Latest uptown Charlotte office building to convert to apartments is on College St.
The conversion from office space to apartments is just beginning for the Wake Forest University Charlotte Center at 200 N. College St. in uptown
A land development construction plan permit for the office building was filed Friday by an LLC called RP 200 N Owner, according to city records. The LLC owns the building in care of Belgravia Management LP of Philadelphia.
In the office-to-apartment conversion, about 290 units will be created, according to the permit. Developers will work on interior renovations with no exterior demolition or site grading, the permit shows.
It’s unclear when the renovations will begin. Belgravia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
But the project’s been in the works since the building was purchased in 2024 at a discounted price of $32.9 million. It was sold again last year to the LLC for almost $3.5 million, according to county records.
The building was used primarily by Bank of America until February 2023 and has sat predominately vacant since then, the Charlotte Ledger previously reported.
Charlotte office renovations and conversions
Post-COVID, office towers have to either entice people to come back to the cubicle or change uses.
Both moves have actively occurred in Charlotte, but lately more office buildings are leaning toward becoming apartments or hotels. The conversions to residential space help lower the office vacancy rate, which in previous quarters reached alarming highs.
For the first quarter of this year, Charlotte’s office vacancy rate sat at just over 24%, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. The agency includes suburban markets in its total.
Uptown towers have a rate of almost 25%, according to the report.
Besides 200 N. College, the former Wachovia Center at 400 S. Tryon St. is being converted into apartments and a hotel. The former Two Wells Fargo tower at 301 S. Tryon St. will have some office space but will also undergo a residential and hospitality conversion.
