EXCLUSIVE: 15-story apartment tower planned across from SouthPark mall
More big development news — this time out of SouthPark.
Raleigh-based developer Dominion Realty Partners says it has a prime piece of real estate on Fairview Road under contract and has submitted plans to the city to build an apartment tower that would be the tallest residential building in SouthPark.
The location is across from the Nordstrom entrance to SouthPark mall on the site of the old Fifth Third Bank building, said Andy Andrews, Dominion Realty’s CEO, in an interview with The Ledger. The company is planning a building that is about 15 stories high with 365 apartments — although those numbers could change based on conversations with city planners, Andrews said. Property records show the site is about 1.8 acres.
The apartment tower would be on a stretch of Fairview composed mostly of stately office towers, including the nearby SouthPark Towers — which, at 14 and 15 stories, are the tallest structures in SouthPark. Sharon Corners, the shopping center with Original Pancake House, is a block away.
Andrews said the site is an ideal location for apartments because it is close to the mall and to other retail shops and restaurants. “If you don’t go up, then what you’re doing is you’re tearing down existing houses and you’re tearing down trees,” he said. “We see it all the time. That’s why we’re focusing on some of these infill locations.”
Fifth Third closed the branch about a year ago and opened a new one down the street by the Whole Foods.
The bigger picture: Plans for a tall apartment tower in SouthPark are part of one of the biggest development storylines in Charlotte — the urbanization of formerly suburban areas. As more people move to town and undeveloped land becomes scarce, developers are planning more high-rises. That’s happening not just in South End, but in SouthPark, Ballantyne and elsewhere.
Dominion Realty is building a 30-story office/residential tower on South Graham Street uptown next to BB&T Ballpark. It’s also working on two apartment complexes in Charlotte, Andrews said.
This article appeared in the Jan. 8, 2020, edition of The Charlotte Ledger. Read the rest of the newsletter here.
