The vote took less than thirty seconds. No discussion, no questions from the dais, no public comment. Commissioner Laura Meier moved. Someone seconded. Nine hands went up. The clerk recorded it as unanimous.
With that, Mecklenburg County authorized its manager to spend $4.5 million to acquire the former Smith School at 1600 Tyvola Road — 8.2 acres of land that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools vacated five years ago over employee health concerns — and repurpose it for housing.
The acquisition was one of two closed-session real estate actions the board took at its April 7 regular meeting, which also featured a charged exchange over property tax legislation that ended with Chair Mark Jerrell directing staff to explore litigation against the state. The real estate votes, by contrast, were the quietest business of the evening.
What the County Is Buying
The building at 1600 Tyvola Road started its life as Smith Language Academy, a K-8 magnet school. When that program relocated to Waddell, CMS converted the site into the Smith Family Center — a walk-in office for families enrolling new students and seeking placement services.
CMS closed the building in March 2021 after employees raised concerns about building conditions and reported cancer diagnoses among staff who had worked there. The school board launched an investigation into a potential occupational cancer cluster, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was consulted. The building has sat vacant since.
Jerrell read the motion into the record in the clipped language of real estate transactions: "tax parcel 171-152-01, plus or minus 8.2 acres... for future housing purposes to be outlined in a memorandum of agreement, among other terms and conditions... contingent upon approval by the BOE."
No details were provided on what kind of housing, how many units, or what income levels would be served. The purchase is contingent on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education approval.
Why 8.2 Acres on Tyvola Road Matters
Mecklenburg County faces a deficit of 36,000 affordable housing units. Nearly half of county residents are cost-burdened — housing consumes more than 30 percent of their income. The county has invested $334.6 million in housing since 2018, dedicated $45 million to housing and homelessness in the current fiscal year, and is currently reviewing 18 proposals totaling more than $45 million for its Housing Trust Fund with about $29 million available.
An 8.2-acre parcel in the heart of south Charlotte — near SouthPark, off the I-77 corridor — does not come up for public acquisition often.
The Other $7.5 Million
The second closed-session vote authorized the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education to purchase 39 acres from Crescent River District LLC for $7.5 million. The land will be used to build a replacement for Berryhill K-8, one of the more unusual campuses in the CMS system: the current school still operates on a well and septic system with no connection to city water and sewer.
The replacement project is part of the $2.5 billion school bond voters approved in 2023. The new school is designed for 54 classrooms, with a target completion date of August 2028.
That vote was also unanimous. It also drew no discussion.
The Item That Did Draw Discussion
The $12 million in real estate sailed through. A consent agenda item consolidating about 32 shared county-CMS facilities into a single master agreement did not.
The board approved the master joint property use agreement — replacing years of individual site-by-site leases covering parks adjacent to schools, gyms, and parking lots with one framework and twice-yearly review meetings. Peter Cook, a Park and Recreation staff advisor, presented the agreement alongside real estate manager Jacqueline McNeil. "We recommend this joint use agreement," Cook said.
But Commissioner George Dunlap said he had received "quite a number of phone calls" from people worried about one facility in particular: the Second Ward High School National Alumni Foundation gymnasium.
The alumni foundation signed its lease in 2018. That lease comes up for renewal in 2028 — the same year a new school CMS is building next door is scheduled to open. The foundation's current parking, 65 surface spaces in front of the old Metro School, will be lost to construction. McNeil said the county had already secured 100 replacement spaces in the new school's parking deck, on a complimentary basis. That agreement was signed last month.
On paper, more spaces. In practice, the alumni were worried. Commissioner Arthur Griffin explained why — and named a pattern. Progress, he said, "always end up impacting the African American community or assets in a very negative way."
He offered an analogy. "There is a church that was in First Ward," Griffin said. "Urban removal moved it over to Third Ward on Cedar and West Trade Street. That church had an agreement for a permanent parking agreement, and today that church is struggling because of growth." The worry, Griffin said, is that the county will develop "everything around that gymnasium" until it is choked by growth — the same way the church was.
McNeil said the agreement includes a provision requiring both parties to reach mutual agreement before either can terminate — a safeguard, not an exit ramp. Jerrell went further: he asked County Manager Mike Bryant to schedule a direct meeting with the alumni group. "I think it's legitimate what they're saying," Jerrell said. "If we do need to make adjustments... I would be advocating with the board to make whatever adjustments we need to make to make sure that they're protected."
Cook answered Griffin directly. "I was part of that agreement back in 2018," he said. "We'll make sure we have the meeting with the Second Ward alumni association. Will be there."
Commissioner Elaine Powell, finishing her final term, used the closing minutes to recognize both McNeil and Cook. "Thank you for your great brain, Jacqueline," she said. Then she turned to Cook. "I don't want to get choked up," she said, "but I will tell you that whatever you want to be heard from the community, Peter will be there." She said she had known him for decades. "Whenever I read Galatians about fruits of the spirit," Powell said, "that is him. He is so kind, so caring, always listening, trying to do what's best to build a community."
Cook is kind of quiet. That is, apparently, what a great listener sounds like.