An office/retail building will soon follow
restaurants and shops in southwest Charlotte's 129-acre Ayrsley, one of
the largest mixed-use developments ever approved in Mecklenburg County.
Developer Charley Hodges of Cambridge Partners said
the 60,000-square-foot structure -- which has signed an anchor tenant --
will be the first in Ayrsley to offer Class A offices, generally
considered the market's finest.
Stantec, a Canada-based architectural, engineering
and planning services firm, will lease about 10,000 square feet in the
building, which it also designed.
Ayrsley is under way at N.C. 49 (York Road) and
Interstate 485.
Restaurants and shops are open in the initial 34,000
square feet of retail space, and the Steele Creek YMCA is preparing to
open in a 32,500-square-foot building.
Cambridge Partners plans eventually to develop
340,000 square feet of retail, 1.8 million square feet of offices, 1,600
multifamily residential units, three hotels and a movie theater.
The new $10 million building, due to open next
August on Ayrsley Boulevard adjacent to the YMCA, is a key feature, Hodges
said, because it will blend two uses within the project.
The ground floor will house about 18,000 square feet
of shops and restaurants, and the two upper floors will accommodate 42,000
square feet of offices.
Hodges said the designers studied historic
Piccadilly and other picturesque shopping arcades in London. And applying
what they learned, they created a walkable arcade through the building at
street level.
Ground-floor tenants will have storefronts on the
arcade as well as the street. And, naturally, the structure will be known
as the Arcade Building.
Cambridge Partners started Ayrsley's first large
retail building in late 2002 and waited for tenant demand to pick up
before attempting office development.
With the economy now showing solid signs of
improvement, residential activity picking up in southwest Charlotte and
the extension of I-485 just around the corner, Hodges said, the timing
looks good for the office phase.
The state plans to complete the 7.4-mile segment of
I-485 in west Mecklenburg from the N.C. 49 interchange to Wilkinson
Boulevard and Interstate 85 by next spring or summer.
The entire 67-mile interstate loop around the city
is to be completed around 2010.
Hodges said interest has intensified in recent weeks
in Ayrsley's remaining retail spaces and undeveloped commercial and
residential parcels.
Cambridge Partners' research shows that southwest
Charlotte is one of the city's largest employment hubs. About 50,000
people a day commute to work there, compared with about 55,000 to uptown
Charlotte.
Within the past two year, developers have announced
plans in southwest Charlotte for four residential developments totaling
more than 6,500 homes.
Hodges sees Ayrsley developing as a place to live,
work and socialize, enabling southwest Charlotte residents to reduce
commuter trips and live in a self-contained community.
Stantec, which employs about 30 people in Charlotte,
said it chose Ayrsley in consultation with its employees, who expressed a
desire to work in a pedestrian-friendly community with amenities close by.
The company, which has 3,800 employees in 40 offices
in North America and the Caribbean, said it believes the location will
help it attract and retain workers.
Cambridge Partners also will be an office tenant in
the new building, occupying about 7,000 square feet.
Hodges said Cambridge Partners expects to start
construction soon. It's negotiating with a general contractor.
Cambridge Partners earlier developed nearby
Cambridge Beltway Park -- four office buildings totaling about 200,000
square feet. It's now called Cambridge at Ayrsley.
