Kaplan Residential, Origin Investments to develop $76M Multifamily project in Belmont – Charlotte Business Journal

Courtesy Kaplan Residential and Origin Investments

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Two real estate firms have partnered to develop a major multifamily project just west of Charlotte.

Multifamily developer Kaplan Residential announced yesterday it had partnered with Origin Investments to develop a $76 million project in Belmont. The project calls for 322 units, including apartments and townhouses, and would be completed in late 2023 or early 2024. The project is the first between the two companies.

The development will include 32 townhomes, along with a mix of one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments. A name for the project was not announced.

“We are excited for this investment, as it represents a tremendous opportunity to leverage Belmont’s continued growth as an increasingly desirable submarket with limited supply,” said, David Wlek, managing director of acquisitions at Origin Investments. “The submarket’s 99% occupancy rate, limited pipeline, and a protracted approval process pave the way for continued strength in the market and strong performance for our investors.”

The project will be on a 39-acre site at 6900 Wilkinson Boulevard.

That is the same site where Kaplan Residential previously intended to develop a project called The Morris at Belmont while partnering with Charlotte-based Catalyst Capital Partners. In 2019, the developer won rezoning approval for the project, the Charlotte Business Journal reported at the time, which called for 325 apartments. Catalyst was not mentioned in yesterday’s announcement for the project.

The project is the latest for Kaplan, which focuses on multifamily and build-to-rent developments in the Southeast. The developer has offices in Atlanta and Miami. Origin Investments is headquartered in Chicago but has regional offices in Nashville, Tennessee, and Dallas, according to its website.

“We are pleased to partner with the Origin Investments team as fee developers to bring this project and additional timely, build-to-rent concepts of life,” said Morris Kaplan, founder, and president of Kaplan Residential. “Together, we will produce developments that fit the rapidly-evolving renter demographics and deliver needed luxury amenities and expansive floorplans in markets we serve.”

Developers break ground on major mixed-use redevelopment in Plaza Midwood

By Liz O’Connell – Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal

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A groundbreaking ceremony was held today for a redevelopment project that will bring retail, restaurants, office space, apartments, and a boutique hotel to the site of Central Square in Plaza Midwood.

City officials, developers, and other partners gathered today for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Commonwealth project in Plaza Midwood.

The mixed-use development from Crosland Southeast and Nuveen Real Estate will bring retail, restaurants, office space, apartments, and a boutique hotel to the current site of Central Square. It spans 12 acres at Central and Pecan avenues. Project leaders released renderings for Commonwealth in September.

A handful of current Central Square tenants are expected to remain onsite. the ABC store at Central Square temporarily closed on Oct. 30 to accommodate the redevelopment project, but it is expected to reopen in early 2022. The Roasting’s Co.’s location at Central Square was among the most recent closures there, shuttering Nov. 14, following Elizabeth Billards, Sammy’s Deli, and Yama Izakaya.

The joint venture purchased the site in November of 2020 for $50 million, the Charlotte Business Journal previously reported.

Once complete, the 383-unit apartment complex is expected to bring nearly 500 residents to the area and about 3,000 employees to the 150,000 square-foot office space that will be part of the Commonwealth, Bobby Speir, senior vice president of acquisitions at Crosland Southeast, said today.

Charlotteans took to social media with a range of opinions when the news of the redevelopment first broke. Some claimed the development would take away from the Plaza Midwood’s identity or history would be lost.

But Councilman Larken Egleston, whose district covers Plaza Midwood, said he has been adamant about keeping the neighborhood’s history alive with this development since its inception.

“I think there is a lot of benefit to (Commonwealth) and change is always met with a mixed bag of reactions,” Egleston said. “But there is a lot of good coming out of this.”

The site includes two vintage buildings that were once home to a Cole Manufacturing facility. Egleston believes those buildings are among the oldest in the neighborhood.

When the project was first being discussed, many developers said preserving those buildings would be hard work, Egleston noted during the event. But Egleston, who backs the idea of preserving historic buildings, said some things worth doing are bound to be hard, ultimately leading to Crosland Southeast landing the project.

Speir spoke during the ceremony about the site’s history and how the vintage buildings will set the project apart. Aside from the buildings, the site is where the late Rev. Billy Graham professed his faith in Christ at a tent revival at what is now the Central Square parking lot, Speir remarked.

Commonwealth will give a nod to the past while also looking to the future, Speir said. The new buildings will include balconies overlooking the historic structures, for instance. A curved road will also be built on the site in such a way to highlight the 100-plus-year-old buildings.

The mixed-use development will include micro-retail opportunities, murals from local artists, and green wall installations. A main street connecting to Central and Pecan avenues will be added, making the development a walkable live-work-play area.

The first phase of construction is expected to be complete in the spring of 2024. a second phase is slated to kick off in 2023.