Construction starts at old Hall House site for $115M mixed-income apartment project
Construction is underway on a 353-unit, mixed-income apartment building in uptown that will include more than a hundred affordable housing units.
Located on the site of the former historic Barringer Hotel, later known as Hall House, Trella Uptown will be completed by next December.
The seven-story, 330,000 square foot building will have a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. It also will include a co-working cafe, dog park, pool, fitness center, pickleball courts and rooftop deck with grills. The project is at 426 N. Tryon St.
The $115 million project is a partnership between the nonprofit Inlivian, Charlotte’s housing authority, and Urban Atlantic, a mixed-use housing developer based in Bethesda, Maryland.
A number of other organizations have invested in the project.
The city of Charlotte is providing $3.2 million from its housing trust fund and Mecklenburg County is providing a $6 million affordable housing grant. Horizon Development Properties, the nonprofit development subsidiary of Inlivian, is providing a nearly $8 million construction loan.
“(The project) brings us one step closer to realizing our bold vision to provide community-focused, luxury, mixed-income housing in one of Charlotte’s top employment, educational and cultural centers,” said Fulton Meachem Jr., president and CEO of Inlivian, in a statement.
A big investment for affordable housing
Aetna, a CVS Health company, invested $16 million in the project to fund construction of the 106 affordable units.
Of those, 35 will be for residents earning 80% of the area median income, or $75,350 for a family of four or $52,750 for a single person. Another 37 apartments will be priced at 50% AMI, or $47,100 for a family of four and $33,000 for a single person. More units will be targeted at 30% AMI or less.
This is the first project Aetna has committed money to in Charlotte. But the company has invested millions more across North Carolina and the country.
“We know that providing access to safe, clean and affordable housing is one of the most critical and foundational determinants of overall health and well being,” Jim Bostian, North Carolina president of Aetna, told The Charlotte Observer.
Studies show that people’s ZIP codes have implications on their health, including if people have easy access to basic necessities like healthcare and food, Bostian said.
Apartments in uptown replace historic hotel
The new building will feature Art Deco architecture in a nod to its predecessor structure.
The 12-story Barringer Hotel, most recently called Hall House, dates back to 1940. Though late for the Art Deco period, that building had some of the style’s characteristics, according to a report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.
The building was not designated as a local landmark but was on the National Register of Historic Places since 2011.
Two years ago, a group called for the preservation of the hotel.
Inlivian officials and its architecture firm said the building’s older features, including low ceilings and small windows, would have required significant work to bring units to a modern standard to compete with other uptown apartments, the Observer has reported.
To do so would have required much more public investment than the $6 million they asked for and ultimately got from county commissioners, they said.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 12:29 PM.
