UPDATED March 19, 2022:
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte’s sale of surplus land in South Charlotte closed last week, making way for a public high school and providing funds to help accommodate the long-term needs of the rapidly growing Catholic Church in western North Carolina.
Plans for the sale were announced in May 2021, and the transaction closed on March 15 at a price of $36.5 million. The land was one of the last large tracts remaining in the high-growth area.
“This arrangement was a great collaboration and provides for public, private and Church interests,” said Anthony Morlando, director of diocesan properties. “Growth is a defining narrative for Charlotte and for the diocese, and this sale will help us plan for and accommodate that growth long into the future.”
Proceeds from the sale will continue to serve as an investment for the diocese, as approved by the Vatican, and will be set aside to generate ongoing income to secure land for future growth of the Church, improve facilities, and to establish an endowment to support the diocese’s expanding vocations program.
“As a young diocese of just 50 years, these types of capital investments and endowments are important as we continue to establish long-term financial security for the future,” said Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese.
The transaction will not affect the neighboring British International School of Charlotte, located on 11 acres the diocese retains.
For more details, see the story below originally published June 4, 2021:
Diocese sells south Charlotte land to provide for growth, benefit community
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte announced Tuesday it is selling 73 acres of surplus land in south Charlotte that will result in construction of a public high school.
The land, located at North Community House and Johnston roads, is being sold to Carolinas-based Woodfield Development, which is planning to build a housing development on 18 acres and selling the other 55 acres to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for a future high school.
The CMS school board approved plans for the new school late Tuesday, to provide relief for crowding at Audrey Kell and South Mecklenburg high schools.
“We’re pleased the land will benefit the community,” the diocese said in a statement released May 25. “We bought the land in 1991 as a possible home for a new school or parish, anticipating future growth of the Church in the Charlotte area. Over time, it became unnecessary to build at this location considering the success of nearby St. Matthew Parish and Charlotte Catholic High School. So last year, following a strategic planning analysis, we agreed to sell the land to Woodfield and have since worked closely with the development company to accommodate its plan to sell a portion of the land to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for a public high school.”
Woodfield Development plans to build a multifamily community on the site it will retain, located in the heart of the fast-growing Ballantyne area. The developer already has more than 30 similar communities in the Carolinas, as well as Washington, D.C., south Florida and greater Philadelphia.
At the developer’s request, the sale price will be disclosed at the conclusion of a due diligence period that ends June 15. But in its statement, the diocese outlined its plans for investment: “Proceeds from the sale of our property, approved by the Vatican for funding capital acquisition and improvements as well as long-term investments, will go toward securing land to accommodate growth of the Church in western North Carolina, improving facilities, and establishing an endowment to provide ongoing support for our expanding vocations program.”
The Catholic population of western North Carolina has swelled to approximately 515,000 people. The diocese’s vocations program is also experiencing rapid growth, with 41 seminarians currently enrolled in various stages of formation.
The south Charlotte parcel was part of a far-sighted plan by then Bishop John Donoghue to accommodate future population growth spurred by the building of the I-485 corridor around Charlotte in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That strategic vision prompted the creation of several new parishes around the future outer loop, including St. Matthew, St. Luke in Mint Hill and St. Mark in Huntersville.
The land being sold is located adjacent to the British International School of Charlotte, which leases 11 acres from the diocese. The transaction will not affect this arrangement, the diocese said. The plan does require the relocation of school’s athletic field, which will result in a new facility for the British International School.
Although in the past the land had been suggested as a possible site for a Catholic school expansion or a sports complex, diocesan officials determined the sale was “the highest and best use of the diocese’s surplus property in this location and will provide for a variety of real estate and growth needs in the future.”
Diocesan Catholic School leaders are working with individual schools to evaluate capital needs as part of a strategic planning process, which could include other options for a middle school and athletic fields if those projects emerge as funding priorities.
— Catholic News Herald