Furniture retailer Furniture Row expects to build a 70,000-square-foot store starting early this year in Belgate, a mixed-used project in the University City area, according to the developer, Crescent Resources.

The project includes giant home-furnishings retailer IKEA, which opened a 356,000-square-foot store in early 2009. Belgate is planned to ultimately include an additional 400,000 square feet of stores, two hotels and two apartment communities. Site work is under way for a Pantry convenience store.

It would be Furniture Row's first full-service store in the Carolinas. The Denver-based retailer has an outlet center off Independence Avenue.

Announced by Crescent in 2007, this 205-acre mixed-use development off Interstate 85 at the City Boulevard exit has been pegged as a project that could reshape University City's business district.

Roadwork continues at Belgate, which is in its early stages. IKEA Boulevard South is under construction and Crescent started building Brookside Lane on Dec. 1. It will connect IKEA's main entrance to U.S. 29 near the entrance to the Wal-Mart Super Center, which is not part of Belgate.

Apartment update

Development activity for apartment complexes is stabilizing in some Southeastern markets and could see improvement this year, according to the latest information from Real Data, which publishes apartment reports for markets in the Carolinas, Virginia and Florida.

Charleston, Columbia and Jacksonville, Fla., are among those best poised to recover from the economic meltdown that has boosted vacancy rates, the report says. Asheville, Charlotte and Savannah, Ga., meanwhile, will probably continue to stagnate due to "a robust development pipeline that will delay their recovery."

The Charlotte apartment vacancy rate was 12.8 percent in September, up from about 9.1 percent the year before, according to Real Data.

In Asheville, even though the vacancy rate climbed to 12.8 percent, developers started construction on nearly 400 additional units last year, bringing the number of units under construction to almost 600.

Vacancy rates in the Greenville, S.C., area, meanwhile, fell below 12 percent last month, thanks to falling rents.

Charlotte's apartment market surged through the 1990s as the city's population boomed, though its pace slowed for a few years earlier this decade as renters fled toward easy mortgages and the promise of rapidly appreciating homes.

By 2007, there were almost 97,500 units in the Charlotte area, and the vacancy rate was less than 7 percent. Developers have been building new complexes, which are starting to come on line, however, boosting supply. A report on Charlotte's latest market conditions is expected in March.

Mellow Mushroom returns

Pizzeria Mellow Mushroom is re-entering the Charlotte market, having leased 5,740 square feet in Tranquil Court on Selwyn, a mixed-use development in Myers Park. The eatery, which departed the Charlotte market two years ago, plans to open in early summer.

Charles Thrift, senior leasing associate for Crosland's retail division, represented the developer.

Better times ahead?

The folks at Pinnacle Properties recently signed four deals for their property at Pinnacle Point, a mixed-use development in the University area.

Charlotte Music School leased 1,950 square feet in September, while Twilight Caribbean Restaurant leased 5,452 square feet; and Just Kaam, LLC Math Tutoring Lab leased 1,233 square feet in December. Queens of Hegai Salon and Banner Tax Pros purchased 2,350 square feet this month. The $70 million, 300,00-square-foot mixed-use project is about 80 percent leased, according to the developer.

Activity picked up during the second half of 2009, with clients "actually signing some things here recently," said Chris Orr, who represented the landlord in the transactions. "We're not back yet but it is getting much better out there."

Waste firm moving in

Advanced Disposal plans to expand to the Carolinas and has leased space at 1100 W. Craighead Road in Charlotte. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company is the fourth-largest privately held environmental services company in the country. It collects, transfers, recycles and disposes of nonhazardous solid waste in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Carole McLeod, Charlotte district manager with the company, said the new location "creates our initial footprint in North Carolina positioning us for growth and success in the greater Charlotte marketplace as well as a springboard for other opportunities through North and South Carolina."

Warren Snowdon of Commercial Carolina Member of Cushman & Wakefield's Charlotte office represented the building owner in the lease negotiations.