Exclusive: Byron's South End to close
Plus: Non-profit brings aquaponics into schools; too-hot-to-handle July rezonings🔥; CMS public hearing tomorrow on boundary changes; Rock Hill hosts national air guitar championships🎸
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Longtime event venue that saw South End grow around it for two decades will be forced to close when its lease ends this spring; ‘we’ve had a who’s-who in that place’
Byron’s South End has hosted VIPs including sitting governors and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, who made an appearance there during the 2019 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of Best Impressions Caterers)
by Cristina Bolling and Tony Mecia
Byron’s South End, one of Charlotte’s most popular banquet halls that’s been home to countless weddings, galas and business meetings for two decades, will close next spring.
The business is operated by Best Impressions Caterers, and company chairman Dave Byron said property owner Asana Partners didn’t offer the option of signing a new lease when the current lease expires at the end of April.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Byron told The Ledger. “We’ve had a who’s-who in that place. … A lot of families have celebrated some great events over there through the years, and they’ll be sad to see it go.”
A representative for Asana Partners told the Ledger via email Friday that the company “doesn’t have any details to share about the space at this time.”
Dave Byron said he’d like to open another event hall similar in size to Byron’s South End “on the fringes” of South End, but that he’s looking for a space. Byron’s South End is just under 11,000 s.f. and can hold about 250 people.
Byron’s South End opened in 2002 in a space previously occupied by Spaghetti Warehouse. The building dates back to the 1920s, when it was a knitting mill, and Byron’s kept some of that historic charm with exposed brick walls and cotton mill-style windows. Best Impressions also moved its offices there.
An era with no light rail or today’s breweries: When Bryon’s opened, South End was very different than it is today: The light rail line had not opened, thousands of apartments were yet to be built, and none of today’s breweries was in existence. Since then, South End has grown up around the spot, with the Lowe’s Design Center Tower across the street and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Shake Shack around the corner.
Byron said Covid was “devastating” for his business while venues were shut down, but that he expects 2022 to be his company’s best year yet, due to pent-up demand and events that were postponed from 2020 and 2021.
Some event planners say the city needs more medium-size event spaces like Byron’s South End. A few venues have recently closed or are closing, including Norfolk Hall, an event space next to Suffolk Punch in South End that will stop hosting events in December when construction on a new tower starts on the site.
“As rents rise and more spaces are turned into high-rises, it does become more difficult to find event space, especially affordable event space,” said Casey Wilson of Carben Events + Marketing. “Event planners have to get creative sometimes.”
New event venue for Camp North End: As Best Impressions Caterers plans to close Byron’s South End, it is planning a new, much larger event space in Camp North End next spring.
The company signed a lease for a spot at 701 Keswick Ave. called “The Revelry North End,” the Charlotte Business Journal first reported in January.
The 19,000 s.f. Revelry North End space will hold 600 to 750 people for a seated dinner or 1,000 to 1,200 for a cocktail reception, Byron told The Ledger.
He said Charlotte currently has few options for large-scale events other than big venues like the Charlotte Convention Center and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Best Impressions also runs other venues around town including the VanLandingham Estate in Plaza-Midwood and has contracts to cater events at other well-known spots.
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of The Ledger: cristina@cltledger.com
Today’s supporting sponsors are Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews …
… and T.R. Lawing Realty:
Charity Spotlight: 100 Gardens brings aquaponics to area schools
Back in 2012, Sam Fleming and Charles Oliphant founded 100 Gardens with the goal of bringing 100 aquaponics gardens to the Charlotte area. So far, they’ve created 18 programs in schools and correctional facilities to bring learning, quite literally, to life.
Aquaponics is a type of farming that combines live freshwater fish and vegetables in a symbiotic environment. It takes pressure off ocean ecosystems, conserves precious freshwater supplies, and feeds a growing human population, Fleming said.
Here’s how it works: A floating bed of plants sits on top of a freshwater tank, which is filled with fish. The plants’ roots are naturally fertilized in the water from the fish’s bacteria. The plants eventually produce vegetables, which are harvested by students.
100 Gardens has installed gardens in Garinger High School, Myers Park High School, Oakhurst STEAM Academy, Walker G. Buyers School, West Charlotte High School and Cabarrus Youth Development Center in Concord.
Not only does 100 Gardens physically install the aquaponics gardens, but it also provides professional development for teachers, leads a curriculum for students and visits the garden once a week to help the schools care for and grow their gardens.
Students hold up the two major components of an aquaponics ecosystem: fish and plants. The bacteria from the fish provides the plants with nutrients through the water. The students then harvest the vegetables and sell them to restaurants, which provides the funds for the school to keep the garden running from year to year. (Photo courtesy of 100 Gardens)
Fleming said the aquaponics system pays for itself over time. A garden costs anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a year depending on how far away the school is from 100 Gardens. Schools contribute some of that cost, and the rest is covered through the products sold to restaurants.
Schools sell the produce from their aquaponics gardens to local restaurants like Mariposa, Fern, Stoke and Golden Owl Tavern and the catering company Something Classic. Mariposa even has a “100 Gardens” salad on its menu.
100 Gardens has four staff members and 30 active volunteers. Fleming said staff works with the school’s career and technical education classes, specifically the business career track, that teach students how to sell their produce to restaurants. Students not only run the aquaponics system but they also track the yield and invoice the restaurants.
Fleming said that in the future, he hopes 100 Gardens grows its outreach toward other school districts and communities to change the way humans garden and consume food.
“We’re teaching how to be sustainable, so at the end of it, we can partner with whole communities and create smarter, healthier and more compassionate people systemically and holistically,” he said. —LB
What time is it? Rezoning time!🔥
Hold on to your seats — it’s time for The Ledger’s popular monthly feature in which we summarize the rezoning petitions filed by developers in Charlotte! Is there something headed near your neighborhood? You can wait to hear about it from rumblings on Nextdoor in a few months — or you see for yourself now.
Rezoning filings are a window into development plans across the city:
New this month, plans for:
an office building on Carmel Road in south Charlotte
apartments in University City, by NorthLake Mall, Monroe Road and SouthPark
townhomes near Camp North End, University City and east Charlotte
a research campus — with “residential use”! — by Bartlett Tree Co. near The Palisades
a mixed-used development on 15 acres in Steele Creek
And oh yes, there is more. (If you can’t get enough and want to read June’s rezonings, here you go.)
We recap all the rezoning filings from the previous month in one handy place. They’re available only to Ledger paying members.
Enjoy! —TM
In brief:
Fake nanny: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say a woman posed as a nanny and interviewed or provided childcare in order to gain access to families’ homes and steal jewelry or prescription drugs. Sarah Catherine Seltzer, 33, faces at least eight charges, including two counts of breaking and entering, felony larceny and obtaining property by false pretenses. One person said she became a victim after posting a job on Nextdoor. (WCNC)
CMS public hearing tomorrow on boundary changes: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board will hear district leaders’ plans Tuesday night for drawing new boundaries to accommodate three new elementary schools that are scheduled to open in fall 2023. There will be a public hearing at the 6 p.m. meeting to discuss the new boundaries, which you can view in this presentation. To speak at the meeting, email boardservices@cms.k12.nc.us or call 980-343-5163 by noon Tuesday. The meeting will be held in-person and broadcast on the board’s Facebook page. The new schools are designed to relieve overcrowding in the Ballantyne, Windsor Park and Hidden Valley areas.
Jeld-Wen CEO resigns: Gary Michel has resigned as CEO and board chair of window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen, the company announced Friday. Michel joined Jeld-Wen as its CEO in 2018 and had previously been an executive at Honeywell. Kevin Lilly, who has been Jeld-Wen’s executive vice president and chief information officer, is interim CEO during the search for Michel’s replacement. (Biz Journal)
Surge in immigrants arriving: Charlotte’s Latin American Coalition says it has seen a surge in immigrants arriving in Charlotte on buses from the Texas border in recent months. The coalition said 1,400 immigrants have arrived in Charlotte since May. A majority are from Venezuela, with others from Colombia, Nicaragua and other countries. “Right now, we have an emergency,” said José Hernandez París with the coalition. (WSOC)
Pharmacy degree partnership: Johnson C. Smith University is teaming up with Howard University to offer a seven-year dual-degree program that allows students to earn a bachelor’s in science from JCSU and a pharmacy degree from Howard. Howard’s pharmacy program ranks No. 1 among seven HBCUs that offer the degree. (Charlotte Post)
School principal pay: Some North Carolina principals fear they could see their pay cut next year, after state lawmakers passed a budget in July that raises principal salaries by 4% but changes how school test scores will be used in determining pay. This year’s budget bases salaries on the 2021-2022 school year when test scores were still lagging from Covid, instead of using data from multiple years. (AP via WFAE)
Mills inducted into Hall of Fame: Sam Mills, the late Carolina Panthers linebacker who coined the team slogan “Keep Pounding,” was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Mills died of cancer in 2005 at age 45. Mills’ wife, Melanie Mills, unveiled his bust during the ceremony and closed her acceptance speech by saying: “Keep pounding, everyone. That’s what Sam would want you to do.” (Observer)
Loves me some internet — Rock Hill air guitar edition
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project