Things are finally buzzing at the old Charlotte Coliseum

A 300-ish unit apartment complex is close to full. A new townhome community is about to have a grand opening. A dual-branded hotel is under construction. Tenants are lining up for a retail complex. And there’s still scores of acres left on the property for more office development. All together, it will make up the City Park area, under development by Pope & Land out of Atlanta.

Image via Pope & Land

In case you don’t remember a time when professional basketball in Charlotte wasn’t uptown, the original Hive was off West Tyvola Road just south of the Billy Graham Parkway.

The Hornets set all kinds of attendance records there in the 1990s, and the building hosted a NCAA Final Four and an NBA All-Star Game.

But the stadium fell out-of-date (no luxury suites), and was a key sticking point between Charlotte and original Hornets owner George Shinn. He ultimately took the team to New Orleans after a public vote on a new stadium failed. One of the big requirements before landing the Bobcats as an expansion NBA franchise in the mid-2000s was the guarantee of a new uptown arena. Charlotte got it.

The old coliseum came down in 2007.

This location has a ton of advantages. It’s in driving distance of the LakePointe Corporate Center, the future home of Sealed Air’s global headquarters. Right across the street, a massive new VA outpatient hospital is being built. I’m hearing that nurses there are looking for homes in the CityPark development.

There’s quite a bit of new retail opening up in the area. Belk, AT&T and UTC Aerospace Systems all have employee locations out there.

Plus once City Park is finished, there will be direct access to the Charlotte Farmer’s Market adjacent to the property on Yorkmont.

Here’s a look around the development

The apartments were completed in late 2013 and are fairly standard in construction. Three stories. Rent runs around $1,000/month for a one-bedroom and $1,300 to $1,400 per month for a two-bedroom.

The grand opening for the townhome community — built by Ryan Homes — will be February 2 and 7, though the leasing office has just moved in. Construction is nearly complete. Pricing is from the $210,000s to the $220,000s.

Here’s what they will look like:

The hotel brands will be Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn. Under construction.

Here’s what they’ll look like when they’re done.

Image via Ryan Homes

Retail is likely to include a coffee shop, a dry cleaner and potentially a fast food-type restaurant.

Image via Ryan Homes

Then there’s still all this land to develop in the future. It will likely be office.