Charlotte is hot and humid June through September. The city’s response was a deliberate one: build arcades into the base of every new tower, link them at the second-floor level where possible, and connect into the existing Overstreet Mall network. By 2026 the covered path from Trade Street to South Tryon to the Epicentre runs nearly half a mile without a single direct-sun stretch over 30 feet.
These three use that network at the times when arcades shine — heat-of-day commercial walks, late-afternoon parking-deck-to-restaurant runs. The Overstreet Mall connection is closed nights and weekends; Stay Cool routes around it after 6 PM.