Charlotte’s latest South End tower could end up on top of a historic landmark
A local Charlotte developer is taking a rare step— but not an unheard of one — with a historic South End building.
Asana Partners is proposing to build a modern office tower, around seven stories, on the site of an existing two-story Nebel Knitting Mill Annex on West Worthington Avenue. But instead of wiping the building off the map, Asana’s original designs showed the office tower sitting on top of the historic landmark.
The annex was built in 1946 as part of the Nebel Knitting Company. In the years after World War II, the company became the largest and most productive women’s full-fashioned nylon hosiery in Mecklenburg County and earned international recognition, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.
Today, it sits in one of the hottest real estate markets not only in Charlotte, but, in terms of top-tier office space growth, in the country.
The 23-story Lowe’s tower is across the street, and it sold last year for a Charlotte record $318 million. The site is also off Nebel Alley, which is connected to popular eateries and bars like Superica, Barcelona Wine Bar and Hawkers.
This development pressure was acknowledged by the Landmarks Commission at its March meeting when Asana first presented its plans.
Although growth might threaten historic structures, commission staff wrote, adding on to a building may be required to “make possible a compatible use” while still preserving parts of the building.
“Considering its potential cost, the proposed project would likely secure the preservation of the Nebel Mill Annex for decades,” commission staff wrote in its March report.
Renderings of the Asana project show a seven-story, mostly glass building sitting on top of the roof of the Nebel Mill annex building. A roof terrace would go on the existing building between the new tower and existing annex.
It’s not clear how much the project would cost.
Not all members of the historic landmarks commission were convinced or supportive of the proposed project. At least two of them described the glass office tower as visually shocking and, if approved, could set a dangerous precedent for growth in Charlotte.
“You’re not going to open a history book and look at a picture of a textile mill with a modern building on top of it,” commissioner Jeffrey Parsons said at the March meeting.
Preserving the facade
Asana filed a new demolition application in June for the Nebel Knitting Mill building.
Initially, Asana thought the new office tower could be built while preserving all four walls of the annex. But after a structural engineer review, it was determined to be “extremely difficult” to keep all four walls, Asana managing director Welch Liles told The Charlotte Observer.
Only the exterior walls of the annex building are designated as historic landmarks.
If the project moves forward , which Liles is hopeful for, Asana intends to preserve the facade of the building facing Worthington Avenue. That facade has character in that it shows more of the art moderne style the building was designed after.
‘Dramatically different on every level’
At the March meeting, commissioner Brian Clarke said he was having a tough time seeing how the office building fit within the commission’s standards. He described the proposed tower as “dramatically different on every level.”
Clark said it was visually shocking to see the glass tower coming out of the horizontal brick building and that the new building wasn’t compatible in terms of materials used or size in a way that made sense.
“There’s no relationship,” Clarke said.
But two other commissioners said it was exactly that juxtaposition that worked to preserve the annex building.
“If you put a tower on top that sticks too close to the mill building then the mill building will get lost,” Joshua Shope said at the March meeting.
Michael Wagner, an architect working with Asana, told commissioners that South End is quickly becoming more vertical. In recent months, South End has seen a flurry of announcements of new high-rise projects, including a 30-story luxury apartment tower at the site of the former Price’s Chicken Coop.
The idea of building a tower on top of existing building is not unheard of and is a common architectural strategy that can be used to preserve older buildings like the annex, Wagner said. It’s a strategy to bring some density and life to this part of South End, he said.
“We view architecture not as something that’s static but that evolves over time,” Wagner told commissioners.
The design of the office tower was done in a way to separate itself from the annex building so that it’s better preserved.
Best of both worlds
Liles stressed that the project is still in its early stages and that no timeline on construction has been made clear yet.
By state law, the Historic Landmarks Commission cannot deny Asana’s demolition application. But it can delay for up to a year. A vote on that delay could happen at the commission’s September meeting.
Asana is required by state law to file a certificate of appropriateness application with the Historic Landmarks Commission because the annex building is a designated landmark, commission executive director Jack Thomson told the Observer. The certificate is needed when developers or others want to make any changes to or demolish a historic landmark.
Liles said Asana’s push to save as many parts of the landmark building can be a precedent for construction in South End, home to a number of historic buildings.
If the project moves forward, the ground-floor existing annex building would be used for restaurant or retail use.
“We felt the character of the building lends so much to the neighborhood,” Liles said. “By preserving it and adding to it, it feels like you’re able to hopefully provide the best of both worlds.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 5:55 AM.
