Last week at this time, we talked about big changes in the works for part of South Tryon in uptown Charlotte. This week, we are going to talk about big changes that could be coming to a prominent block in Plaza Midwood. The Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter’s Ashley Fahey joined WFAE’s Marshall Terry for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: So what's the newest site for redevelopment in Plaza Midwood, and how big are the plans?
Ashley Fahey: This is a site a lot of folks have probably driven past and had no idea what was actually going on there. It's the Barnhardt Manufacturing site on Hawthorne Lane. It's right behind the Overton Row apartments, which famously wrap the Thirsty Beaver Saloon on Central. It's 35 acres, which is a very large assemblage. You just don't see that anymore in Plaza Midwood or really any of the urban neighborhoods around Charlotte. Barnhardt is looking to rezone about 21 of those acres. I spoke with some of the company leaders recently. They're quick to note we haven't made any firm decisions about what we're doing, but I do think them filing a rezoning is significant. This is a neighborhood that's obviously seen a lot of change, so this is the first step in that process.
Terry: Yeah, as you said, Plaza Midwood is a neighborhood that already has a lot of changes teed up, right?
Fahey: Yeah, and this 35 acres, to put it into context, the Commonwealth project, which recently finished construction at Central and Pecan Avenues, where Scout Motors is putting its headquarters, is actually less than half of the site as far as the acreage. While the density might not be as high on this Barnhardt manufacturing site, the rezoning they're seeking is still a major I think opportunity and I'll be very interested to see kind of what happens here.
Terry: First-quarter data from CoStar Group show the number of apartments developers broke ground on in the Charlotte area has fallen to its lowest number in 11 years. Population is still growing, so what gives and what does this mean for renters?
Fahey: I think this is kind of the aftereffect of so much apartment supply that had been built in the wake of the pandemic. We saw just kind of record starts, record construction kind of in that 2022 time frame.
A lot of those units have been delivering over the past couple of years, which means especially in sort of that urban luxury segment and even some suburban properties, there's just a lot of supply right now. A lot of apartment owners are actually offering concessions: free rent for a period of time, discounts on their rental rates. I guess if you're in the market for an apartment right now, now might be a good time to look. I do know the market's kind of closely watching when the inflection point is. We are starting to see more move-ins than we did a year ago, which suggests that maybe a year from now, that trend could start to change and we'll start to see more development again.
Terry: Sticking with apartments for a moment, something called micro-apartments are being planned in South End. What are those and where would they be located exactly?
Fahey: It's at 1722 South Tryon Street. It’s near the Dimensional Fund Advisors headquarters. Basically, it sounds like these 84 apartments that they're planning will average 363 square feet, which is quite small. We have seen a few other kind of so-called micro-unit projects being built in areas like South End.
It feels like it's maybe becoming more of a trend as land runs out in South End and folks maybe are putting more of a premium on location versus the size of units. It sounds like this development will include things like robotic furniture systems to try to maximize space. I'm curious to see what in practice this will look like.
Terry: Finally, JetBlue is returning to Charlotte Douglas after the collapse of Spirit last weekend. What can travelers expect?
Fahey: We'll have to see how many flights they add. They're starting with three nonstop flights a day between Fort Lauderdale and Charlotte. As a more affordable option, it could maybe mitigate some of the concerns some folks were having about what airfare would look like at Charlotte if Spirit Airlines left. I guess we'll keep an eye on it to see what the cost looks like with JetBlue re-entering the market.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson & Associates and Central Piedmont Community College.
