Land sold late last week by The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will make way for more multifamily and adaptive-reuse development in lower South End.
Entities tied to OMB sold about 8 acres surrounding the brewery's biergarten and manufacturing operation on Yancey Road. That property, wedged between Yancey Road, South Tryon Street and East Peterson Drive, was acquired by a joint venture formed by Charlotte developer White Point Partners and local real estate investment firm Cameron Property Co.
The deal closed on Feb. 11 in four transactions totaling $31.7 million, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records. It includes several single-family homes owned by OMB Residential Holdings LLC, a 4.3-acre parcel behind OMB that encompasses surface parking and a 2.1-acre site at 4210 Yancey Road that contains a 50,000-square-foot converted mill building currently home to the brewery's offices.
White Point and Cameron said yesterday in a press release that a two-phase project is expected to begin at the site in early 2023. The first phase will add about 350 multifamily units there, and the existing mill building will be redeveloped into creative office and retail space.
A spokeswoman for the development team told CBJ yesterday that phase one of the multifamily project is projected to deliver in 2025. White Point anticipates leasing at the renovated mill building to begin in the first quarter of next year, she said. OMB's offices will not remain at that building, but additional information on where they will relocate and a timeline for the move was not immediately available.
The joint venture will make up for on-site parking that's lost at OMB due to the development, said the spokeswoman, adding that plans for that will be shared as they are finalized. Details on the second development phase will also be disclosed at a later date, she said.
Matt McLanahan with White Point represented the buyers in the transaction, while Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith and Grayson Hawkins with CBRE represented OMB.
The land acquisition follows city approval in October of White Point's petition to rezone 5.7 acres of the site to TOD-NC, or transit-oriented development-neighborhood center. As reported by CBJ, the TOD-NC zoning encourages multistory development with activated street frontages.
A separate rezoning request involving 3.1 acres between Yancey Road and South Tryon Street, adjacent to the OMB site, that's slated for apartment development also received city approval last fall. CBJ previously reported on those plans by local developer Terwilliger Pappas, which at the time called for between 250 and 300 units on the property. It does not appear that land, currently owned by Duke Energy Corp., has sold yet.
OMB's land deal is the latest in a string of activity in an area of Charlotte undergoing rapid development. Cameron, an affiliate of Charlotte multifamily firm Madison Capital Group, also just purchased 12 acres in lower South End — at 4444 and 4468 South Blvd. — with an eye on repurposing the existing buildings, creating new development or doing a combination of both at the site.
In other local news:
As the Queen City continues to see an influx of new residents moving in from other places, heating up Charlotte's housing market, a new report from online real estate company Redfin illustrates what many local buyers are up against. That analysis showed out-of-town buyers had 10.4% more to spend on a home than those already living in Charlotte, as the average maximum budget for migrants came out to $598,732 versus $542,532 for local residents. The median sales price of a Charlotte-area home as of December was pegged at $365,000. Charlotte ranked 19th on a list of cities with the biggest percent differences between budgets for migrants and locals. Raleigh, with a 10.5% budget difference, placed at No. 18. Nashville, Tennessee, saw the highest difference of 28.5%, with out-of-town buyers having a maximum budget of $736,868 compared to local residents' $573,382 budget. Read more from that report here.
A small airline based in Portland, Maine, is eyeing Charlotte Douglas International Airport for potential expansion, reports CBJ's sister publication in Jacksonville, Florida. The report focuses on Elite Airways adding flight offerings at Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine, Florida, but notes the airline is also looking to establish nonstop service to CLT.
And elsewhere in the region, another wave of development is underway at Rock Hill's University Center that will add more residential and retail components to the mix there. The overall development spans 23 acres and includes upgraded historic textile buildings and new construction projects designed to connect downtown Rock Hill to Winthrop University. CBJ's Collin Huguley reports on the latest news at the project here.
Yesterday's top-viewed story on the CBJ website: Newly hired executive resigns from CLT Alliance amid controversy
In the national news:
- Dow jumps 350 points, snaps 3-day losing streak as Russia-Ukraine tensions cool a bit — CNBC
- U.S. producer-price inflation stays hot, reinforcing fed’s plan to start raising rates — Bloomberg
- Intel agrees to $6 billion deal to buy tower semiconductor — The Wall Street Journal
- Texas sues Facebook parent Meta, saying it misused facial recognition data — NPR
- Farmers feel the squeeze of inflation — WSJ
- Virgin Galactic stock rises as spaceflight ticket sales open with $150,000 deposit — CNBC
This week and beyond:
Find details about CBJ's upcoming events at bizjournals.com/charlotte/event.