. Harrison United Methodist Church is located at 15008 Lancaster Hwy.

The plan, as it was presented Monday, May 6, would pay for $816.4 million worth of projects with a 3.17-cent tax increase and four bond votes over the next seven years. This proposal is a change from last year’s proposed plan, that bogged down in negotiations and debate, in that it doesn’t include $119 million to extend the Uptown streetcar project. Last year’s capital investment plan called for $926 million in spending and a 3.6-cent tax increase.

“As you hear about this budget … what you’re going to hear is about how we build the future of our city,” Mayor Anthony Foxx said Monday night of the importance in passing some form of capital investment plan. Foxx was a vocal proponent of the plan last summer, expressing anger and concern when council opted to spend another year debating the package instead of approving the pro-streetcar plan last June. Now on his way out of Charlotte after being nominated by President Obama as secretary of transportation, Foxx is adamant city council come together to pass a plan.

“This budget will make investments in parts of our city that need to see revitalization, such as the Independence Boulevard corridor,” Foxx said, saying money needs to be targeted to specific areas instead of spread thin around the city. “In order to raise the quality of life but also to grow revenue in the city, we’re going to have to reinvent part of our city. Parts of our city that have been challenged are going to have to get stronger.”

That goal caused some frustration among south Charlotte residents last year who complained the plan would spend much more money in east, north and west Charlotte and not as much in south Charlotte – a region providing a large chunk of the city’s tax revenue.

The capital investment plan includes a handful of south Charlotte projects – $60.9 million for six new police stations (two of which would be in south Charlotte), $25.6 million for road and infrastructure improvements that would include extending Park South Drive near SouthPark and $35 million for a multi-use trail that would reach into south Charlotte.

Foxx and other proponents of the capital investment plan have said more projects aren’t being recommended for south Charlotte because south Charlotte doesn’t need to be revitalized like other areas of the city do. If parts of east, north and west Charlotte improve to the point that more businesses come to the area, that could take the tax burden off south Charlotte.

The streetcar project, which split council members last year, is still in the works. But it won’t be included in the capital investment plan unless council members recommend adding it at a budget adjustment meeting Wednesday, May 15, and then vote to officially add it to the budget at a May 29 straw vote meeting. Though it wasn’t in the plan presented Monday, council members still spent time debating the issue and Councilman Andy Dulin, who represents the SouthPark area, said he expects it to continue to be a divisive issue as discussions continue.

Councilman Warren Cooksey, who represents Ballantyne, said last year he did not have any projects he was interested in adding to the capital investment plan. Cooksey did not speak about his thoughts on the proposed plan at Monday’s meeting.

Council is scheduled to vote on the final budget proposal and capital plan June 10.

Superintendent Heath Morrison presented his slimmed-down capital investment plan Tuesday, May 7, to county commissioners. The plan lists the 18 projects CMS leaders feel are both important and fit into a $300 million target range county commissioners set for the school board in earlier budget discussions.

“If you took every classroom, every school and put (their needs) all on a list, that comes out to a lot of needs,” Morrison said. The system’s 10-year plan lists $1.8 billion in possible projects, though Morrison was clear to point out his board isn’t asking for that money and is trying to work within the guidelines set by the county.

“Though we desperately … need a new high school in the south – that is one of our high-growth areas with many of our high schools overcrowded – if we suggested one high school project the cost estimates … would easily be around $80 million,” Morrison said. “So, if we knew we could only put in for $300 million, one project could take almost a third of those monies.”

The plan, as presented Tuesday night, includes five south Charlotte-area projects. The plan could get trimmed as county commissioners debate the package of projects and prepare to put a bond on a future ballot.

The biggest priority of the 18 projects was reopening Oakhurst and Starmount elementary schools, Morrison said. Starmount in particular would be a benefit to south Charlotte parents, as it would syphon off some students from overcrowded campuses at Huntingtowne Farms and Montclaire elementary schools. Opening both schools would cost nearly $6 million, according to Morrison’s presentation.

“The education at Huntingtowne Farms is not equitable for any of the students attending the school,” said one parent at Tuesday’s meeting. “That’s evident by the low student performance (at Huntingtowne Farms) compared to the other SouthPark-area elementary schools.”

The parent added that fixing school overcrowding is the first step in addressing student performance at Huntingtowne Farms, and “the most inexpensive and logical solution is reopening Starmount.”

A resident of the Montclaire neighborhood added, “A lot of our families leave our neighborhood once they have school-age children because they don’t have confidence in our neighborhood elementary school or the middle and high schools we’re assigned to.”

The eighth-ranked project is adding to and renovating Myers Park High School. The $22 million project would renovate the kitchen and cafeteria and add classroom space to remove the need for portable units.

The 10th-ranked project is at East Mecklenburg High School, where the school board wants to spend $12.7 million to add a 30-classroom building to cut down on the need for mobiles.

The 12th-ranked project is at South Mecklenburg High School, where two aging buildings need to be replaced with a 30-classroom building. The project, at $18.4 million, also would include a new kitchen and cafeteria.

The 15th-ranked project is the kindergarten to eighth-grade STEAM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, school in Ballantyne. The project, at more than $29 million, would provide relief for Ballantyne, Elon Park, Hawk Ridge and Polo Ridge elementary schools as well as Community House and Jay M. Robinson middle schools.

The school system’s capital projects will compete with projects requested by Central Piedmont Community College for the $300 million bond. The request from CMS makes up nearly that entire amount.

(Above) A girl practices riding at last year’s Bike Extravaganza event at St. Stephen United Methodist Church. This year’s event, held Saturday, April 20, at the south Charlotte church, had a number of children learn to ride their bikes without training wheels. The event also collected donations of bikes for kids in need throughout the area, which will be refurbished by the group Trips For Kids Charlotte.

Local kids experienced the feeling this weekend at the Bike Extravaganza, thanks to St. Stephen United Methodist Church and Trips For Kids Charlotte. And through the efforts of those two groups, even more kids might get to ride soon.

“It was fantastic,” the Rev. Melissa Lamm, church director of children and family ministries, said in summing up the Saturday, April 20, event. “The big success stories were kids that came on training wheels and left, with help from Trips For Kids, riding without training wheels. Some were even our little bitty kids whose parents were more reluctant than their kids” to take off the training wheels.

The secret, as explained by Trips For Kids’s Dick Winters, is taking off the training wheels and pedals, lowering the seat so children’s feet can touch the ground and helping kids learn balance before learning to ride.

“Training wheels give kids a false sense of balance,” Winters explained. “Taking the training wheels off and the pedals and letting kids scoot on it using their feet to move the bike forward … and from that they learn a better sense of balance. Training wheels teach you steering and pedaling before you learn balance.”

Lamm said around 100 people, including families from nearby Greenway Park Elementary, attended throughout the three-hour event. Winters estimated that 12 to 15 children learned to scoot without training wheels during the event, with some ready to ride their bikes home by the end of the day.

“To me, the most fun is watching kids graduate from riding with training wheels,” Winters said.

Added Lamm, “the ones who came on training wheels and left without were all extremely proud of themselves.”

Bike Extravaganza not only included opportunities for area children to learn to ride their bikes without training wheels, but also was responsible for bringing in 15 to 20 bicycle and scooter donations from local families for Trips For Kids. The group provides children from underserved neighborhoods with bicycles of their own, teaching the kids how to properly take care of their new ride.

“Kids go through a program called Earn-A-Bike, where they come in and learn about the safety involved with the bike, a little maintenance on it like changing a flat tire and they leave with a bike, a helmet, a lock and a set of lights,” Winters explained.

To earn their bicycle, kids have to complete lessons focused on personal responsibility, achievement and self-empowerment, according to the group’s website. They learn the names of the parts of the bike, take a “bike comprehension test” that challenges their skills and then pick out a bike and learn about how safely to wear a helmet and “commit to its use.”

The group also has outdoor riding afternoons at locations like the U.S. National Whitewater Center in western Mecklenburg County and Colonel Beatty Park in southeast Charlotte.

Trips For Kids also lucked out by hooking up with Ultimate Bicycle, which was at the event providing bike services to kids. The company ended up providing the nonprofit with a number of additional donations. Winters said there is always a need for bike donations, and anyone with a used bike in any condition can give it to the group. If it can’t be refurbished to a suitable condition, the group can use parts from the donation to fix up another bike or at the very least make sure it is recycled instead of ending up in a landfill.

Find more information at the nonprofit’s website, www.tripsforkid scharlotte.org. Along with bike and scooter donations, the group accepts cash and volunteers. Organizations wanting to host events with Trips For Kids, such as what St. Stephen UMC did, can contact the group online.

In addition to helping children learn to ride, Trips For Kids and Ultimate Bicycle did bike tune-ups, checked brakes, adjusted seats and checked air pressure in tires. The event also included ice cream and cotton candy for kids and a bike lane as part of the church ministry team’s effort to provide cheap family activities at least once a quarter. The church also does a fall festival and a bingo night in the winter.

Trish Baker, one of the event organizers, helped out on Saturday while her 8-year-old daughter, Amy, took part in the festivities.

“Amy washed her bike at the bike wash station, then went down and had it checked by Ultimate Bicycle and then decorated it,” Baker said. Amy then took her ride off to the bike lane to do some laps.

Find more information at the church’s website, www.ststephenumc.net. St. Stephen UMC is located at 6800 Sardis Road.

“CMS has actually tried to keep as many teacher assistants as possible,” Morrison said. “The thing that worries me the most in (Gov. Pat McCrory’s) budget is he has proposed cuts for teacher assistants. In CMS, that’s $12 million in cuts. That means 400 assistants.”

Morrison met with parents, CMS staff and community members on Monday, April 22, at a special community budget meeting in south Mecklenburg where participants voiced questions and concerns about next year’s school budget.

Morrison recently presented his proposed budget of more than $1.2 billion at a CMS Board of Education meeting earlier this month. The proposal includes a request of nearly $366 million from the county and $716.5 million from the state. Federal spending and grants would make up most of the rest. That doesn’t include nearly $300 million in bond money the system is requesting voters approve to fund area capital improvement projects.

In the budget, Morrison points out that CMS has seen five straight years of “multimillion-dollar cuts and redirections within our budget” totaling more than $236 million since fiscal year 2009. This year’s budget would be a 2.8 percent increase from last year, though Morrison again points to past cuts – spending per student would be lower than it was in 2009 due to enrollment growth. Next year, the district expects about 3,000 additional students, Morrison said.

“I consider (teacher assistants) critical partners in our education. While I think we need to add teacher assistants, it’s going to be tough to keep the ones we have,” he said.

Morrison named several themes in the budget proposal he says district officials have rated as top priorities, including items like increased technology and infrastructure, more professional development for educators, choice and innovation in neighborhood schools, literacy and community partnerships.

But one aspect that has area stakeholders intrigued is the increased technology and infrastructure in schools.

“Technology has changed every aspect of our lives and it is changing our education,” Morrison said. “We have to embrace this idea that through the global Internet, (we can have) a place of learning for our students.”

Morrison said adding infrastructure to all schools means ensuring schools have the wireless capabilities throughout all facilities, including mobile units and cottages, not only for added benefits in the classroom but also as a requirement for state testing in the coming years. Morrison also said the technology factor would include more devices for teachers and students.

Morrison said the district also would need to provide teachers with the right training to ensure they are equipped to use technology in an effective manner.

One local chemistry teacher posed concerns about technology, stating that she needs more textbooks in the classroom and though the age of printed text is dying, she wonders how the district plans to ensure all students have access to e-books when Internet service is not available in every household.

“It is a very serious challenge of what happens when students go home,” Morrison said. “We’ve been working with different partners in the county and city, like Time Warner Cable, who has agreed to offer low prices for families in poverty.”

Though Morrison also added that, with the right infrastructure in schools, the hope is students will be able to achieve more while in the school building.

“While technology is a wonderful tool and offers many opportunities to fix achievement gaps, it can also create more gaps,” Morrison said. “We are not going to let the digital divide affect the quality of education for our students.”

Find more details on the district’s operating budget and capital plan on the CMS website, cms.k12.nc.us.

Centered on Sharon Road across the street from the high-end mall, the church has a long history of missions and service all across the world. On Sunday, April 28, from 9:30 to 11 a.m., the church is giving members, their retail partners and people in the community a chance to get involved, too, at the Sharon UMC fifth annual mission fair.

“The idea is to bring agencies on site and let church members and community members see the breath of these agencies,” David Rhew, chairperson for the church’s mission and community outreach team, said. “This allows these agencies and nonprofits to be able to interact and tell their story. It really puts a face behind the ministry.”

The church has partnerships with various nonprofits throughout Charlotte, including local school Pinewood Elementary and various organizations working to embrace and lift up Charlotte’s homeless. Rhew said the intent of the event is to encourage people to give back and volunteer where help is needed. Rhew said the mission fair gives people a chance to explore many different options in hopes of finding the right fit.

Rhew started attending Sharon United Methodist Church around 30 years ago and has been heavily involved with missions and service for most of that time.

“I’ve been involved with a variety of different things… serving meals at Room In The Inn, volunteering at the men’s shelter. I just look for where I’m needed,” Rhew said. “This community has been very good to me and my family for 45 years. I’ve been here since 1969. It’s an opportunity to enrich the community that I’ve lived in.”

The church is expecting around 18 different ministries and organizations to attend the fair, adding most have a local influence while some may have some regional, national or international flavor, as well. Some organizations that will be represented are Habitat For Humanity, Room In The Inn, the Charlotte Rescue Mission, the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte, Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, A Child’s Place and House of FAVAR.

“As you can see, there is a whole cross section,” Rhew said. “If you want to be involved with Habitat, that’s great, but we really have something for all demographics.”

Some recent projects the church has been involved with include a Habitat For Humanity house dedicated earlier this year and a backpack program at Pinewood Elementary. The church’s youth group also is planning a summer trip to Alabama where they’ll work to renovate homes for the elderly, Rhew said.

The event is open to both church members and the public and will be held in the church’s Wesley Center. Agency representatives will be on hand to talk about volunteer opportunities and answer questions any participants may have.

Rhew said the mission fair is a great opportunity to check out Sharon United Methodist.

“To be honest, this is the first way many people make their entry into their potential life in the church – missions is that connection.”

Sharon United Methodist is located at 4411 Sharon Road. Following the mission fair, participants are invited to attend the church’s 11:15 a.m. contemporary service.  Find more information at the church’s website, www.sharonumc.org.

Next week will be the 30th anniversary for the Mecklenburg County Special Olympics Spring Games on Country Day’s campus, and it’s the 30th year Ball will be in charge. It will also be his last, as he’ll be retiring at the end of the school year.

Ball came to the school 32 years ago after being named Country Day’s first dean of students and quickly began work on service opportunities for upper school students. What started out as a lucky phone call asking for help led to a partnership much greater than he could ever imagine.

“It really got started at (the University of North Carolina at Charlotte) when we were asked to volunteer out there by Special Olympics,” Ball said. “I took the junior class there as a service project and the students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.”

The following year, Special Olympics organizers contacted Ball in hopes that Country Day would agree to host the Spring Games on their own campus.

“I thought it was only going to be for one year and we could manage that since it was a fabulous opportunity,” Ball said. But after a successful event, and strong kindness shown from Country Day upper school students to the Special Olympics athletes, the organization asked Ball and the school to take on the initiative again.

“The next year they called again, and then again the next year. We were both happy with the experience that it just became kind of a tradition over night. Special Olympics liked the location, they like the facilities, and if it wasn’t too much of a hardship, they would like to be here.”

It was exactly what Ball was looking for, though totally unexpected, he said. Working to find ways to engage his students in the community at-large, Ball said working with an organization like Special Olympics and the community they serve would have never crossed his mind if they hadn’t contacted him first. But he’s proud of the partnership that last year served about 1,000 kid, teen and adult athletes at the school for track and field events, softball, other motor activities and more.

Every year, Country Day students in ninth through 12th grade pair up with athletes throughout their time participating in the games. The students become encouragers, motivators and even friends, Ball said.

“It’s one of the things that I am most proud of because I felt when I came to Country Day that it was important to find a way to expose our kids to the community at large, to get them out of their comfort zones, to get them out of their boundaries,” Ball said. “The phone call from Special Olympics was a pure gift – it was just what I had in mind for the student body and in truth, the faculty, too.”

For Ball, the 30th anniversary is just an end to another chapter at Charlotte Country Day for him, as the school still plans on continuing the tradition in the future. Letting the tradition go is a little bittersweet, Ball said – so is leaving Country Day School and his position as a senior grade level coordinator. He said more than anything leaving behind students will be the hardest part about his retirement.

“It’s very bittersweet. I realize that there was not going to be a cut-off point, that there was always going to be a younger sister or a younger brother I wanted to get to know or a family that I was close to, but there was never going to be a clear line for me to leave,” he said.

This year’s Spring Games event will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, April 23 and 24, at the Charlotte Country Day School Cannon Campus, 1440 Carmel Road. Ball said in celebration of 30 years, the school has invited alumni to participate in this year’s event, as well, making it a great year to say goodbye, he added.

The store’s two south Charlotte locations – at 721 Governor Morrison St. and 9816 Rea Road – will both host 2.62-mile run/walk events on Monday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. The distance is derived from the 26.2 miles in a marathon.

There is no cost to take part in the event, though donations will be accepted. Funds raised will benefit victims of the terrorist attack and their families.

“Our view is that there was a tragic event, there were hundreds of people who were injured and there were people who were killed,” said Hal Smith, the TrySports spokesperson.  “… The Boston Marathon is the oldest and most respected symbol of running and healthy fit activity in the country and we want to help support – not only because of the running standpoint, but we would like to show our support for the entire community in Boston.”

The Boston Marathon has been taking place since 1897, and is the third Monday every April.  According to Smith, Boston officials say the marathon will continue to take place despite the explosions near the finish line during this year’s event.

“We want to do all that we can do to help recover,” Smith said.  “We understand that Boston is going to do the marathon again.  We think it’s an important tradition.”

All donations from the fundraiser will be given to The One Fund Boston, a fund set up by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to help people affected by the explosions. The fund received more than $7 million in donations in the first 24 hours.

TrySports leaders haven’t set a goal for their event, though hundreds have already signed up for the run/walk.  The company also will hold the event at their other locations in Mount Pleasant and Wilmington.

In addition to the donations collected, TrySports will donate 26.2 percent of all sales on Monday to The One Fund Boston.

“We are taking the entire company’s sales for that day and we are going to give 26.2 percent of the sales that day and that is going to be donated along with the contributions” from Monday, Smith said.

Only a week following the events in Boston, Smith said he and other members of TrySports felt it was important to begin raising money to help those in need right away while the tragedy is still fresh on everyone’s minds

With three people dead and more than 170 injured, every donation will help in some way.  Smith hopes all of the community will come together and help show Boston they have a support system here in Charlotte.

“Anything we can do, we wanted to do. And we wanted to show it right away, because we felt it was more important to do it now when people are feeling the effects of the tragic event,” he said.

Anyone who can’t attend the TrySports fundraiser but still wants to donate to help the Boston community can donate directly to The One Fund Boston by going to www.onefundboston.org.

For more information about the run/walk for Boston hosted by  TrySports go to www.trysports.com/article/view/runwalkforboston.

The group Park South of Union had proposed building a 46-unit townhome project at 6500 Park South Drive – an idea that drew the ire of a number of residents and some on council in February as a project that wouldn’t fit the character of the area. Along with a complaint the townhomes would be too tall, residents also voiced concerns about what will happen with stormwater runoff when the mostly vacant land becomes inhabited.

The water complaint still exists, though the proposed project is now down to 15 single-family homes. Developers say they’ve gone to extremes in ensuring they do all they can to control stormwater runoff once the project is in place, adding the developer’s water controls would be much better than what’s happening now at the site. The roughly five acres were partially developed before a previous project floundered, leaving the lot vacant.

“We’ve tried our best to explain” the stormwater improvements, said Babak Emadi, speaking on behalf of the project at the Monday, April 15, council meeting. “I simply don’t understand why (some neighbors) don’t accept the answers we have given them.”

Councilman Andy Dulin, who represents the SouthPark area, said he still has some concerns about water runoff, though added residents should be pleased with changes to the plan from what was seen in February.

“My first and still main concern is how these guys are going to handle the water,” Dulin said at Monday’s meeting, specifically pointing to issues with runoff and the nearby Teversham community. But Dulin said this might be the best residents can hope for. “I think this is a pretty good plan now,” he added.

Dulin expressed his wish that the developer and residents keep working over the next month to hammer out any remaining details on the issue before council votes, likely at the May 20 meeting. While the developer could build the 15 homes on the site without having the city rezone the land, they want to add a private road, which requires a different zoning classification. If the project is approved, the developer said it could become a gated community.

Council also voted this week to rezone land for two small communities and the expansion of an apartment complex in south Charlotte.

Council voted to approve the development of 27 single-family homes in the 9600 block of Wade Ardrey Road, in the Ballantyne area, following an earlier discussion insuring the homes would target the same architectural standards of others in the area; a 40-home, maintenance-free, age-targeted community, at the corner of Old Ardrey Kell Road and Providence Road West – despite some protest from area residents; and adding 120 units to the Piper Station Apartments on Ballantyne Commons Parkway near Rea Road and Brittany Oaks Drive.

An additional project – changing a two-story home at 7612 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. into office space – was up for discussion but received no debate.

Leaders with MetLife, a giant in the life insurance and employee benefits field, confirmed rumors this week when they announced the company’s new U.S. retail business headquarters would in fact be coming to Ballantyne. The move to Charlotte was announced last month, but the exact location wasn’t officially announced until this week.

The corporate park had more than enough space to accommodate such a large move – not because vacancy is up in Ballantyne, but because park chairman Smoky Bissell made the decision years ago to prepare for better days despite what the recession was throwing at them.

“At its core, this is really just Smoky Bissell at his finest,” said Ned Curran, park president and CEO, on Bissell’s decision to build office space in Ballantyne despite not having any tenants lined up for the buildings. Bissell decided in the heart of the recession to build two new, 10-story buildings – the Gragg and Woodward buildings – at a combined 550,000 square feet of office space. They cost $21 million each and soon will be home to 1,300 MetLife employees. The company will completely fill the Gragg Building and take up two floors of the Woodward Building.

“(Bissell) bears the risk, has the risk tolerance,” Curran said of the decision. “He’s the one that, against the current (of a poor economy), he just has a certain conviction about Charlotte and about Ballantyne that he believes it’s going to attract more than its percentage of the market share. And that’s been borne out.”

The corporate park has filled some 600,000 square feet of space annually since 2008 in business expansions, renewals and new leases, something that’s “compelling even on a national basis,” Curran said, adding Bissell has faith that “we’re in one of the finest cities in the country to live and work and … if we bring the product and do it right, we’ll win the business.”

The corporate park is constantly planning for more buildings, Curran said, including projects that could blend a number of uses such as office space, dining and possibly even residential space. Speculative building, or constructing buildings without a guarantee anyone will ever move there, is something the park has become an expert in. Of all the buildings in the park, Curran said only three were built specifically for a business.

If the Gragg and Woodward buildings hadn’t been sitting there waiting for inhabitants, MetLife could be going somewhere else in Charlotte, taking those jobs and local dollars with it. MetLife executive vice president Eric Steigerwalt said in a news release announcing the decision that the park’s “impressive facilities” was a key factor.

“I think the business cycle for many years now has become shorter and shorter in terms of decision makers’ timeframes to makes decisions,” Curran said of a company picking where to expand or relocate. “And to conceive of a building, have the plans done and to build the building today is probably a 20 to 30 month period. That’s an eternity in today’s business cycle.

“If we have products standing, we will win the lion’s share of the business.”

The park won MetLife, just as it did SPX Corp. when the multinational company decided to stay in Ballantyne last year – leading to the new building overlooking Johnston Road and Interstate 485 where some 430 employees work. That was one of the few times the park built new housing specifically for a company. SPX already had some employees in Ballantyne, and decided to keep them there when it came time to expand.

Expansion will continue, something park leaders have been working on in more ways than just constructing buildings. The recent partnership between the park, city, county and state has Bissell paying $11 million for local road improvements – including the Community House Road bridge crossing I-485. Bissell wanted the improvements in order to prepare the park for growth, and opted to push the projects now instead of waiting for the city or state to get around to the work. Bissell will get paid back over the course of 15 years, receiving 45 percent of new taxes generated by increased tax values in the park.

Fourteen spots for new buildings were indicated in the original proposal for the public-private partnership. Some of that space already is filled.

The MetLife decision could have a far-reaching impact on the region, especially in the area housing market. Elaine Eschert, an area real estate agent with Golden Properties, said in an interview with South Charlotte Weekly last month that MetLife coming to Ballantyne could be good news for people who have been waiting to sell their homes. Speaking on Wednesday, Eschert said the region is currently experiencing an explosion in home sales, something MetLife coming to town only will help.

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “Because, as more and more companies relocate here, it gives other companies the thought that ‘MetLife moved there, maybe we should look at moving there, too.’”

To that, Curran says he still has eight floors open in the Woodward Building, if you’re interested.