PROJECTS

Charlotte, North Carolina

1997

In the time of cigar bars, coffee shops modeled after "Friends" and an increasingly competitive bar, club and restaurant scene, the clients wanted a restaurant to rival all others in the city. The backstory concept was straightforward but inventive - a movie prop quartermaster locates a 10,000 square foot warehouse full of old theater sets - and opens a restaurant on the spot. (SK)

The KennedyStrong Foundation sees an inclusive world where individuals with Down syndrome and intellectual/developmental disabilities are contributing members within their communities and living out their dreams of independence. Independence Village is planned as a mixed-use, inclusive community where individuals of all abilities can reside, work, acquire education, and enjoy recreational activities in a harmonious and integrated environment.  https://kennedystrong.org

Charlotte, North Carolina

2023

In 2024, the City of Charlotte Aviation Department (CLT) issued a Request for Proposals Offering Memorandum to qualified developers interested in a public-private assemblage of approximately 90 acres at the entrance to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Crosland Southeast Real Estate (CSERE) selected MEND to assist with master planning and conceptual

design of the property. The development program

consisted of retail, restaurant, office, hospitality and

neighborhood service uses - as well a remote parking

and a car rental facility for the airport. The RFP was specific that the proposed development must create a gateway to the airport where Josh Birmingham Parkway meets Wilkinson Boulevard. Furthermore, it was specific that placemaking and gather concepts must be integrated into the plan. Key to the entire development is the proposed CLT Airport Station proposed for Charlotte’s Silver Line (LYNX) light rail transit corridor which is planned to run east from the multi-modal transit hub to Belmont, North Carolina west of the Catawba River.

CSERE’s development proposal was enthusiastically

selected by CLT and pre-development tasks are now

underway.

 Belmont, North Carolina

2025

Directly across the Catawba River from Charlotte, the

neighboring town of Belmont, NC faces a myriad of

opportunities and challenges in a rapidly growing

market. Never a “bedroom community,” Belmont has a

strong, historic downtown that helps provide the town

with its own identity. Effectively a peninsula, Belmont is

also surrounded by water on three sides with 17 mile of

shoreline, distinguishing it from its regional peers.

MEND and Plusurbia co-led the update to Belmont’s

Comprehensive Plan for 2025, operationalizing a heavy

document that had ultimately been shelved –even

during this transformational period. The new plan is

reorganized into nine elements, ranging from Housing to Intergovernmental Relations, with policies and programs brought to the forefront. Alongside new graphics, robust analyses, and grounding in simultaneously updated transportation and wastewater capacity studies, “Our Belmont” charts a

clear path forward. 

Overall, the new plan outlines how to harness the opportunities presented by massive private investment. Top strategies bolster forest preservation in the face of rapid growth, create intentional connections to the waterfront, build multimodal upgrades to alleviate congestion, and guide the revitalization of a key corridor.

Charlotte, North Carolina

2019

The Dilworth Community Association (DCA) in association with MEND secured a $1.75M grant from Duke Energy to improve its plan to significantly expand its substation facility in the historic Dilworth neighborhood. The design included a robust landscape and hardscape package, public open space and a precast  concrete and perforated metal panel enclosure on all sides of the installation.

Charlotte, North Carolina

2024

Charlotte's Light Rail Blue Line has been the catalyst for major development in the heart of the City's center and along the corridor leading out from it to the northeast and southwest. The latter extends through the Southend District into a newer extension of that area now known as LoSo (or Lower Southend). Intense real estate development has concentrated around the Scaleybark rail station in recent years.

Beacon Development has been a leader in this district having built two mixed-use office buildings (LoSo 3 and LoSo 4) which play a role in completing the street edge along South Boulevard and establishing place context adjacent to the station. To capitalize on the light rail's ridership and to further define and complete the build-out of the development, Beacon Development hired MEND and The RBA group to create a variety of concepts for an event park.

The event park or "yard" is intended initially to consist of more temporary elements which will then be replaced over time with more permanent ones. The venue will feature an outdoor music amphitheater, beer garden, food trucks, recreational amenities and restroom facilities. As designed, the venue's location will allow future buildings (such as LoSo 1 and LoSo2 and a parking structure) to be built making the event park a permanent public open space and part of the district.

Hickory, North Carolina

2024

Hickory Village is a proposed mixed use project on approximately 14 acres of  land that remains to be (re)developed to the west of the Hickory Furniture Mart, which is one of the most active and visited furniture manufacturer outlets and the United States. 

The village is planned as a walkable, convivial place anchored by a food hall, brewery and boutique hotel connected by a greenway and trail system to the furniture mart approximately 1/2 mile to the east. 

Pignon, Haiti

2025

Following the 2010 earthquake when Haiti's support infrastructure was so badly weakened, attention turned to how the country might bolster its seaports and landing strips for use in the future by aid groups, non-governmental organizations, militaries and others in future disasters and times of need.

Promise for Haiti, based in Belmont, North Carolina has retained MEND to assess and provide planning and design for the future expansion and improvement of the  existing landing strip (aerodrome) about five hours north of the capital Port au Prince. The aerodrome is currently authorized to operate in a limited capacity  by the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and the Comite de Bienfaisance de Pignon. 

2025

MEND believes that planning for the future must often be linked to special causes or initiatives where our skills  help weave together the aspirations of cause-based organizations, non-profits, faith organizations and others with true placemaking and sustainable, long-term development goals. To support this and promote the idea, MEND created a collateral piece that has been circulated among many church organizations, and presented among like-minded groups.

Charlotte, North Carolina

2025

In 2025, two things converged that created a great opportunity to demonstrate what tactical urbanism looks like in Charlotte's South End District. First, MEND and The RBA Group had been exploring potential temporary uses for a small, +/- 2,800 SF parking court it shares with Harker Construction located directly off Bland Street. Though used for parking and trash during the day, this area remained unused on nights and weekends. Second, the owner of Orosoko Sound Bar - a new and trending restaurant on the southwest side of the court began preparations for their one-year anniversary celebration.

In April of 2025, the owner of Orosoko Sound Bar, Greg Pappanastos, coordinated with MEND and The RBA Group to adapt some of their earlier concepts for the courtyard and combine them with the operational requirements and promotional (brand) aspects of the restaurant for a three-day long event. This event featured food catered from the restaurant, bar service and a variety of musicians all convened into a temporary venue called "Casa Maya."

The anniversary celebration was extremely successful and served as a great test-case for future similar pop-up events. At this time, additional events centered around food and beverage, movie nights, art installations, passive gatherings and even kid's learning programs are being planned.

Charlotte, North Carolina

2025

Founded in 1944 by Jimmie and Minnie McKee, The Excelsior Club in Charlotte's Washington Heights District became one of the Southeast's most influential African American social and political institutions. It was a favorite spot for movers and shakers, from politicians to musicians, including Bill Clinton, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, James Brown and Sam Cooke. The location was also listed in the Green Book, a guide for African Americans to find safe places to go during the Jim Crow era.

The building has been vacant since 2016 with multiple redevelopment proposals put forth over the years. In 2025, Crosland Southeast in coordination with Kennedy Property and Development were successful in preparing a concept that was favored overwhelmingly by the Charlotte City Council, Planning Board and Historic Landmarks Commission - as well as the adjacent neighborhoods and stakeholders.

The proposal involves a full demolition of the existing building due to the damage and hazards inherent in what remains. In its place, a new building will be built that is a very close replica to the original with certain elements brought forward in time in terms of building code, materials and best practices. The building will feature a modern-day family-friendly "speakeasy" and a jazz club open to the public as well as a public park to the south of the building. The history of the original club will be echoed in the content of murals, artifacts, placards, and other educational and commemorative elements.

Lake Nona, Florida

2025

AdventHealth, based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, has expanded its operation in the Orlando area with the construction of a new, state-of-the-art hospital as well as  medical office and clinic buildings as part of its campus.

 To complement the health care program, AdventHealth and Crosland Southeast Real Estate selected MEND and The RBA Group to design a commons consisting of several retail, food and beverage and entertainment uses surrounding a public open space amenity directly adjacent to the hospital's main entrance.  

In addition to providing several much-needed services, the commons will serve as a place of distraction and engagement for those who work at, visit or stay at the hospital - as well as the general public.

Huntersville, North Carolina

2025

In the final build-out phase of Vermillion, a traditional neighborhood development (TND) begun in the mid 1990s, land was set aside for public use. This land is adjacent to the village and also along the rail trail and upper, northern end of Main Street in Huntersville, North Carolina.

MEND and The RBA Group were retained by Bowman Development Group to create several design proposals for a public park, a food hall + beergarden and other amenities to serve residents and visitors alike. Sited on the grounds of the historic Anchor Mill, the new buildings and related elements derive some of their materiality and theme from this structure - and the water tower that once served the mill is to be incorporated as well.