Pipe and Foundry plant relocating, opens up land for possible new Panthers stadium site
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company, which will receive up to $50 million in state and local incentives, confirmed Tuesday it is moving its operations from Charlotte to Stanly County.
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry has produced cast iron at S. Clarkson Street and Summit Avenue for over a century. That 55-acre site is a few blocks from the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium.
Last fall, Panthers owner David Tepper mentioned the Pipe and Foundry site as a potential location for a new stadium that would eventually replace Bank of America Stadium uptown.
Pipe and Foundry received approval Tuesday for up to $15 million in state incentives, which is in addition to $35 million in incentives previously offered by Stanly County governments.
Pipe and Foundry said it intends to build a facility in Oakboro, begin operations in early 2024 and invest at least $325 million in it. Oakboro is about 45 minutes east of uptown.
The Panthers said they did not have a comment about the move.
In a statement, Pipe and Foundry said it is considering a “wide variety of options” for its current site in Charlotte.
Pipe and Foundry, which employs over 500 full-time staff at the uptown site, melts scrap metal into pipe.
“A new foundry will allow a more efficient layout of our plant and equipment and give us the flexibility to expand to meet future needs,” the company said. “Our current site simply does not afford the opportunities for growth that we envision for Charlotte Pipe.”
Stadium efforts
Since purchasing the Panthers in 2018, Tepper has also successfully bid for a Major League Soccer expansion team. Both teams would play for the foreseeable future at Bank of America, which was opened in 1996 and is one of the older stadiums in the NFL.
The stadium is undergoing renovations and the city of Charlotte has agreed to invest $110 million in tourism-tax revenue on the MLS expansion. That money would primarily be directed toward a development at the former Eastland Mall site for a team headquarters and training facility.
Tepper is also building a new Panthers training facility in York County, S.C.
In July, during Panthers training camp in Spartanburg, S.C., Tepper discussed his vision for a stadium with a retractable roof that would eventually replace Bank of America Stadium. Such a facility would have the potential to host an NCAA Final Four basketball tournament, which Charlotte last had in 1994.
Tepper has said he would like to keep the Panthers’ stadium in uptown, which would likely involve acquiring a large parcel of land other than where the current stadium is so the team could play there until the completion of its replacement.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Pipe and Foundry plant relocating, opens up land for possible new Panthers stadium site."
