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.

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$72 Million Apartment Building Coming To West Charlotte

A $72 million apartment building is coming to the FreeMoreWest area of Charlotte, through a joint venture with New York City-based GTIS Partners and Atlanta-based Wood Partners.

The five-story, 308-unit building will feature more than 260,000 square feet of residential area and 429 parking spaces.

The new development will be located at 2016 W Morehead St., across the street from Legion Brewing’s planned West Morehead location and half a mile from the popular Pinky’s Westside Grill. The project is scheduled to be complete by mid-2023.

The property was purchased by Alta West Morehead in August for more than $3 million, according to Mecklenburg County property records. Wood Partners also developed the nearby Wesley Village apartments.

The FreeMoreWest neighborhood in Charlotte, centered at West Morehead Street and Freedom Drive, is in one of Charlotte’s Opportunity Zones. The program offers tax benefits to investors in designated Opportunity Zones, including 17 in the Charlotte area.

Opportunity Zones, a President Donald Trump-era program, had been hailed as a way to bring investments into previously neglected areas across the country. But community activists in Charlotte and around the U.S. have said the government program may increase gentrification in those areas, pushing low-income residents out.

And Mecklenburg County already faces a shortage of affordable housing, the Observer reported earlier this month.

GTIS spokesman Josh Pristaw did not say whether any units would be set aside for affordable housing.

“The project will not be leasing for several years, but we anticipate targeting the housing needs of the existing community,” Pristaw said in a statement. “Rent levels will be determined based on the market at the time of delivery.”

GTIS Partners has invested in 14 deals located in Opportunity Zones, according to a statement from the joint venture.

The location in a rapidly growing area of Charlotte, near uptown and the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium, was a driving factor for the project.

Amid a surge in commercial development, with more than 430,000 square feet of new retail and office spaces in the neighborhood, residential home prices in that area have been pushed up by 22% annually from 2015 to 2019, according to a statement from GTIS Partners and Wood Partners.

The building will feature a range of amenities, including a fitness center, club room, resort-style pool, courtyard, dog spa, and a virtual concierge.

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Homes for Those Experiencing Homelessness

Photo courtesy of Roof Above

Roof Above has received $1 million from Lowe’s to help transform an old hotel into 88 apartments for people experiencing homelessness in Charlotte, Katie writes. Context: Roof Above announced plans last December to buy the old Quality Inn at the intersection of Clanton Road and I-77 to turn into permanent housing. Ultimately, the property will operate like Moore Place, a 120-unit community that opened in 2012 and provides affordable housing, on-site case management, and medical care for Charlotteans experiencing chronic homelessness. Details: Construction on the hotel is underway and the project is anticipated to be complete by early 2022, Roof Above said in a statement Thursday. The hotel rooms are being renovated and converted into studio apartments with their own kitchens. Lowe’s is also providing appliances for each unit at a discounted rate. Tenants will pay a third of their income toward rent, per Roof Above.

Axiom participating with Second Harvest’s Food Drive this Holiday Season

Centro Cityworks, Ascent Real Estate Capital to begin construction on South End apartments

By Ashley Fahey 
Real Estate Editor, Charlotte Business Journal 

Two Charlotte real estate firms are preparing to break ground on their second apartment project in the South End area after closing on the land Thursday afternoon.

Centro Cityworks and Ascent Real Estate Capital paid $4 million for a portion of the land at 222 West Blvd., in the Wilmore neighborhood, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records. They will develop 132 apartments and 7,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space in a project called Centro Square. It’s part of a larger mixed-use development, The Square at South End, led by Beacon Partners. The project is the second for David Furman’s Centro Cityworks and Ascent Real Estate Capital, which developed Centro Railyard on Winnifred Street. The apartments and retail space wrap a parking deck for the residential units and Beacon’s office component, similar to what will be built at The Square.

Beacon last summer broke ground on a 10-story building at The Square, which will include about 150,000 square feet of office space. Beacon is also working with Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation to build the 1.5-acre Wilmore Centennial Park as part of the overall project.

Jon Dixon, managing principal at Ascent Real Estate Capital, said Centro Square will include about 90 studio apartments, two-bedroom units and townhouse-style rentals that will face what will become Wilmore Centennial Park.

The Centro Railyard project included smaller-than-average studios in the 400-square-foot range. Dixon said the studios at Centro Square will also be on the smaller side, between 400 and 467 square feet.

Construction on Centro Square will begin next week, with an expected unit delivery in about 18 months, Dixon said.

The ground-floor retail space at Centro Square will offer smaller commercial spaces to provide comparatively affordable options in what’s become pricey South End.

Dixon said both the apartments and retail space at the Centro Railyard project are almost fully leased. Tenants that have signed on at Centro Railyard include Hex Coffee, olpr., The Cactus Club, CLT Boutique and Glory Days Apparel.

“Particularly post-Covid, people are much more conscious about the cost of the rent,” Dixon said of the retail space. “There are really no other options at this price range in South End.”

Aaron Ligon at Ascent Real Estate Partners will lease the retail space at Centro Square. Axiom Architecture is the project architect. Edifice is the general contractor. Atlantic Union Bank is the lender.

$81 million Apartment Development proposed near Ballard High School

The $81 million project has been proposed on 19 acres Hagan Properties has owned for years at 2020 Herr Lane near Ballard High School in Louisville’s East End.

Hagan Properties Inc. on Monday unveiled plans for the 520-unit Providence Point apartments. The $81 million project has been proposed on 19 acres Hagan Properties has owned for years at 2020 Herr Lane near Ballard High School in Louisville’s East End. The complex will house a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units in multiple buildings on the site.August 03, 2020By Marty Finley

Louisville’s Hagan Properties Inc. is ready to tackle one of its most ambitious projects to date.

The local real estate development firm on Monday unveiled plans for the 520-unit Providence Point apartments. The $81 million project has been proposed on 19 acres Hagan Properties has owned for years at 2020 Herr Lane near Ballard High School in Louisville’s East End.

The complex will house a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units in multiple buildings on the site. The apartments, which will feature upscale amenities such as designer cabinetry and quartz countertops, will be joined by community amenities, including a fitness center, dog parks and green space.

“In addition, with the changes that Covid is bringing to the industry, Providence Point will have touchless access elevators, UV filtered HVAC systems in common areas, flexible ‘We Work’ style space and many indoor flex areas in the clubhouse for residents to use as some people shift to working more from home, but still need a ‘third place’ for escape from the home office,” Hagan Properties President Wendy Hagan said by email.

Hagan Properties will handle the development, leasing and property management for the complex while HCC, a majority female-owned contracting company led by Wendy Hagan, will serve as the general contractor. Charlotte, North Carolina.-based Axiom Architecture will handle the design.

“We have been waiting for a number of years for the timing to be right to start on this project. While there are many new communities under construction, we believe that Providence Point offers a unique location and great community amenities such as shopping, dining and access to schools,” Hagan said by email.

Projected lease rates and a full development timeline have not yet been disclosed.

Hagan Properties said several developers had unsuccessfully tried to rezone this land before it stepped forward.

A prior proposed development called for 175,000 square feet of retail and office space and hundreds of condos, but the financial downturn of 2008 and the cost of offsite improvements made that project nonviable, the company said.

As part of its proposal, Hagan Properties is planning to complete $5 million to $6 million worth of offsite improvements to public infrastructure, and the company will pursue industrial revenue bonds to pay for those upgrades. Proposed work includes construction of a regional basin to serve 88 acres of the area’s watershed, signalization improvements and a new traffic signal and road improvements to Herr Lane, including the installation of an additional lane from Wesboro Road to the new traffic signal.

“This storied property will satisfy this area’s demand for apartments for many years to come and the road improvements we are making will significantly aid in alleviating the gridlock that Ballard High School experiences during peak hours,” Layson Hagan, a multifamily developer with Hagan Properties, said by email.

Hagan Properties has a number of other major projects in the works locally.

The firm is finishing up the 470-unit Victory Knoll apartment complex on the East End near Southeast Christian Church, which has been estimated to cost $68 million. Hagan Properties also built the 356-unit 9910 Sawyer Apartments, a sprawling upscale apartment complex that backs up to E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park.

And the firm is investing about $48 million into a 344-unit apartment complex on 19 acres at 8000 and 8006 Cedar Creek Road. About 90% of that complex will feature one and two-bedroom units while the remaining 10% will be three-bedroom units.

Meanwhile, the firm is slated to break ground later this year on The Station @ Middletown, a new apartment complex with more than 300 units near the Middletown Station shopping center, which it owns. That project is expected to cost nearly $50 million. Hagan Properties also owns the Shelbyville Road Plaza and Taylorhurst shopping centers in Louisville.

Apartment project adding ‘micro-units’ in South End nears completion

A project in South End that has mostly smaller-than-average studios — sometimes called micro-units — has begun pre-leasing. Centro Railyard, which wraps the parking deck for The RailYard development on the Winnifred Street side, includes 91 apartments, two-thirds of which are studios measuring about 400 square feet. The project is somewhat unique for Charlotte because of its below-average unit sizes and few on-site amenities, a hallmark of most luxury multifamily developments that have been built, especially in South End.

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Long-anticipated North Tryon development set to break ground with anchor tenant

A long-awaited mixed-use project in uptown that’s been through multiple iterations and proposed uses over the years is finally gearing up to break ground — and it has a big tenant finalizing an anchor lease deal.

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