Is North End the new South End? The latest corner of Charlotte facing growth pressure
For over two decades, Mark Middlesworth ran his event and production company out of a building on North Tryon Street.
No more. Middlesworth is under contract to sell the green- and purple-hued building, and he’s heard the investor could bring a brewery to the site in Charlotte’s North End.
Across the street, a local developer purchased about 2 acres at the corner of North Tryon Street and Dalton Avenue, with plans to transform what was once a truck stop into a mixed-use site with apartments, retail shops or both.
Over at 32nd and North Tryon streets, a $500 million investment could transform five city blocks from low-slung brick buildings and overgrown grass into office buildings and apartments.
And that’s just the beginning for North End, a roughly 5.6-square-mile collection of eight neighborhoods about a mile north of uptown.
North End has never seen a level of investment like what’s to come over the next several years, according to more than a dozen interviews with developers, brokers, residents and city officials.
The area, home to a number of African American neighborhoods, could begin to shed its more industrial character. It could soon get some improvements and amenities like a grocery store, more restaurants and enhancements to street infrastructure like sidewalks.
Some residents, who said the city has historically under-invested in this part of town, welcomed the coming changes. But in interviews with The Charlotte Observer, they also expressed concern about the consequences that typically come with such growth, including displacement of longtime residents.
Many in Charlotte are familiar with the 76-acre Camp North End site, the popular redevelopment of historic buildings off Statesville Avenue. Less is likely known about the greater North End neighborhoods.
A deeper look into North End reveals plans for thousands of new apartments as well as notable projects like the redevelopment of the 125,000 square foot Foundation Supply building, a mixed-use site on North Tryon. The building — located across from the Amtrak station — could soon hold office workers, small businesses and possibly a restaurant or brewery.
Seeing the improvements
Another redevelopment project also stands out. About 10 years ago, the mixed-income neighborhood Brightwalk began to replace the Double Oaks neighborhood.
With its close proximity to uptown and cheaper land prices when compared to its counterpart South End, the North End is poised to have a moment of significant growth. To Middlesworth, there were some reservations about selling his building. He likes being so close to uptown.
When he bought it in 2000 for around $630,000, people laughed when he told them he was bringing an events business to that part of town. But, at some point, he said couldn’t turn down an offer to sell.
“We’ve been one of the businesses in this area that stuck it out to watch the improvements happen,” Middlesworth said.
North End’s history
North End’s growth reflects Charlotte’s growth.
The first railroad that came into the city came down the North Tryon Street corridor in the 1850s, local historian Tom Hanchett said. It’s one of the reasons why the Amtrak station, which provides service south to New Orleans or north to New York, is there.
That growth led to a number of the lower-slung industrial buildings still found along the street that popped up around the train tracks, Hanchett said. He pointed to Camp North End which was once home to a Ford factory, a missile plant and Eckerd Pharmaceuticals.
But the North End’s story can’t be told without talking about its residential neighborhoods. Among them: Druid Hills, Tryon Hills, J.T. Williams, Greenville, Brightwalk, Genesis Park and Park at Oaklawn.
They run west of the Norfolk Southern rail lines, including the neighborhoods north of Interstate 277, south of Interstate 85 and east of Interstate 77.
One neighborhood called Lockwood comprises about 10 city blocks and a couple hundred homes. Described by Hanchett as a “residential oasis” less than a mile from uptown, Lockwood dates back to about 1915.
The neighborhood became the home of managers and workers from nearby industries like Southern Railway (today Norfolk Southern) and the Ford Motor Company.
By the 1960s, Lockwood’s population began to shift from white to Black.
Part of that can be attributed to white flight to the newer suburbs. But, more importantly, the shift can be tied to the federally funded urban renewal, which led to the demolition of Black neighborhoods in Charlotte, according to a report compiled by Hanchett.
Greenville in the North End also was demolished and families were displaced, forced to find new homes. Harmful policies like redlining impacted Black communities across the country, Hanchett said, including in Charlotte and its North End.
City investment comes to North End
Melissa Gaston, who lives in the Park at Oaklawn neighborhood, helped start the North End Community Coalition in 2017, a community she’s called home since 2005.
“For a long time it’s been an area that’s had no investment from the city or county,” Gaston said. “It’s one of those lost neighborhoods that nobody really paid attention to.”
Gaston’s husband, Darryl, helped start the coalition and was the unofficial mayor of North End. Darryl Gaston, who died last year at 59, was an advocate for ensuring that rapid development in the area benefited longtime residents and didn’t push them out, the Observer previously reported.
Over the past decade or so, various city plans have focused on North End, including infrastructure upgrades and targeted investment.
A Center City 2020 vision plan described North End as a “key anchor” in the city’s efforts to improve infrastructure from South End to UNC Charlotte. The idea was that improvements would help spur economic growth and eventually support the recruitment of higher-tech industries.
One such North End project was the recently-completed $20 million reconfiguration of North Tryon and North Church streets that calmed traffic through the busy corridor and improved the streetscape.
North End’s growth has been spurred on by the city’s investment in the Blue Line light rail, which runs along the edge of this part of town, said Councilman Larken Egleston whose district comprises much of North End.
Camp North End also has served as a major catalyst for growth, attracting people that may never have otherwise gone there.
For instance, the Immersive Van Gogh exhibition at the Ford Building ended its run at the start of the year with a record of more than 1,600 performances and selling more than 300,000 tickets, according to Blumenthal Performing Arts.
Home values going up
As a Realtor, Gaston has seen home values and home sizes going up in North End. What was once a $200,000 home is now a $300,000 home, with some newer homes selling for up to $700,000.
Gaston acknowledges the investment will mean some people aren’t going to be able to afford to stay there.
But changes are coming. Two years ago, the area got its first health clinic with Novant Health’s Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic at 2701 Statesville Ave.
Still, North End lacks good access to pharmacies and nearby ATMs. There’s the Wayne’s grocery store across from Camp North End but many describe the North End as a grocery desert.
“Those amenities will eventually come,” Gaston said.
Embracing growth
Others who live or work in North End are welcoming of what’s to come.
Anthony Greene has been cutting hair at the Anderton Barber Shop off Statesville Avenue for six years. The longtime barbershop sits in a small shopping center across from the Brightwalk neighborhood, near the new health clinic.
Kids in the neighborhood need to see change if they want to change, Greene said, meaning change could lead to opportunities to better their lives. New residents can also be advocates for the neighborhood, including in the schools.
Greene said there needs to be a balance with the new growth.
“As long as you don’t run out all the older people and you still keep some affordable housing, (the growth) can’t do much but better the community,” Greene said.
Retail follows rooftops
North End’s future also appears to hold a lot of new apartments.
With apartments usually follow retail, according to developers. One longtime developer, Clay Grubb, estimates the area is poised to see 10,000 new apartment units over the next five years.
There are about 3,600 apartments coming to North End, either under construction, approved, pending approval or being planned, according to an Observer review of rezoning petitions and other city documents.
North End’s growth comes when there are more apartments under construction in the Charlotte are than at any other time, according to a report this month by real estate research firm CoStar.
Those projects include a pending rezoning by a Texas-based developer to bring 410 apartments to 3035 N. Tryon St.
A project called The Henry will bring 325 apartments to W. 26th Street near North Pine Street. And a Charlotte investor is proposing to rezone about 7 acres at W. 28th and Grimes streets to bring 370 apartments and 31 townhomes.
One of the biggest projects in North End is Queens Park Commons, a mixed-use development on North Tryon Street.
Covering six parcels and about five city blocks, Tony Kuhn’s Flywheel Group won City Council approval in June to rezone the land. Kuhn expects construction to start next summer with the first phase being complete by fall 2025.
Flywheel will invest between $300 million to $500 million in the project, which will include eight-to-10-story buildings. There also will be between 500 and 1,000 apartments, Kuhn said.
“We think the neighborhood, with all the new apartments going up, is under-served with things to do and retail opportunities,” Kuhn told the Observer.
Kuhn wants to put an emphasis on green open spaces that allow the public to benefit from going to the site as much as office or apartment tenants. He also wants the project to tap into the future Cross Charlotte Trail, a 30-plus mile trail and greenway that will stretch from Pineville into uptown and north to UNC Charlotte.
’Very bullish on North End’
Some developers describe North End as one of the last urban areas in Charlotte to benefit from infill development.
That generally means neighborhoods close to the center city that have underused or unused land compared to surrounding communities, in this case places like NoDa, uptown and Optimist Park.
Jack Spencer, who works at local real estate firm Ascent Real Estate Capital, thinks North End has an opportunity to develop in a smart, thoughtful way. That includes preserving and reusing some of the older industrial neighborhoods.
Ascent partnered with Tribek Properties to redevelop The Shop off North Graham Street, investing around $10 million in the space. With 37,650 square feet of office and retail space, The Shop is now home to Petty Thieves Brewery and other small businesses.
Earlier this year, Ascent purchased a 2-acre site for $3 million a half mile down the road, at the corner of Tryon Street and Dalton Avenue, county property records show. While the land still has to be rezoned, Spencer envisions a mixed-use project going there, including apartments and some small retail shops.
“We are very bullish on North End,” Spencer said.
‘Intentional’ development
Another developer keen on North End is Austin, Texas-based Artesia Real Estate.
The firm purchased the Foundation Supply building in 2018 at 1801 N. Tryon St. for $8.8 million, property records show.
Around 120 tenants in what was then the City North Business Center were forced to leave for redevelopment of the building, the Observer reported in 2019.
Among the tenants was Chris Dennis, a developer who lives in nearby Lockwood and had some office space, including for his nonprofit Community Dream Builders. The nonprofit provides support and funding to low-income neighborhoods in communities within the North End corridor.
On a recent morning, Dennis toured the new space with David McCuiston, Artesia’s vice president of investments. Dennis was impressed with the updated space.
McCuiston wants to see coffee shops, breweries and restaurants among retail shops and office space. “It’s a destination,” he said, one that he envisions bringing jobs to people that live in nearby neighborhoods.
No tenants have signed on yet, but there is 100,000 square feet of office space ready to be leased out along with 25,000 square feet of retail.
Over the past month, there’s been a steady uptick in interest from breweries, gyms, salons and sporting goods stores, according to Colleen Brannan, a retail broker who’s working with Adam Williams at Legacy Real Estate Advisors.
Many, Brannan said, are “established brands” from out of town looking to enter the Charlotte market. Others are local retailers wanting to expand, needing large space near uptown with ample free parking.
David Dorsch is the broker for Cushman and Wakefield on the office side. He told the Observer there’s space for tenants to take up 60,000 square feet or 4,000 square feet. They expect to see a mix of tenants similar to South End, including larger insurance companies, banks and design firms.
On the tour, Dennis said how much he’d like to bring his company back to the building. Through the windows, Charlotte’s uptown skyscrapers peek above the trees.
“You’re sitting in an ideal spot that will drive the North End for the whole of Charlotte,” Dennis said.
He thinks it can bring jobs and resources to surrounding neighborhoods but said the growth needs to come with stability. That means those jobs and resources need to help the community and work to offset consequences like displacement.
“You have to be intentional,” Dennis said.
Middlesworth, the owner of Extravaganza, said he can make due with his business in another location.
He too sees North End as the next hot spot for growth in Charlotte. He also wonders if it’s already happened and we just don’t know about it. Investors and private developers can buy up land and projects soon start popping up.
“There’s a boom going on right now,” Middlesworth said, “that will not happen again in the near future.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
