Akridge, Kettler to add 865 apartments in South End

Early rendering of a seven-story, 415-unit multifamily community at 3119 South Blvd.

By Elise Franco  –  Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal

Jan 30, 2023

Washington, D.C., developer Akridge and Virginia-based property management company Kettler have partnered on two multifamily projects that will add a total of 865 new units to South End.

Both projects, a 450-unit, 31-story high-rise at 1427 South Blvd. and a 415-unit, seven-story midrise at 3119 South Blvd., are scheduled to break ground toward the end of the year.

Akridge and Kettler purchased 1427 South Blvd., a 0.9-acre property at the edge of South End and Dilworth, for $13.5 million on Dec. 20. The small business plaza currently there is home to H&R Block, BetterMed Urgent Care Charlotte, Modern Man, and Cachet South End.

On Jan. 11, the firms closed on the $17 million purchase of 3119 South Blvd., spanning 2.8 acres near lower South End. The building on that property, formerly South End Jewelry and Loan, is currently vacant.

Dan Outen, Akridge vice president of the Carolinas, said the project at 1427 South will be about 550,000 square feet, and 3119 South will total about 400,000 square feet. Both properties will have ground-floor retail facing South Boulevard, as well as top-of-the-market amenities that include a resort-style pool, fitness center, and co-working spaces.1427 will also have an outdoor terrace on the 10th floor and a rooftop sky deck.

Once construction begins, Outen said, 1427 will deliver in about 36 months and 3119 will deliver in about 24 months.

Luke Davis, Kettler chief investment officer, said Charlotte and the South End submarket, specifically, have been attractive for investment for the last several years.

“We are really attracted to the area given the growth of employment, as a whole, and the emergence of South End as a more urban neighborhood,” he said.

These will mark the firm’s third and fourth projects in Charlotte.

South & Hollis, at 3441 South Blvd., is under construction now and expected to deliver this fall. The 310-unit, six-story building will have 9,500 square feet of ground-level retail. That project combines seven parcels for a total of 2.6 acres. Akridge and Kettler paid $9.3 million for that land.

Hawkins Press, at 2200 Dunavant St., is a 426-unit multifamily project slated to deliver this summer. The firms purchased the three-acre property in 2020 for $5.5 million, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records.

Duncan Jones, Akridge senior vice president, said the firms plan to continue growing throughout Charlotte and the Carolinas as opportunities arise.

“The intent is to grow a lot in the Carolinas, in general, and respond to the best opportunities for the best projects,” he said. “A strength of ours is that we don’t need a specific, narrow business plan. We can be thoughtful and reactive and creative.”

ABACUS ANNOUNCES THE CAMPBELL HIGH RISE IN SOUTH END

Abacus Capital (Abacus) with joint venture partners JE Dunn Capital Partners (JEDCP) and L&B Realty Advisors (L&B) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a 0.75-acre land assemblage in Charlotte’s South End located at 2025 Cleveland Avenue for $5.0 million in an off-market transaction. Concurrent with land closing the partners announced a new high-rise multifamily project on the site that will break ground next week.

The new project will be called The Campbell in recognition of the legacy Campbell’s Nursery operation that has historically occupied the site for decades.

“As the surrounding neighborhood evolved over the past few years into the new epicenter of South End the seller realized that it no longer needed to continue operating a plant nursery in its historical location,” said Wes McAdams, Managing Partner of Charlotte-based Abacus Capital. “However, since Campbell’s was such a well-known and beloved part of the fabric of this community the development team wanted to ensure that the site’s legacy would live on through its next iteration as The Campbell, which will be a boutique luxury multifamily community catering to South End’s most discerning renters.”

Upon delivery in 2024 The Campbell will be comprised of 117 curated 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom residences averaging approximately 1,200 SF per unit in a 12-story high-rise tower with unimpeded views of downtown Charlotte. Units will have chef’s kitchens, generous living spaces, and large balconies in recognition of the changing preferences of renters in today’s post-pandemic world. Residential units will start on the 5th floor above 4 floors of parking, affording every unit sweeping views of either Uptown Charlotte’s iconic skyline, South End’s nascent skyline, King’s Mountain, or South Charlotte.

“The Campbell was designed with today’s renters by choice in mind,” said McAdams. “As South End has matured into the dynamic and best-in-class submarket that it is today, its rental housing stock has increasingly become characterized by commoditized multifamily product – The Campbell is tactically positioned to offer its residents something that less than 1% of the South End rental market can currently offer. With the best retail and restaurants in South End at Atherton Market and Design District out its front door and Historic Dilworth’s tree-lined streets out its back door, upon delivery, The Campbell will redefine luxury living in Charlotte’s South End.”

Charlotte’s South End has undergone a renaissance in the 15 years since the delivery of the Lynx Blue Line light rail line in 2007. Today South End is the crown jewel of Charlotte’s urban neighborhoods – an 18-hour submarket with 4.5M SF of existing office space and another 5M SF either underway or planned – this burgeoning daytime population increasingly requires a diversity of nearby rental housing options to cater to its expanding workforce and The Campbell has been thoughtfully designed and will be purposefully built to satisfy the top end segment of that renter population.

In addition to offering the largest unit sizes in South End, The Campbell will offer tenants a full panoply of building amenities often not seen in boutique projects of its size. Notably, The Campbell’s 12th floor tenant amenity suite will provide residents protected views of downtown Charlotte’s skyline over the historic Dilworth neighborhood to where they can work, entertain or simply unwind after a long day. Additionally, the project was designed to activate its streetscape with several retail opportunities on both McDonald and Cleveland Avenues ideally suited to amenity retail uses such as coffee, fitness, and/or general services.

“The Campbell is deliberately differentiated from the majority of the existing inventory and pipeline in South End to appeal to a more mature renter,” said Mason Ellerbe, a Principal with Abacus. “As the neighborhood has involved from its bar/brewery-centric roots over the past decade into Charlotte’s premier submarket for shopping, dining, and high-paying jobs, South End is no longer just a millennial playground. Abacus and its partners have intentionally set out to design a building that would offer our renters the best of both worlds between South End’s dynamic mixed-use environment and the quiet sophistication of Dilworth.”

The Campbell is being developed by Abacus Capital while being built by JE Dunn Construction Company. The project architect is Axiom Architecture and civil engineer is the McAdams Company. Colony Construction Management will manage the development of The Campbell on behalf of the project team.

Click here to view or download the official press release.

Tenants Begin Moving Into SECU The Rise on Clanton, Apartments by Roof Above

Khris became the first tenant of SECU The Rise on Clayton.

Charlotte’s first adaptive reuse, permanent supportive housing for 88 individuals
experiencing chronic homelessness

CHARLOTTE, N.C., (August 3, 2022) – Last week, Roof Above began moving in the first tenants of SECU The Rise on Clanton, Apartments by Roof Above. SECU The Rise on Clanton will provide permanent supportive housing for 88 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and is anticipated to make a significant impact on chronic homelessness in our community. According to the latest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing and Homelessness Dashboard, there are 422 people in Mecklenburg County experiencing chronic homelessness. These are people with a disabling condition who have experienced homelessness for at least a year. Ten of the first tenants will be individuals who were displaced from the North End Encampment when it was cleared and were moved to a Mecklenburg County-funded motel-based shelter.

SECU The Rise on Clanton is Charlotte’s first adaptive reuse, permanent supportive housing solution. Adaptive reuse is the process of renovating buildings that have outlived their original purposes and modifying them for different functions. The pandemic revealed an innovative opportunity to purchase and convert an underutilized hotel into affordable housing, making adaptive reuse a tool to serve some of our community’s most vulnerable residents.

In December 2020, Roof Above announced the purchase of the hotel at the intersection of Clanton Road and Interstate 77. Through a partnership with the Salvation Army Center of Hope, the hotel served an immediate need as an emergency shelter for women and families. In May 2021, Roof Above began construction on the hotel, renovating the hotel rooms into apartments including the addition of kitchens, and building an addition to provide space for on-site support services. Beyond the affordable housing, tenants will have onsite access to case managers, a full-time nurse, a learning lab, and community space for support activities. Tenants will be primarily selected through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Coordinated Entry process, which uses a common assessment to identify the most vulnerable people in need of permanent supportive housing. Tenants will move in through a phased approach, six to eight people each week, to ensure they are fully supported in their transition.

Many generous gifts made the project a reality, including $2 million from State Employees Credit Union (SECU), $2 million from the City of Charlotte, $1.5 million from Covenant Presbyterian Church, $1 million from the Lowe’s Foundation, $1 million from the Springsteen Foundation, and a significant gift from John McKibbon and the McKibbon Family Foundation. The total project cost was just over $13 million, inclusive of the purchase price, renovation of the existing building, and construction of a wing to provide onsite case management and health care support. We are grateful to our operating partners like Mecklenburg County for funding case management for tenants and Novant Health for supporting our full-time nurse and other healthcare needs of tenants.

“This opening comes with our deepest appreciation to everyone who accepted the challenge to dream big and meet the moment to make this new apartment community possible. We hold to the vision that everyone is worthy of the safety, stability, and dignity of a home. Together, and one life at a time, we end homelessness,”
said Liz Clasen-Kelly, Roof Above CEO.

With the opening of SECU The Rise on Clanton, Roof Above now provides nearly 700 units of supportive housing within Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Generally, tenants pay 30% of their income towards rent plus basic utilities. Learn more about the permanent supportive housing options and eligibility by visiting
https://www.roofabove.org/permanent-supportive-housing/.

The hotel conversion was led by JE Dunn Construction with architecture by Axiom Architecture, interior design by ODA, and project management by McKibbon Places

Roof Above is an interfaith nonprofit with the mission of uniting the community to end homelessness, one life at a time. The organization’s vision is that every person has the safety, stability, and dignity of a home. The organization operates a day services center, three year-round shelters, nearly 700 units of supportive housing, and a treatment program for substance use disorders. For information, please visit www.RoofAbove.org.

Media Contacts: Melinda Wilshire, mwilshire@roofabove.org 443.540.0593; Randall Hitt, rhitt@roofabove.org; 704.618.1329.
Liz Clasen-Kelly will be available for scheduled interviews.

Commonwealth in Plaza-Midwood

The developers of the Commonwealth project in Plaza-Midwood have commissioned what they’re calling a “sizzle video” that showcases what life will be like there — and it’s unlike any rendering we’ve ever seen.

Hot rendering 🔥 alert: Developers have a new ‘sizzle video’ of the Plaza-Midwood Commonwealth project

The developers of the Commonwealth project in Plaza-Midwood have commissioned what they’re calling a “sizzle video” that showcases what life will be like there — and it’s unlike any rendering we’ve ever seen.

With a backdrop of upbeat music, the 2-minute, 19-second video blends footage of real people in actual existing neighborhood businesses — a woman shopping for a bracelet at Moxie Mercantile, and a family eating pizza at Emmy Squared — with real-looking animated renderings of people living their best lives: sunbathers relaxing by a rooftop pool that contains an inflatable pink squirrel, couples sharing an embrace on a lawn, folks enjoying drinks on a terrace overlooking uptown.

To be clear, those scenes don’t actually exist — yet. The development’s 383 apartments, 150,000 s.f. of office, and 100,000 s.f. of retail are under construction at the intersection of Central and Pecan avenues, on what was mostly a surface parking lot.

The video “provides an emotional attachment,” said Bobby Speir, senior vice president of mixed-use for Crosland Southeast. “Especially for those not in the real estate development world, if you go through 3D like that, you can put yourself in the middle of the project. You can visualize what’s there.”

He declined to disclose the cost of the video, other than to say: “They’re not cheap, especially for 2 minutes of the film.” It was made by Boston-based Neoscape, a marketing agency that has an office in the Plaza-Midwood area.

More sizzle: Speir says he foresees the use of more “sizzle videos” in Charlotte, as technology improves and developers look for new ways to engage potential tenants: “Not many projects in Charlotte have gone to this level to date, but I see that changing.”

Barry Fabyan of JLL, which is handling the office leasing for the project, said the video should be helpful.

“We are getting more and more, where you blur the lines and have to ask yourself if some things are there yet or not,” he said.

We should be able to compare the video to reality toward the end of 2023 when the first parts of the project are estimated to be completed. —TM

Renderings: Hundreds of Germantown apartments eyed for Q4 groundbreaking

Courtesy of Proffitt Dixon

North Carolina development firm Proffitt Dixon Partners is targeting the end of this year to start construction on hundreds of waterfront apartments in Germantown.

Stuart Proffitt, one of the company’s founding partners, told Nashville Business Journal that he’s in the review process with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. If everything goes according to plan and there are no hang-ups, he’s hoping to break ground in the fourth quarter on 339 units at 900 Second Ave. N.

That first phase would be followed by the eventual construction of a second building, at 1000 Second Ave. N., which would hold more apartments, as well as retail and office space. The Music City Greenway would intersect the two structures.

The total 6-acre project site, which is bounded by First Avenue North, Second Avenue North, Stockyard Street, and Jefferson Street, sits just a few hundred feet from the Cumberland River, around 1,000 feet from First Horizon ballpark and a few thousand feet from the East Bank’s River North development district.

Everything in the East Bank’s radius — including Germantown, Dickerson Pike, and downtown — is expected to benefit from Oracle Corp.’s recent plans to create an 8,500-job tech hub there.

Proffitt Dixon spent $32.53 million on the two development parcels in October 2021.

The firm’s project, dubbed “Stockyard” in filings, comes during a push from real estate executives and the mayor’s office to better orient development toward the Cumberland River. Developers like Ray Hensler, for example, are underway on massive waterfront structures, and Mayor John Cooper announced plans to upgrade First Avenue North, which he referred to as “a front porch” for the river.

EOA Architects, Manuel Zeitlin Architects, and Axiom Architecture are a few members of Proffitt Dixon’s project team, according to documents.

The land at 900 Second Ave. N. currently holds a building that once housed the headquarters for Tennessee’s Department of Child Services. The second is a parking lot.

Proffitt Dixon entered Nashville in 2014 when it pitched 220 units in Germantown, according to the previous reporting from the Business Journal. In September, the firm secured $37.3 million to build another apartment project in Wedgewood-Houston.

Drew Hutchinson

Reporter

Nashville Business Journal

The Best Multifamily Architects in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Axiom Architecture

333 W. Trade St., Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202

Axiom Architecture specializes in multifamily and mixed-use development and design. Since its inception in 2007, the firm has delivered exceptional projects by combining inventive design with development expertise. Its team of expert designers and architects is dedicated to bringing new concepts and fresh perspectives to the multifamily and mixed-use design fields. The firm is dedicated to designing unique, economically successful, socially sensitive, and environmentally sustainable places. Its impressive portfolio contains more than 20,000 housing units. Many of Axiom Architecture’s designs have won awards from Multi-Housing News and Multifamily Executive magazines, The Charlotte Business Journal, USGBC Charlotte Chapter, Charlotte Center City Partners, and the American Institute of Architects.

The West End Station, a 229-unit apartment project in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is one of the firm’s notable projects. The main front, along Green Street, is a three-floor structure that steps down an entire level toward the site’s back and Brookstown Avenue. A podium garage carves beneath the structure, accessed from the lower side of the site, with four complete floors of flats lying above and addressing the Brookstown border. One of two elevated passive courtyards atop the parking garage is flanked by a big pool courtyard and amenity plaza tucked behind the split portion of the Green Street arm of the building.

Click here to view the whole article

Developers bringing apartments, retail to lower South End site along light-rail line

By Jennifer Thomas  –  Senior Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal

This lower South End project will bring a mix of apartments and retail offerings to the neighborhood.

South & Hollis — a 322,000-square-foot development by Washington, D.C.-based Akridge, and Virginia-based Kettler — is under construction at 3441 South Blvd., in close proximity to the Scaleybark light-rail station.

The 310-unit, six-story building will have 9,500 square feet of ground-level retail. That project combines seven parcels for a total of 2.6 acres.

Akridge and Kettler paid $9.3 million for that land.

“When we look at the transformation of LoSo over time, there are certain sites that are holding the entire submarket back. This is one,” says Dan Outen, Akridge’s vice president for the Carolinas. “Not only can we transform this site into something better than it was before, but I think it will have an outsized impact in transforming LoSo as a whole.”

Plans call for a roughly 3,100-square-foot corner restaurant, complete with patio space. Local, regional, and national options will be considered.

“I think we would be open to a lot of different concepts. The use will be one that complements our residential experience,” Outen says.

Two additional retail tenants could split the remaining space — though those spaces could also be divided. Outen says a coffee shop, fitness concept, or other uses that would support the community will be considered.

“The way we look at this building — it’s also contributing to the larger community growth of LoSo,” Outen says.

Jay Royster of Royster Commercial Real Estate represented Akridge and Kettler in the property transaction.

Axiom Architecture is designing the project, LandDesign is providing civil engineering and landscape design, and Samet is providing construction services.

South & Hollis will deliver in the fall of 2023.

Davis Hahn of Ascent Real Estate Partners is leasing the retail space. Ascent is a boutique, full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm focused on retail leasing in Charlotte’s infill submarkets.

South & Hollis marks Akridge’s fourth project in North Carolina — and it’s second in the Queen City. Outen is leading its work in the Carolinas.

Kettler also continues to expand its footprint in North Carolina, with plans for long-term growth.

The firms are working on Hawkins Press, a 426-unit multifamily project that sits on 3 acres on Dunavant Street in South End. It is slated to deliver in late summer 2023.

“We have been pleased with the evolution of South End and the market,” Outen says.

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

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

http://Click Here for Full Article

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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