UNC Charlotte Opens New Building; Medical Center Expected to Expand

By Amalia Otet, Associate Editor

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte celebrated the opening of its brand-new $50.4 million building in the city’s First Ward. The 11-story, state-of-the-art structure at the corner of Ninth and Brevard Streets was completed this summer and will accommodate various graduate programs. Center City comprises 143,000 square feet of education space, including a 300-seat auditorium, an art gallery, a restaurant and a bagel bar, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

In other news, Lime Energy Co., a national leader in planning and delivering clean energy solutions, recently announced plans to move its corporate headquarters from Chicago to the Queen City the coming fall.

The company has chosen Charlotte in light of several findings including the large educated workforce available, the highly developed infrastructure and the low cost of doing business in the area. With over 400 employees at 20 locations nationwide, including 100 professionals in North Carolina, Lime Energy’s intentions are to keep growing. Its relocation to Huntersville will bring about 50 to 75 new jobs over the next two years in such fields like engineering, information technology and project management.

In other news, the Charlotte Observer reports important progress on the Carolinas Medical Center- Pineville expansion project. The hospital broke ground in early August on a $160 million tower that’s going to add almost 100 beds and about 280,000 square feet to the existing health care facility. It is slated for completion by December 2012.

The tower is part of a much more complex, $300 million project started in December 2007 that is designed to improve services and accessibility to specialized medical care for the entire region. Serving such a fast growing area like south Charlotte, along with Pineville and parts of South Carolina, the enterprise was highly appreciated by city officials and residents alike.