Alyson Craig Named Charlotte Planning, Design & Development Director

Published on April 05, 2023

The City of Charlotte today announced that Alyson Craig has been named the City of Charlotte's next Director of Charlotte Planning, Design & Development. Craig was named interim director when Taiwo Jaiyeoba was named the Greensboro City Manager in February 2022 and led several major initiatives, including the successful adoption of the Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance and the Charlotte 2040 Policy Map.

"Alyson has been a tremendous asset to the organization since joining the city," Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones said. "I am looking forward to working with Alyson for many more years and to her continued leadership in our organization and her dedication and passion for our community."

Craig joined the City of Charlotte in 2018 as the Charlotte Planning, Design & Development Deputy Director and managed the Land Development, Entitlement Services (Rezoning/UDO), and Design and Preservation divisions as well as the department's human resources and budget operations. Craig also led the city's "one stop shop" initiative and the creation of the CLT Development Center.

Previously Craig served as the Co-Director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the Director for the Master of Science in Real Estate program at UNC Charlotte. She taught several courses within the UNC-Charlotte graduate real estate program including planning and real estate development and has been an active member of the Charlotte community, committing her time to the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, and several other professional and community organizations. Craig is also a certified planner with the American Planning Association and received her AICP certification in 2009.

Prior to joining the UNC Charlotte faculty, Craig worked for Grubb Properties' Investment team as a development and acquisition associate to identify and analyze potential office, multi-family, and mixed-use deals. Before moving to Charlotte in 2011, she was Vice President of a planning and engineering firm in Florida leading planning services that included plan review and approval, rezonings, permitting, and comprehensive plan amendments.

Alyson has a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has two master's degrees, one in sustainable development and conservation ecology from the University of Georgia and another in real estate from UNC Charlotte.