The Hole

The corner of Park and Gleneagles remains empty

Empty lots are nothing new after the Great Recession. But the giant stretch of land surrounded by a construction fence at Park and Gleneagles roads was empty years before the market fell. In 2001 Harris Land Company turned in plans to transform the parcel of land into Quail Hollow Village featuring luxurious homes, shops, and even a Ritz-Carlton hotel and Saks Fifth Avenue. Over the years Harris has changed the plans, and last submitted revised blueprints for approval in 2008. But the hole just sits. “I get calls about it every six months or so,” says Kent Main of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department. “If [Harris] gets tenants lined up, it has the approvals it needs [from the city] and it can start building. But we haven’t seen any sign of that.” (Harris responded to our interview requests with an email detailing all of its other projects in town, but refused to discuss this property.) Others are still hopeful. Emma Littlejohn, owner of residential marketing firm The Littlejohn Group says the changes coming to the Quail Corners shopping center, across the street, can only mean good things for the future of the hole. At least we hope so.