Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health’s $1.5 billion Pearl innovation district has already generated $224 million in economic impact and 2,270 jobs in its first year alone.
The district, which opened June 5, 2025, also produced $9.8 million in tax revenue for Mecklenburg County, the city of Charlotte and the state of North Carolina.
Hillary Crittendon, chief of staff and vice president of innovation district operations at Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, told Becker’s that momentum shows in leasing too. The district’s first phase reached 85% occupancy within six months of opening. Siemens Healthineers signed on as the Pearl’s strategic partner in July 2023 and now operates a global customer experience center on campus, alongside IRCAD North America, the surgical training institute anchoring the building. IRCAD, a subsidiary of Atrium Health, uses the space to train surgeons on techniques supported by AI, VR and AR technology, and has hosted more than 130 training sessions and events involving more than 5,000 participants from at least 17 countries over the past year.
The building has also become a draw for corporate training and events tied to its anchor partners, Ms. Crittendon said.
“We’ve had so many great engaging events with a lot of our partners in that space,” Ms. Crittendon said.
Medtech remains the biggest draw for new tenants, according to Ms. Crittendon, with interest coming from companies deeper in the medtech space and from adjacent categories.
“We also have had a lot of interest from companies that are in the AI space or digital health space, and it’ll be interesting to see whether those folks come in,” Ms. Crittendon said.
She said several of those companies are testing the district through Connect Labs, the Pearl’s shared lab space designed for short-term leases.
“Our aspiration from a district perspective is that some of the companies that are in Connect Labs outgrow it and they occupy the remaining space in the Pearl or in the first research building,” Ms. Crittendon said.
Looking further out, Advocate Health projects the completed 38-acre campus, which will eventually add residential units, a hotel, and office and retail space, will generate $1.2 billion in annual economic impact, roughly five times the district’s first-year total. Ms. Crittendon said the timeline depends on how quickly industry keeps pace with the research and academic base the district was built around, a model shared by Wexford Science & Technology’s other university-anchored districts, including Winston-Salem, N.C.’s Innovation Quarter.
“The pace really does depend on the continued interest of industry in being here, and I think the ability for industry and research to come together, and that’s really what innovation districts are all about,” Ms. Crittendon said.
That growth is also being shaped by proximity to patient care, Ms. Crittendon said. The district’s location, about a block and a half from Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center campus, is intentional. The health system frames the Pearl as a tool to move research from bench to bedside faster, a goal it says extends beyond Charlotte into Advocate Health’s broader footprint across the Midwest and Southeast.
Ms. Crittendon also pointed to workforce development as a piece of the district’s growth that’s easy to overlook against the tenant and revenue numbers.
“The academic talent and the research talent pipeline. It is really critical. So we’ve started doing work with some of our youngest learners to build that talent at the Pearl,” Ms. Crittendon said.
The district runs programming for K-12 students to explore healthcare and STEM careers on campus, an early college program for high schoolers, and a pathway into Carolinas College of Health Sciences, the medical school and Wake Forest University’s broader programs housed at the Pearl.
“You’ll see a really active and robust group of kids who are learning, not just about healthcare, but healthcare adjacent and STEM adjacent careers,” she said. “Its important for them to be able to envision themselves in those roles, whether that’s becoming a nurse or a doctor, or whether that’s thinking about being an engineer who’s creating a new medical device or designing a new building.”
Ms. Crittendon said building that kind of engaged local talent, whether homegrown or returning to Charlotte after training elsewhere, is ultimately what makes a city attractive to industry, not just the district’s physical space.
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