|
September 30, 2004
Mixed project seen for
Fairview
Residential-office combo planned
just west of mall
DOUG SMITH
Two
Charlotte
developers are ready to give SouthPark's commercial hub a softer edge by
transforming 20 acres on busy
Fairview Road
into condos, apartments, offices and shops around a pedestrian plaza.
Crescent Resources and Lincoln
Harris expect to start construction in mid-October of
Piedmont
Town
Center
, an estimated $120 million-plus project about a block west of SouthPark
mall.
A mixed-use village has been
anticipated on the site -- bounded by
Fairview Road
,
Assembly Street
and
Carnegie Boulevard
-- for nearly five years.
Another developer, Houston-based
Hines, had proposed
Carnegie
Town
Center
there. But it left
Charlotte
after the office market dived into a sustained slump starting about four
years ago.
Finding the office tenants to
launch the project was difficult for Hines, but its residential portion
attracted considerable interest. The company received inquiries from more
than 50 people interested in a condo even before it had floor plans ready.
Now, with leasing activity picking
up and mixed-use growing in popularity with developers, planners and the
public, the timing appears more opportune for Crescent and Lincoln Harris.
"We see a general tightening
up of the SouthPark market," said Larry Wilson, Crescent Resource's
regional vice president. "Vacancy rates are in the 11 percent range
and trending down."
Also, he said, "When you look
at the number of tenants with leases expiring in the next 36 months, we
feel very good about our ability to compete."
Piedmont
Town
Center
already has one major tenant: the project's namesake, Piedmont Natural
Gas, will move its headquarters to the top four floors -- about 120,000
square feet -- in one of two eight-story towers.
The developers expect general
contractor Shelco Inc. to complete the village in the fourth quarter of
2005.
Among other features, the complex
will include a central plaza, a roundabout with a centerpiece fountain and
a residential park with a reflecting pool.
The towers, which will have more
than 397,000 square feet of office space and about 20,000 square feet of
ground-level retail, will frame the village's main avenue off
Fairview Road
.
Charlotte
's LS3P Associates Ltd., the project's architect, said the midrise
buildings will have all-glass corner offices and "monumental"
bay windows.
Five interior buildings will
include 70,000 square feet of street-level retail, 221 apartments and 200
luxury condos and townhomes.
Crescent and Lincoln Harris, which
are still finalizing plans for the condos, said price ranges and sizes are
being determined.
Hines, which got the property
rezoned in 2000, said then that the project would adhere to the city's
long-range SouthPark area plan, which envisioned a high-density village
with pedestrian connections to the mall.
Crescent, which bought the
property from Hines in 2002 for slightly more than $15 million, and its
development partner Lincoln Harris have a similar vision.
They see
Piedmont
Town
Center
as a place where people can live and work within a short walk of
SouthPark's department stores and restaurants.
The developers said the village
was designed with a street grid system to improve accessibility and give
visitors and occupants multiple routes for entering and leaving.
Unlike the $130 million project
Hines proposed earlier, this one won't include a hotel.
Betsy McIntyre of Lincoln Harris
is handling retail leasing for
Piedmont
Town
Center
. Kacie Lankford of Lincoln Harris is the contact for office leasing, and
Robin Sharp of Crescent Resources is handling the residential components.
Crescent Resources is a land
management and real estate development company formed more than 40 years
ago by Duke Energy Corp.
Lincoln Harris, an affiliate of
Lincoln Property Co., is a full-service real estate company involved in
tenant representation, property management, project management and
commercial brokerage and development.
Piedmont Natural Gas, which has
outgrown its 24-year-old, five-story building on
Rexford Road
in SouthPark, disclosed plans in June to move to
Piedmont
Town
Center
.
About 350 people work in its
headquarters.
Thomas Skains,
Piedmont
's chairman, president and CEO, said the company will sell the existing
building.
Homes
and Offices
An
overview of the project:
• Two eight-story towers with
397,000 square feet of offices.
• 221 apartments and 200 condos
and townhomes.
• 90,000 square feet of shops
and restaurants.
• Central public plaza and
roundabout with a fountain.
• Construction is to start in
mid-October and be finished in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Doug
Smith
|
