What was once a sleepy grid of streets in Charlotte’s Cherry neighborhood is now packed curb to curb with construction worker cars, neighbors say, thanks to the new high-rise going up at 1200 Metropolitan. Residents report blocked driveways, missed trash pickups, bus detours and dicey turns on streets that used to be an easy cruise. Longtime neighbor Barbara Rainey summed it up bluntly: "it's been chaos for the whole neighborhood 'cause we all suffer through it."
As reported by The Charlotte Observer, neighbors including Kevin Edwards and Sylvia Bittle-Patton told the paper that construction crews are parking on neighborhood blocks throughout the workday and sometimes overnight. They say the sea of cars is creating safety and access problems, with some drivers barely able to swing around corners without risking a collision and delivery trucks struggling to get through. Several residents pointed back to assurances made during rezoning that there would be "no staging or cut-through traffic" through Cherry.
Developer says it's addressing parking
Northwood Ravin, the developer behind the project, told The Charlotte Observer it "understands concerns about on-street parking and is working with contractors to ensure crews follow parking regulations." The company says it has leased a nearby lot to cut down on workers taking neighborhood spaces and is reminding crews not to block driveways. Northwood Ravin has also been touting construction milestones and topping-off notices in updates on its own pages; see the developer’s updates on LinkedIn for the latest, as the project moves toward delivery next year.
City steps in with parking restrictions
City officials have now put new corner parking restrictions in place at several spots to improve sightlines and say they have pushed the developer to coordinate detailed staging and parking plans with the Charlotte Department of Transportation. City spokesperson Jack Vandertoll asked Northwood Ravin to remind workers not to block driveways and reiterated that crews are expected to stick to agreed-upon hours, roughly Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The 27-story, roughly 283-unit 1200 Metropolitan tower has been in the works for years and recently topped out, with delivery targeted in 2027, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Neighbors push for off-site staging and enforcement
Residents told the Observer they want Northwood Ravin to go further and rent an off-site garage, then shuttle workers in, which they argue would finally take pressure off Cherry’s residential blocks. Sylvia Bittle-Patton said the community was promised there would be no staging during rezoning, and neighbors now want both the developer and the city to enforce those commitments. For the moment, organizers say they will keep pressing for clearer staging plans, stronger enforcement and more off-site parking as construction on the Midtown tower grinds on.
