Charlotte UrbanCORE Facilitated The Blueprint For West Charlotte Cooperative
West Charlotte will soon be home to a for-profit, cooperative grocery store. A capital campaign to fund the $10 million cost of the co-op on West Boulevard and Clanton Road has been given a notable boost with funding commitments from key public funding sources, most significantly Mecklenburg County, the project’s longest-standing supporter and partner.
In addition to $3.25 million from Mecklenburg County, the Charlotte City Council has pledged $1.5 million and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has pledged $750,000 (with advocacy from North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams) to the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition, the nonprofit organization leading development efforts.
UNC Charlotte’s urbanCORE facilitated the working group of community leaders and university researchers that developed the blueprint for the community-based, community-owned cooperative. In 2021, the group published “Tackling Food Insecurity in West Charlotte,” a comprehensive report that outlines the challenges, a proposed solution and outcomes as well as projected investment requirements that have been updated since the report’s release.