CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference is a step closer to its move to Charlotte after Mecklenburg County commissioners approved a business investment grant for the conference.
The grant is part of larger incentive packages from both state and local governments to keep the ACC in North Carolina.
In September, the conference announced it would move its headquarters from Greensboro, its historical home for roughly 70 years, to the Charlotte market.
“The board [also] recognizes and expresses our thanks for what has been a truly wonderful relationship with Greensboro over the last 70 years, and we appreciate the support shown by the state of North Carolina to have the league office remain in the state. We are grateful to the city of Charlotte and look forward to a flourishing partnership,” said ACC Board of Directors Chair Vincent Price at the time.
On Wednesday night, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 7-1 to approve its incentives for the conference’s new home.
Commissioners approved negotiating a business investment program grant worth about $40,000 over the next three years for the ACC.
The presentation from Mecklenburg County’s Office of Economic Development also shed more light on the details of the new headquarters.
The ACC will move 50 employees to its new office at 620 South Tryon in Uptown with an average salary of nearly $100,000, according to the presentation. The move will also require a nearly $5 million capital improvement in the new space, according to the same presentation.
An ACC spokesperson said the conference should be ready to move in and officially launch all operations at the new office by early August, when the member institutions’ academic calendars start for 2023-24. The spokesperson said renovations to add television studio and production spaces to the new Uptown office are continuing at this time but said some employees have already relocated.
For Mecklenburg County, the ACC is set to bring in $116,000 in additional sales tax revenue to the area, as well as inducing 86 additional jobs, according to the commission’s presentation on Wednesday night. Over the three-year grant period, the ACC is expected to generate a net revenue of $276,220 for the county.
The city of Charlotte is matching a similar incentive of roughly $40,000, according to the information presented Wednesday.
The ACC and Charlotte have a long history of collaboration. The conference’s football championship is set to be hosted every year through 2030 at Bank of America Stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Football Club.
In recent years, the Queen City has also hosted the 2019 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament and the 2021 and 2022 ACC Baseball Tournament. Overall, Charlotte has hosted the men’s basketball tournament 13 times. Additionally, the conference announced this week the 2023 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Championship would be in Charlotte in April. The championship will be held at American Legion Memorial Stadium in late April. The ACC has also been a longtime partner to Charlotte’s postseason collegiate bowl game, now known as the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, since its creation in 2002.
Nearby the conference’s new Uptown home, a local business manager says the relocated workers, and any new additions, will be a welcome benefit to their business and others in the area.
“As a small business we always love building more community, and that gives us the opportunity to have more people to serve. And, how is that a bad thing? That’s always going to be a good thing ya know,” said Rachel McLaughlin, the manager of Golden Cow Creamery.
The creamery sits directly across from the conference’s new headquarters, and McLaughlin says it benefits from Uptown office workers on breaks, celebrating special occasions or looking for a sweet fix during the workday.
Meanwhile, staff at other tourism draws in Uptown, like the Mint Museum, say another large event-generator can only help them all thrive.
“As an arts institution our main goal is to bring an exciting and diverse crowd to the museum. Having more events from the ACC just brings more people to Uptown Charlotte,” said museum staffer Clayton Sealey.
Sealey said it is not uncommon to see a variety of sports jerseys on patrons at the museum and said they were set to have the most successful number of visitors ever in the last year.
“Over the past few years, Uptown has really struggled because of COVID-19. Things are coming back!” Sealey added.
The ACC also considered Orlando, Florida, New York and Washington, D.C., for its new headquarters before picking Charlotte, according to Wednesday evening’s commission presentation.