The developers of the two-tower Queensbridge Collective mixed-use development are swapping two floors of apartments in their second building for office space after signing yet another lease, this time with Ernst & Young, signaling rising demand for new space in South End.
Why it matters: Once booming, Charlotte office construction has mostly stopped due to lagging demand. But Riverside Investment & Development appears to be reaping the benefits of offering some of the only under-construction space in the city’s hottest office submarket.
Driving the news: EY is taking more than 45,000 square feet of office, according to a press release. Riverside will reduce the number of apartments in its plan to make room.
- The redesign will bring the 43-story tower to approximately 400,000 square feet of office space, above 304 rental apartments, at Tryon and Morehead streets. Previously, the plan was for 346 apartments, below 356,000 square feet of office.
Zoom in: The new space will provide “a collaborative environment with a modern physical and technological design,” said Michael O’Leary, EY Charlotte office managing partner, who called the new office a “strategic investment” locally.
- The company, which is currently at the Bank of America Corporate Center at 100 N. Tryon, employs about 2,000 people in the region.
What they’re saying: “We are extraordinarily confident in both the residential and office business play at this location,” Tony Scacco, president at Riverside, tells Axios. “However, when we had an opportunity to bring a high-profile tenant like EY to the property, it made sense to substitute preleased office space for speculative residential space.”
- The tower is being built next to a 409-unit residential building, The Vivian. The Queensbridge development’s total cost is roughly $700 million.
Flashback: Preleasing had become essential to building office space before the Queensbridge tower broke ground, and it was challenging amid employers’ post-pandemic return-to-work push.
- But Riverside signed Charlotte law firm Moore & Van Allen as a major tenant. Subsequently, Fortune 500 insurance giant Pacific Life and Pamlico Capital joined.
- Commercial real estate firm CBRE reports the building, now nearly 90% pre-leased, has only a “select amount” of space available.
What’s next: Construction on the office tower is expected to be completed in mid-2028. The first building will open in 2026 with businesses like FARE restaurant, Guard and Grace steakhouse and Night Swim Coffee…