"It's one of the most unique corners in Charlotte , and there is a lot of energy there all of a sudden," said Bryan Barwick of Barwick & Associates LLC.

His company is remodeling a 10,000-square-foot building at the tip of a V-shaped parcel between Tryon and Camden , the former location of Dale's Auto Service. He said three apparel-related stores will take much of the space there.

"We're hoping that when someone visits, they will go from store to store, not to just one destination," he said. "We're trying to help that along."

This new hot zone will complement South End's 15-year transformation from blighted buildings and sparse occupancy to a trendy hub of entertainment, home furnishings and design-related businesses.

The emergence of South End -- a district that roughly parallels South Boulevard between Interstate 277 uptown and Remount Road -- began near Tremont Avenue and spread.

Now, the South Tryon blocks nearest uptown are seeing renewed interest, in part because of the trolley line linking uptown and South End and the anticipated arrival of light rail service in spring 2007.

The city purchased and demolished a building at Camden and Tryon to create a pedestrian greenway to the planned Rensselaer Avenue Station.

The new landscape won't be the only change.

"When I moved over here in 1983, this was a no man's land," said Gaines Brown, owner of Gaines Brown Design in the 1500 block of South Tryon . "In the last couple of years, it has really picked up."

Brown, who owns about 35,000 square feet of buildings around the Tryon and Camden intersection, helped generate momentum by leasing spaces to the Queen's Beans Coffee Shop and other tenants ranging from galleries to studios.

"We are trying to establish ourselves as an arts community," he said.

Joie Lassiter Gallery will give that goal a boost when it moves in September after nearly eight years of operation uptown into a 67-year-old South Tryon building being renovated by Browder Harris Management.

Brown, one of the first neighbors to greet gallery owner Lassiter, said he's "really flattered" she chose South End.

Browder Harris Management also expects to attract design-related tenants such as home furnishings showrooms, antiques dealers and architects.

Next to Browder Harris' building in the 1400 block of South Tryon , Dave Van Hellemont of Percival McGuire Commercial Real Estate is listing about 14,000 square feet for lease as showroom and office-warehouse space. A furniture-related business likely will sign a lease by the end of this month for the streetfront space -- about 8,500 square feet, he said.

Directly across Tryon, The Boulevard Co. has remodeled a 78-year-old former office supplies building.

Canine Cafe Charlotte, which bakes and sells all-natural dog biscuits and stocks doggie apparel, furniture and accessories, opened there about three weeks ago.

Chris Branch, president of The Boulevard Co. , said tenants have committed to about 40 percent of the building's 20,000 square feet. He expects to fill it by the end of the year.

Later, The Boulevard Co. plans to develop a four-story condominium building on the 1-acre site, next to the city's light-rail station greenway.

In yet another indicator of the development potential between I-277 and Camden Road , renovation is under way just a block north of The Boulevard Co. 's building on a 78-year-old former Cadillac and Packard dealership at 1310 S. Tryon St .

The five-person ownership team is converting the 23,000-square-foot historic structure to commercial condos.

South End watchers expect more building and landowners along South Tryon to offer properties for sale as transit-oriented, mixed-use development clusters along the light-rail line.

There's speculation, too, that a minor-league baseball stadium could find a home in South End.

This Camden-Tryon hot zone could be just the beginning.

From Uptown to South End

Joie Lassiter, who opened her first Charlotte art gallery in First Ward in 1997, is migrating to South End to increase her space and join what she sees as an emerging arts district.

She and husband Michael are preparing 2,400 square feet at 1440 S. Tryon St., Suite 104 , to handle multiple exhibits at the same time.

Lassiter plans to move from her latest uptown space, 1,900 square feet at 525 N. Tryon St. , in time for South End's September gallery crawl.

She said the new gallery will support and represent recognized local and regional artists, international artists and emerging American artists.

A native of England, Lassiter spent five years in Hawaii before moving to Charlotte, a city she discovered by surfing the Internet for a place to live in the eastern U.S.

Got, Alotta, Charlotte!

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