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CHARLOTTE – This week, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Stormwater Services got a multi-million dollar grant from FEMA to cover most of the cost to tear down half of the Doral Apartments sitting closest to Briar Creek.

The apartment complex is notorious for flooding.

Because of the last flood in 2008, 80 first-floor Doral units are still unavailable. Soon, they and dozens of other second floor units will be demolished like the former Cavalier Apartments, which also sat near Briar Creek.

“Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater is very excited about another opportunity to reduce flood losses and protect life and property,” Tim Trautman, of Stormwater Services, said. He said he was thrilled to learn that federal money will help wipe out a big local concern and make sure 100 families won’t have a repeat of the mess in the future.

“A big piece of the puzzle was getting the funding in place to be able to go ahead and do this,” Trautman said. “It’s a significantly flood prone area of Charlotte.”

Crews will likely start demolishing the roughly 130 Doral units next summer or fall. However, Trautman says both county leaders and Doral’s owners still need to hash out important details.

“A lot of work left to be done, but the county is committed to property owners and the tenants that are there to make this a successful project,” Trautman said.

Since 2000, the county has bought and torn down about 450 homes and apartments on fragile flood plains. Officials at Doral Apartments could not be reached for comment.