In Charlotte, North Carolina, one small property became an unusually visible holdout against rapid urban redevelopment. Thirsty Beaver Saloon, a one-storey neighbourhood bar in the Plaza Midwood area, opened in 2008 on a parcel that had been preserved for over seven decades. The building parcel belonged to George Salem, and brothers Mark and Brian Wilson operated the bar. While Plaza Midwood is one of Charlotte’s oldest established communities, the specific blocks surrounding the bar had long been dominated by older commercial structures and underutilised industrial lots. In 2015, developer CW Development bought the surrounding land for $8.5 million and planned a 323-unit apartment complex. Salem, however, declined the developer’s offers to purchase the Thirsty Beaver property, leaving the company to build around it instead of acquiring it. The completed apartments wrapped around the bar on three sides in a horseshoe-like structure.
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