Atrium Health has chosen “The Pearl” as the name of its planned $1.5 billion Charlotte innovation district, which will have the second campus of Wake Forest School of Medicine as an anchor.
The name was chosen in large part to pay homage to the midtown Charlotte area formerly known as Brooklyn, which served as “a city within a city” for the African-American community until urban development projects overtook the area in the 1950s and 1960s.
The main element of that legacy that survives, and has been recently renovated, is Pearl Street Park.
The Pearl logo that debuted Thursday is linked to the logo of Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter, with bubble-like circles representing the P in Pearl and Q in Innovation Quarter.
Officials involved in the Charlotte innovation district stressed their view that the two districts will be complementary, and not competitive, as they attempt to attract research and new tenants.
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They emphasized that some research, business and nonprofit groups will chose to have a presence in both districts, while Wexford and other development officials will help steer those groups to where they best fit within the collaboration.
“There is for the first time in North America a common university and school of medicine partner ... a common clinical partner ... common programming, common entrepreneurial resources in two cities,” said Thomas Osha, executive vice president for Wexford.
That collaboration “can allow research to go to scale in Charlotte and in Winston-Salem, acting as a super corridor of activity and engagement.”
“We believe there will be a complementary set of companies in Charlotte to what is happening in Winston-Salem.”
Atrium has not disclosed how much it plans on spending on The Pearl marketing.
Atrium chief executive Eugene Woods said the branding is meant “to begin a new chapter to this story and honor this special place as we empower the neighborhoods around it, which are shaped by diverse people and perspectives, rooted in inclusivity and belonging, and filled with endless potential.”
The 40-acre district includes the planned Wake Forest School of Medicine campus, with construction slated to begin in the third quarter and for opening in 2024. Charlotte is the nation’s largest city without a four-year medical school.
“Just like a pearl, our journey to build an innovation district will, no doubt, require time, energy and determination. However, with the support and the strength of our friends and partners ... to create the crowning jewel of the Queen City,” Woods said.
Atrium and developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC have proposed that at least 11,500 new jobs, including potentially between 3,450 and 4,600 that won’t require a four-year college degree, would be created over 15 years associated with the initiative. About 5,500 would be situated within the district.
The district is slated to feature mixed-use development featuring education, retail, apartments, a hotel and an open community space.
Local collaboration impact
Atrium formed a partnership with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in November 2019 with the intent of establishing a Charlotte medical school.
Atrium went on to acquire Wake Forest Baptist in October 2020, recently changing Baptist’s branding to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist as part of magnifying the awareness of its ownership in the Triad market.
Besides the Ardmore campus of Wake Forest School of Medicine, it also governs Innovation Quarter, which currently covers 1.2 million square feet, under the auspices of Wake Forest University.
Graydon Pleasants, head of development for the Innovation Quarter, expressed confidence that Atrium will apply elements of the local build-out to its development.
As of June, the total public and private investment in Innovation Quarter is more than $841 million. The city’s overall investment has been at least $56 million, along with at least $5.85 million from Forsyth County.
In June, Innovation Quarter officials announced that Wexford would be the main developer for Phase II of its district which could yield as many as 10 buildings and up to 2.7 million square feet of medical and mixed-use development on a 28-acre site.
Osha said Wexford is talking with researchers, potential medical school faculty, physicians and private companies in Charlotte and nationally “who have an interest in locating in this kind of innovation,” Osha said.
“There are opportunities for some of these businesses to be able to go through startup in Innovation Quarter and to have some scale-up activity in Charlotte, and vice versa.”