Morehead Street office buildings planned 1 mile apart

Two office buildings will start construction this year on Morehead Street about a mile apart, as developers race to build Class A office space near uptown.

One of the buildings will be on West Morehead Street and one will be on East Morehead. The new developments are in addition to uptown office towers, including 300 South Tryon, that are being planned or built for the first time since the recession.

West Morehead

Two development companies plan to start construction soon on an office and retail building at West Morehead and Interstate 77.

The project, by CitiSculpt and the Knox Group, is in the design phase. It’s planned to total 70,000 square feet, including street-level retail space. The companies plan to start construction this year, with demolition of existing structures on the site starting in about six months.

Lindsey McAlpine, managing partner of CitiSculpt, said his company recently moved its offices to West Morehead.

“We kind of fell in love with the area,” said McAlpine.

He said the area needs more office space to accommodate growth, as retail and residential space expand and attract more companies.

“The market is 90 percent-plus leased up. People tell us they would like to be in the area, or expand if they’re already there. We get calls often about office space,” McAlpine said. “A lot of things certainly were put on pause during the recession. … Space needs are growing.”

Mecklenburg County property records show CitiSculpt bought the main 1.4-acre parcel, at 1213 W. Morehead St., in December for $1.5 million. The site was sold by Ark Ventures, the company headed by Rick and Noah Lazes that developed the N.C. Music Factory. Ark bought the property in 2013 for $750,000.

The new building will add to the supply of Class A office space near uptown, but McAlpine said rents will be lower than other areas seeing rapid growth.

“It won’t be as expensive space as downtown, or even the other end of Morehead,” he said.

BB+M Architecture and LandDesign are also attached to the project.

East Morehead

Beacon Partners plans to start construction this year on a seven-story office building at 500 E. Morehead Street, next to the Dowd YMCA.

The office building will total 180,000 square feet, partner Mike Harrell said. Beacon will demolish the existing 3-story, 47,000-square-foot building on the site.

Beacon bought the 2.5-acre parcel in 2012 for $5.25 million, Mecklenburg County real estate records show.

This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Morehead Street office buildings planned 1 mile apart."