Two major new apartment towers planned uptown

The surge of new apartment complexes in uptown Charlotte shows no signs of slowing down: Two developers said Tuesday that they plan to build major new apartment towers within three blocks of each other.

Childress Klein said it will build a 392-unit apartment tower atop the Mint Museum on South Tryon Street. And apartment company Greystar is planning to construct a 300-unit apartment tower uptown across from Romare Bearden Park, a company executive said.

The projects, both of which will start construction next year, will bring almost 700 new apartments to uptown.

Charlotte has one of the fastest-growing apartment markets in the Southeast, according to research firm Real Data. The city has 10,000 new units under construction and 9,000 more proposed. Most are high-end units in uptown or the close-in neighborhoods.

Skeptics, including some developers of for-sale properties, have questioned whether too many apartments are going up, perhaps putting the city at risk of an “apartment bubble.” Six apartment towers are underway within the Interstate 277 loop uptown, in addition to the two new ones announced Tuesday. But the developers said they’re confident the market is ready for more units.

“I think it’s always a risk, but we’ve had a great reaction to our project Element Uptown,” said Fred Klein III, a partner at Childress Klein.

The 352-unit Element building opened a few months ago next to Romare Bearden Park and the Charlotte Knights baseball stadium. Klein said it is 35 percent leased, exceeding the company’s expectations so far.

“As you add more opportunities for people to live uptown, more people will want to live uptown,” Klein said.

Here are details on each of the planned projects:

Todd Wigfield, a managing director with Greystar, said groundbreaking on the project is expected in early February. The building also will include 3,200 square feet of retail space facing Romare Bearden Park, likely a restaurant, Wigfield said.

Klein said Childress Klein has the air rights above the Mint under contract. The building will be 42 stories tall, including the Mint, and will have a lobby on Church Street, 500 underground parking spaces and a rooftop pool. The museum and the apartment tower won’t be connected, Klein said.

The apartments will all be upscale, with finishes such as quartz countertops, and some will have larger floor plans to appeal to people who want to downsize from a house and move uptown.

Childress Klein plans to start construction in April, with a 17-month schedule. “It’s fast,” Klein said. “There’s no subsurface work, no garage, no foundations we have to do.”

Mint spokeswoman Leigh Dyer referred questions to the developer.

Roaring market

The new apartment buildings are the latest project in an uptown market that’s roaring back, following the recession. Earlier this month, developers began tearing down a former motel at Ninth and Tryon streets to make way for a second, 24-story SkyHouse apartment tower.

The first SkyHouse tower is being built next door and is expected to be finished early next summer. The two towers will have almost 700 apartments between them and are expected to draw 1,000 residents when finished.

And at the corner of Tryon and Third streets, a block away from the Mint and Greystar projects, Babson Capital and Spectrum Properties are building a 25-story office tower – uptown’s first since the recession.

New apartment buildings and cranes also dot the skyline outside uptown. Projects including Crescent Dilworth and Solis Dilworth on East Morehead Street; Quarters at Morehead on West Morehead Street; 1100 South Blvd. Apartments; and Astoria at Metropolitan on South Kings Drive are all set to open next year, each with hundreds of new apartments.

Charlotte’s current vacancy rate of 5.3 percent is expected to increase to 8 percent next year, as thousands of new apartments hit the market citywide. Rents are expected to go up 2 to 3 percent, Real Data said, but could also be held in check as new apartments compete for tenants.

Staff writer Rick Rothacker contributed.

This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Two major new apartment towers planned uptown."