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Charlotte Hornets look to the future, break ground on new practice facility

The Charlotte Hornets officially broke ground on the team's new practice facility, the Novant Health Performance Center in Uptown Charlotte. This will serve as the Hornets headquarters, housing the team's practice and training facility, administrative offices, retail and more.
Ashley Stroehlein|
Hornets break ground on new practice facility
Hornets break ground on new practice facility | Ashley Stroehlein

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Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin are focused on their long term vision of building a new era of basketball in the Queen City. The latest step in that process includes a state-of-the-art training facility for players and staff, which will be called the Novant Health Performance Center. 

"We're committed to the city, we're committed to this area and I think this is just the perfect symbol of what we're trying to accomplish here," Hornets co-chairman Gabe Plotkin says. "I think it's great for the community to see the vision that we have and physically start to feel it as well."

The new headquarters for the team will feature more than 160,000 total square feet of space for training and performance, administrative offices, retail and orthopedic and sports medicine care once completed. 

"It's a huge day for us. It's a privilege to be here, a privilege to own the team, but to get to this point and to be in this location and building the practice facility is a big deal," Hornets co-chairman Rich Schnall explains. "The event was great and this is the first step. Obviously, it's going to take us a little while to build it, but it'll be a big step and we're thrilled about what we're going to do for our team and our players, but also for the city itself."

Hornets ownership visited half a dozen other practice facilities around the league in preparation for establishing their own performance center, gaining insight on what will maximize their investment for the future of the team.

"This was done in conjunction with all of the front office, our coaching staff, our front office staff, and  in consultation with players," Schnall says. "We will have all the latest and greatest in terms of technology available to our players and it'll be based both from a size standpoint and functionality standpoints based on what we've seen around the league." 

Additionally, once the Novant Health Performance Center is completed, the front office hopes it will be another asset that will appeal to free agents.

"I think our approach, and it's sort of signified by this, is really long term in nature. Understanding you come in and it sort of is what it is and it's your job to build something and we've gone about that very kind of systematically and we'll see," Plotkin explains.

"I think that patience will pay off. I think we have tremendous future assets both in terms of draft picks and players, but also physical amenities. So it's kind of all part of the picture that we're trying to build. I think patience and going about it methodically is something that over the long run, it's gonna really pay off for us and pay off for the city."

The six-story training facility is another example of how sports are continuing to be a vital part of the ever-growing city of Charlotte and it's one that the Mayor of Charlotte, Vi Lyles, believes can help revitalize Uptown.

"Sports and entertainment are significant parts of our culture now, and as we thrive to get opportunities for them to come into our city, we're educating people about the work that can be done, the jobs that can be held, and what we believe will be a great city for everyone to be a part of," Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles says.

"I believe that the Hornets are important to our beginning in this, and the ability for this organization and for the team and everybody involved in it to move forward on this center that's going to make it possible for us to have a better team and perhaps a winning team this time."

Add in another long term goal, one day a district of its own featuring retail, entertainment, restaurants and more, similar to the Milwaukee Bucks Deer District.

"We like the Hive District," Schnall says on a potential name for the team’s future district. “We love the Hive and so obviously we have Hive mentality," So we're working on it, you know, let's call it the Hive district for now and we'll figure it out."

The Novant Health Performance Center is scheduled to open during the 2026-27 season.

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Ashley Stroehlein
ASHLEY STROEHLEIN

Ashley Stroehlein is a sports reporter who is based in Charlotte, NC, and has covered multiple professional and collegiate sports ranging from the NBA, NFL, MLS, ACC, SEC and more. Stroehlein currently contributes to Charlotte Hornets On SI, ESPN’s coverage of college football as a sideline reporter, serves as a freelance host on SiriusXM’s NBA and NASCAR Radio channels and as a fill-in host and sideline reporter for FanDuel Sports Network’s coverage of the Charlotte Hornets. Ashley graduated with honors from Radford University, majoring in mathematics. She moved to North Carolina to teach secondary math and coach basketball and track. However, her passion for sports led her to decide to return to school to study broadcasting. Ashley’s work as an anchor and storyteller has earned her many industry honors. Most notably, she is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Gracie Award, which recognizes exemplary programming created by, for and about women in all facets of media and entertainment.

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