Back in August, Mecklenburg County told the Florida developer of the failed Brooklyn Village project in uptown that it was in default of its obligations to build, according to public records obtained by WFAE.
Now, after not hearing from the Peebles Corporation in more than six months, the county may be preparing legal action against the high-profile developer.
Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners picked Miami Beach-based Peebles in 2016 to build Brooklyn Village. It was to be a massive development with shops, homes and offices, meant to make amends for the destruction of the historically Black neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1960s.
But nothing has been built.
Peebles also missed a July 2025 deadline to demolish the empty Board of Education building in Second Ward. Nine months later, the building is still standing.
Through a public records request, WFAE obtained correspondence between Mecklenburg County and Peebles over the dispute — after the summer deadline to demolish the building had passed.
The county on Aug. 15 “formally notified” Peebles in writing it was in default of the terms in the master development agreement. Peebles responded two weeks later saying it couldn’t demolish the building because of asbestos.
In early November, Mecklenburg County fired back.
The county wrote that Peebles has “repeatedly manufactured excuses in hopes of avoiding its contractual obligations.”
It also questioned why Peebles hasn’t been able to build a single apartment as building boomed all around the empty lots.
“The county has not received evidence that the developer used commercial reasonable efforts to obtain financing, permitting or approval or otherwise made reasonable and good faith efforts to move forward with construction,” the letter said. “Notably, many multi-family developments have been announced, committed, commenced, and even completed in the Charlotte area.”
Mecklenburg County Manager Michael Bryant said Tuesday that Peebles has not responded to that November letter. He declined to comment on what the county’s next steps will be.
The Mecklenburg County attorney’s office also said the county has no record of any additional correspondence between Peebles and the county since November.
The Peebles Corporation did not respond to questions from WFAE.
Mecklenburg Commissioner Laura Meier said she wants to sever all ties.
“100%,” she said Tuesday. “I want to be done with Peebles Corporation, absolutely.”
'The board shares that frustration'
Last summer, Mecklenburg commissioners met in closed session and said they didn’t want to negotiate with Peebles any longer.
They met in closed session again recently to talk about their options.
“Unfortunately, I am not in a position where I can comment on anything on Brooklyn Village right now,” said Mecklenburg Commission Chair Mark Jerrell. “I understand the community's frustration and I think it’s safe to say the board shares that frustration without question.”
In early 2025, Peebles was still trying to build affordable housing near the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center on land the company had cleared. But that appears to be over.
The city of Charlotte said in early April that Peebles withdrew its request for public money from the Housing Trust Fund dollars last year. That money would be critical for any low-income housing to be built.
Should Mecklenburg County take the Peebles Corporation to court, they would join a long list of governments and private developers who have sued the company. Durham severed ties with Peebles last year when the two sides couldn’t agree to terms on a redevelopment project downtown.
The company has said that commercial real estate is a highly litigious business, and that its record of litigation is no different than any other high-profile developer. The firm’s founder, Donahue Peebles, is one of the most well-known Black developers in the nation.
And until there’s some resolution to the county’s dispute with Peebles, the Brooklyn Village site will sit — as it has for a decade — in limbo.
