What’s next for a planned South End office tower that would go atop historic landmark
Unusual plans to change a historic landmark in South End are moving forward.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission voted last week to approve a demolition certificate for the Nebel Knitting Mill Annex building at 127 W. Worthington Ave. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the landmark building will be wiped off the map.
Local developer Asana Partners has proposed a project to build a modern, glass office tower — around seven stories — on top of the landmark.
Even in development-crazed Charlotte, you don’t typically see new office buildings going on top of historic structures.
Asana has said it is trying to save at least one of the exterior building walls. The two-story annex building sits in one of Charlotte’s hottest real estate markets, directly across from the new Lowe’s technology tower. That tower sold for a record $318 million last year.
There is not a cost estimate for the project yet, Liles said.
A demolition certificate is required when developers or others want to make any changes to or demolish a 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 women’s full-fashioned nylon hosiery in Mecklenburg County and earned international recognition, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.
Saving some of the building
Asana Partners is confident it can preserve the front facade of the building along Worthington Avenue, Asana managing director Welch Liles told The Charlotte Observer last week.
The annex is one of the few buildings in the region designed in an Art Moderne style, which broke from the typical textile look Charlotte was used to seeing in the early 20th century, according to a commission report. Most mills were “revivalistic structures,” the report states, which was a more conservative design.
Under North Carolina law, the commission cannot deny Asana’s application for what’s known as a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the building.
But it can issue a delay of the effective date of that certificate for up to one year — which it voted to do last week. That means the earliest Asana could start work on the project is next September.
That date could be moved up, Liles said, depending on factors like how much of the building is saved. The developer is assessing if it could save other exterior walls.
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.
The project would include ground-floor retail or restaurant space.
Historic landmark commissioners have debated about the project before. Some said how visually shocking it was and how little relationship there was between the old and new buildings. Other commissioners said it was that juxtaposition that worked to preserve the annex building.
The next steps
Asana is still in a relatively early phase of the project.
It is still figuring out the exact building design and size. Liles said the developer will continue to update the commission over the next year on how those plans evolve.
He sees Asana’s project as fitting in with this specific part of South End, called the design district, which is close to a number of food and drink options, the light rail and other gathering places. Some small businesses around Worthington Avenue and Camden Road sit inside historic buildings.
“We see the design district and all of the retail, restaurants and other offerings as an amenity itself,” Liles said. “This building will really add to that and continue to play off that existing character of that neighborhood.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 5:25 AM.
