New owner of North End building has vision to create destination for food, entertainment
When Matt Browder looks at the Foundation Supply building in Charlotte’s North End, he doesn’t see office space. That was an older plan for the site. He envisions a building filled with a restaurant, maybe a brewery or event space. Possibly even a gym or other service-type business.
Charlotte-based Browder Group Real Estate bought the 125,000 square feet of space at 1801 N. Tryon St. — split between two older, vacant buildings — for $15.1 million, Mecklenburg County property records show. The deal closed this month.
The building’s previous owner, Texas-based Artesia Real Estate Investments, was planning for the majority of the site to be office with some retail.
Browder believes companies looking for office space in this part of town — a mile north of uptown — will choose Camp North End. That 76-acre property is typically filled with people walking around a mix of restaurants, shops and office space.
“There’s a better product out there for office that’s already built out,” Browder said.
Here’s a look at what Browder and his business partner Brandon Brown have planned for the Foundation Supply building.
Activity brings more activity
Browder already has two signed letters of intents for tenants to take up about 20,000 square feet each. He wasn’t ready to announce the names yet, but says the businesses are in the entertainment and food scene.
Browder points to his roster of existing tenants, most of whom take up space across Charlotte in older buildings that his firm has converted into new uses. The roster includes Wooden Robot on South Tryon Street, the Thrift Road building where brewery Midnight Mulligan Brewing is and Noble Smoke on Freedom Drive.
At Foundation Supply, he sees activity breeding activity.
The building can be filled with tenants over time in order to create a destination. He wants to bring tenants who draw people to an area they wouldn’t have otherwise come to.
The North End area is the latest corner of Charlotte facing growth pressure, as investors and developers purchase land for a variety of projects, including apartments, breweries and office buildings.
One of the biggest projects in North End is Queens Park Commons, a mixed-use development on North Tryon Street, not far from the Foundation Supply building. Tony Kuhn’s Flywheel Group is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to build apartments and other mixed-use buildings.
The North End building’s (recent) history
In November 2018, Artesia purchased the building for $8.8 million, according to Mecklenburg County property records. Since then, it has been transforming the space for office and retail, and possibly a restaurant or brewery. The property has remained vacant, with no leases signed.
The building used to be home to around 120 tenants when it was called the City North Business Center. The tenants were forced to leave for redevelopment, The Charlotte Observer reported in 2019.
Foundation Supply sits across the street from the Amtrak station.
