Charlotte's Eastland Sports Campus breaks ground with big economic promise

By the numbers: The city is funding $41.2 million of the $67 million project. The rest is coming from the private sector.

• Annually, the campus will provide an estimated $170 million in economic impact, 500 jobs and 1,000 hours of free community use for the indoor sports facility, according to Robert Bolton of Bolton, Ivory & Cantey LLC and a managing partner of the project, citing figures from local consulting firm Synergy Sports.

What to expect: The roughly 30-acre site will have indoor and outdoor sports facilities, including:

• Six full-size multipurpose athletic fields
• Bike paths and green space
• 100,000-square-foot indoor facility with volleyball and basketball courts
• Health and wellness offices
• An academic learning center
• STEM lab
• Food and beverage stations

Between the lines: The project is being led by Charlotte Soccer Academy, EDGE Sports Global and Bolton, Ivory & Cantey LLC.

• For CSA, a longtime club program in the Charlotte area, the fields cannot come soon enough. As Charlotte grows, so has the demand for amateur athletic fields.
• In addition to 8,500 kids currently playing for CSA, they usually have to turn away 500-600 families a year due to a lack of space, CSA president Jim Cantalupo tells Axios.
• CSA, which has fields across the county, is contributing $8 million to the project, which will serve as a hub for their Uptown and Matthews players.
• Cantalupo says CSA has scholarships available to help economically disadvantaged players gain access to the sport.

What's next: Construction will really pick up in the third quarter of 2026, Bolton tells Axios. "It takes about six months to complete the city permitting process," he says.

• The goal is to open the fields in early 2028 and the building itself by late 2028.
• "This project is going to happen," Bolton, an alumnus of nearby Independence High School, says. "When you're doing a private-public partnership, things take a bit of time."

Flashback: Prior to Eastland Yards breaking ground in 2022, Tepper Sports & Entertainment had intended to have some of Charlotte FC's fields there. Charlotte FC instead opted for another east Charlotte site in order to move into the space faster. The club's Atrium Health Performance Park officially opened in 2023.

What we're watching: While plans have evolved for this section of the project over the years, there may be more to come for sports at Eastland.

• Discussions are in the works to add a hockey rink to the site, CBJ reported. A decision on the rink has not been made, and a timeline for this decision has not been set, Bolton says.