Johnson & Wales University's uptown Charlotte campus doesn't open until fall 2004, but it's already spawning more economic development.

The university will be a minority investor in a 200-unit student apartment building at Fifth and Pine streets, across from the Fifth and Poplar Apartment Homes.

Art Gallagher, president of the Charlotte campus, said Johnson & Wales' first residence hall will be ready for 750 freshman students the first year, but more rooms will be needed as enrollment grows to a projected 2,800 by 2007.

The new apartment building, to be finished in time for the 2005 fall semester, "will provide a convenient, affordable option for upper-class students who want to remain close to campus as well as close to their jobs in the center city," he said.

The 89-year-old university, known for turning out top-notch chefs and hospitality managers, announced plans last summer to consolidate its Charleston and Norfolk programs in Charlotte.

Johnson & Wales students attend class four days a week and work at local establishments to gain experience toward two- and four-year degrees in business, hospitality and culinary arts

The $82 million campus is being created from a patchwork of new construction and existing Gateway Center and Gateway Village buildings along West Trade Street in Third Ward.

The student apartments, which will fill roughly half a block in Fourth Ward, will be an easy two-block walk from the main classroom building at Trade and Cedar streets.

Primary investors Spectrum Properties Residential Inc. of Charlotte and Greenville, S.C.-based Collegiate Hall Properties plan to start construction this fall of the six- to eight-story apartment building and complete it by June 2005.

John Gray, president of Spectrum Properties Residential, said the estimated $40 million complex will focus on meeting student needs, "but in the purest sense anyone could live there."

Each apartment will have four bedrooms plus a living room, dining room, full kitchen and laundry room with washer and dryer. And each bedroom will have a private bath, study desk, closet, ceiling fan and phone/cable TV connections.

The brick-and-stone building, designed by LS3P Associates Ltd., will include a fitness center, game room, wireless Internet access and parking for 250 cars.

Gray said rental rates won't be set until closer to the opening date, but the developers anticipated charging about $1,600 a month, roughly $400 per bedroom.

The student apartments will be across Pine Street from an 18,000-square-foot Harris Teeter supermarket, targeted for a late August opening in the 304-unit Fifth and Poplar complex, developed by Spectrum with RVJ Investments LLC.

Charlotte leaders say recruiting the campus is one of uptown's biggest economic successes in recent history. It's expected to generate more residential and retail development while elevating the city's status in the culinary world.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said the student apartment project "is an example of how the presence of Johnson & Wales University will have a major and positive impact on both Charlotte and the state of North Carolina."

Moreover, he said, "The influx of college students living, working and going to school in the center city will continue to add to the vibrant environment that we are creating in uptown."

Jim Palermo, a Fourth Ward leader and former chairman of Charlotte Center City Partners, said the apartments will be constructed on one of the last blocks targeted for redevelopment in Fourth Ward.

Gallagher said the university has space to develop about 300 more dorm rooms next to its initial residence hall site at Fourth and Cedar streets.

But as demand for accommodations increases, he said, it's possible the university will participate in other projects similar to the planned apartment building.

Gallagher said Johnson & Wales considers spurring economic growth in the center city part of its mission as an urban university.

Doug Smith