Warehouses to get new life as offices in fast-growing area off South Tryon Street
Three real estate firms announced plans Monday to transform warehouses off of South Tryon Street into a commercial district featuring office space, the latest in a spate of projects bringing new life to old industrial buildings.
Maryland-based real estate investment company FCP, along with a joint venture between Charlotte firm Abacus Capital and Florida-based Cypress Capital, said Monday it plans to repurpose the one-story warehouse buildings, which total just over 63,000 square feet, into offices. An entity affiliated with FCP purchased the buildings on Toomey Avenue for a combined $7.6 million, according to county real estate records posted Monday.
The companies are planning to build what’s known as creative office space, which typically features large, open-concept spaces, rather than cubicles.
The project is part of a trend in Charlotte known as adaptive reuse, where developers take an old building and redevelop it for a new purpose.
FCP is also working with Charlotte-based White Point, the developer behind Optimist Hall, to revamp the old Chadbourn Mill on North Brevard Street into retail, restaurant and office space.
The warehouse buildings FCP and its partners purchased border the Wilmore neighborhood as well as Brookhill, a housing complex that offers affordable rents but has fallen in disrepair and is slated for redevelopment. As South End grows, neighboring areas like Wilmore are experiencing development pressures and rising home costs.
In the release, FCP Senior Associate Kevin North referred to the area as “organically expanding and promising.”
Karen Widmayer, a spokeswoman for the project, said although the firms are primarily planning creative office space, they are considering some retail space as well. She said they do not yet have a timeline for when construction will start or the projected will be completed.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Warehouses to get new life as offices in fast-growing area off South Tryon Street."
