Realtor buys commercial space in South End with retail and restaurants in mind
Building purchases are being made at the Quarter South End, a large adaptive-reuse project in the Wilmore neighborhood featuring residential and commercial space.
The most recent move is Ram Realty Advisors’ acquisition of two commercial buildings it plans to use for retail, restaurants and office space.
Ram announced the purchase of 2218 and 2320 Toomey Ave. a combined 100,000 square feet of commercial space off of the West Tremont Corridor.
It also underscores the area’s growth and desirability.
“There’s been a flurry of office demand in South End over the last few years,” said Ashley Saulpaugh, vice president of investment at Ram. “A lot of that is driven by office users wanting a tool to recruit young talent, and the young talent lives in South End.”
That tool Saulpaugh refers to is two-fold.
New residential buildings in the area, coupled with the office spaces provide a close commute. And the office spaces themselves are geared toward the “creative class,” corporations looking to leave stuffy older office buildings for more open layout concepts in younger-skewing neighborhoods.
The latter is especially relevant when looking at office vacancies in Charlotte. Vacancies stood at around 24.7% at the end of June, bringing the overall year-to-year office vacancy rate to just about 22%.
The spike in vacancies can be attributed to newly opened office spaces, but most of the vacancies are in older buildings with less amenities and less appeal.
Saulpaugh said South End’s desirability puts the office spaces at a higher level of demand.
Retail in demand
But Ram isn’t only thinking of the acquisitions as office space. Saulpaugh said the focus will really be on adding retail and restaurants.
Again, it’s a future residents’ need.
“Our strategy for the property is to expand the uses beyond just office,” Saulpaugh said. “With the growth in the surrounding few blocks, the multi-family properties either recently delivering or under construction, that’s going to create additional demand on the retail side… And with the offices coming in, you’ll have more daytime population.”
Currently, the commercial spaces have two tenants, Core24 Fitness and Clancy & Theys Construction firm.
An ever-growing South End
On the residential development side, Ram recently completed The Everly, a 253-unit luxury apartment complex a block away from the commercial spaces.
Then there’s The Quarter itself.
To backtrack to 2020 and 2021, Abacus Capital, Cypress Capital and FCP purchased three warehouses and land off that West Tremont Corridor to create The Quarter South End, a multi-use district with housing and commercial space.
First, the trio built out three commercial spaces, two of which they sold to Ram. Mason Ellerbe, a partner at Abacus, said the remaining commercial space at 2213 Toomey Ave. will be used for retail and office work.
But the main piece of the project is 704 at The Quarter, a 306-unit apartment complex at 704 W. Tremont Ave.
Ellerbe said there’s multiple buildings within the complex. The first will be completed in the next few weeks, while the second should be finished in October. The entire development is projected to be completed early next year.
Ellerbe added that the ground level of one of the residential buildings will also house retail.
Neither Ram nor Abacus said who they are targeting when it comes to retailers and restaurateurs. Saulpaugh said Ram is looking for a mix of full-service and fast-casual eateries but nothing specific as of yet.
The only known is that the former industrial area will continue to be a main location for future development in the city.
