Plaza Midwood cultural center tenants told they must leave after building sale
Tenants of the Midwood International and Cultural Center have been notified that the building will be sold and leases will not be renewed after 2023.
The building, at 1817 Central Ave. in the heart of Plaza Midwood, has been home to the cultural center, including the International House and several other immigrant, cultural and arts nonprofits since 2013. It is the former Midwood High School and currently is owned by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Last week tenants were notified CMS plans to sell the building by September to boutique development company Charlotte-based Conformity Corporation, said Autumn Weil, executive director of the International House, which offers immigration law and citizenship programs, language classes and other cultural events.
As part of that upcoming deal, tenants will be given a two-year notice period, meaning they could stay no longer than September 2023, according to the notification Weil and others received.
‘We’re very grateful... for the arrangement we’ve enjoyed creating this international and cultural center. We hope we can maintain that in the future,” she said.
“It is quite a tragedy that Plaza Midwood is facing gentrification just like many of the areas in Charlotte,” Weil said. “Unfortunately our clients are being pushed out further and further.”
‘Tough to replicate’
The former high school building, built in 1939, sits in the middle of the fast-growing Plaza Midwood neighborhood.
It has more than a dozen tenants, according to Weil, including the Light Factory, the League of Women Voters, Charlotte Lit and Mosaic Church.
A CMS spokeswoman did not respond to questions from the Observer about the sale. Representatives from Conformity Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
Details about the proposed sale price or timing were not immediately available.
According to Observer reports in 2013, CMS leased the 45,000 square-foot building to the Midwood Cultural Arts and International Center for $1 per year for five years.
Other organizations then sub-leased space from the cultural center. The International House also rents out auditorium space for events and recently held vaccination events, Weil said.
Even after the initial five-year term, CMS leased the space for at least half of market rate for the rapidly-growing neighborhood, Weil said. Those terms made it feasible for her organization and other nonprofits focused on immigrant and cultural issues to afford the area.
Weil said her organization’s board will decide in the coming months if it will try to find a new space where a hub of international and community-minded groups could be under the same roof again, but admitted it might not be possible financially.
The property was valued at $9.3 million in the last county revaluation, according to Mecklenburg County records.
Weil said her organization had hoped to inquire about buying the building from CMS.
“Unfortunately, we’re just not going to be able to do that. We can’t compete with a private development firm,” she said. “Maybe a benefactor will come out of the blue and provide us with similar opportunity moving forward, but it’ll probably be tough to replicate.”
