Demolition of crime-ridden motel brings hope to N. Tryon

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

An eyesore in the heart of uptown Charlotte is now gone. Crews finished tearing down the City Center Inn, formerly the Days Inn, Tuesday on North Tryon Street to make way for a future high-rise.

IMAGES: Demolition of crime-ridden motel brings hope to N. Tryon Eyewitness News anchor Scott Wickersham spoke to those who live and work nearby and city leaders to get the latest on their plan to revive that part of uptown. A design firm hired by the city is drafting a new concept for that part of uptown, and the demolition is a sign the recovering economy is also helping out. People are glad the old hotel is gone but said it will take more drastic steps to fully revitalize that portion of North Tryon Street. City leaders called the motel from the 1960s a magnet for crime. The lot is now the likely future location of Skyhouse 2, a twin of SkyHouse 1, a 24-story apartment high-rise building under construction next door. Lamar Blocker was happy to see the motel and its problems gone. (There was) prostitution and drugs and robberies, Blocker said. The lack of foot traffic, retail and restaurants there is a source of concern for Patrick Longo at Woodies Auto Service. There's a lot of business and a lot of people walking around on the other end of town, and we'd like some of that too, Longo said. Center City Partners hopes to change that. CEO Michael Smith said the company hired to draft a new concept for the North Tryon area should be done with it by next summer. In the meantime, the private development is a big help. That would be a thousand residents in a spot that before now had a lot of vagrancy, Smith said. Allison Stewart, who styles hair across the street, said the vagrancy issues won't go away until the city moves the homeless population out. We have a lot of vandalism, Stewart said. They steal our trash cans. But Im hoping once we have more residents in this area, we will have more security. It's an issue city leaders have discussed but not taken any action on. But they hope the demolition of the motel will lead to new life on North Tryon Street. The first Skyhouse tower is expected to be finished early next summer, with 336 apartments. Construction on Skyhouse 2 could start next summer.

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Demolition of crime-ridden motel brings hope to N. Tryon