The most anticipated Charlotte developments set to break ground in 2023

Why it matters: Out-of-town developers continue to plant their flag in Charlotte because they’re optimistic about the city’s growth.

Yes, but: A number of high-profile developments paused during the pandemic and remain on hold. Among them: 10 Tryon, the 15-story mixed-use development on North Tryon that is slated to include a Publix, as well as the 250-room InterContinental Hotel proposed for the restored Carolina Theater property Uptown.

We’ve rounded up the biggest projects anticipated to begin work next year.

• Of note: Construction timelines change routinely — especially these days, amid supply chain and staffing challenges.
• Also of note: This isn’t a comprehensive list of all the groundbreakings in Charlotte next year; just the once we find particularly notable.
• A few of the developments on this list are notable not necessarily for their size, but rather for the significance of their construction, and what they are replacing — such as a longstanding restaurant, or an Uptown museum.

Queens Bridge Collective

Description: The transformational $750 million development that Chicago-based Riverside Investment & Development has planned for the Midnight Diner/Uptown Cabaret spot (1111 S. Tryon) will include two towers: One 45-story, 400-unit residential tower, plus a 42-story, 700,000-square-foot office tower.

• The residential tower will also have a 12,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor restaurant space, as well as public and private outdoor space. There will be 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Timeline: The development received its zoning approval this month. The plan is set to break ground in early 2023, according to Riverside COO Anthony Scacco.

Why it matters: Queens Bridge Collective will include one of the tallest buildings in Charlotte, and the tower will add to South End’s growing skyline. The development’s location — between South End with Uptown — will connect two of the city’s bustling office submarkets.

Carson & Tryon

Description: Crescent Communities and Nuveen Real Estate are behind the plans for a 31-story mixed-used development at the edge of Carson and South Tryon, on the property where the Enterprise Rent-A-Car currently sits. The development will include:

• 20 stories of office space
• A 200-room luxury boutique hotel
• 200 luxury apartments

Timeline: The project will break ground next year and is expected to deliver sometime in 2025.

Why it matters: This is another development that aims to connect Charlotte’s two bustling office submarkets: Uptown and South End.

[Go deeper: Enterprise site development aims to connect South End with Uptown]

Levine Museum apartment tower

Description: VeLa Development Partners are planning a 32-story apartment tower, which will include 379 rental units, on the site where the Levine Museum of the New South building currently sits at the corner of College and 7th streets.

• The building will also have 4,000 square feet of retail space.

Timeline: VeLa does not have a timeline for when demolition will occur. The plan is to break ground on the development sometime in 2023, a spokesperson confirmed.

Why it matters: The Levine Museum was a fixture in Uptown for two decades, hosting everything from community events to a signature exhibit focused on police brutality. Construction of a luxury apartment tower marks a significant change for the property.

[Go deeper: New details on 32-story apartment tower replacing the Levine Museum in Uptown]

The Pearl

Description: Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist are building a medical school campus and innovation district called The Pearl on more than 26 acres in midtown. It’ll have, among other features: Four towers, street-level retail space for restaurants and other businesses, up to 1,000 apartments, a hotel, parking garages and public outdoor space.

Timeline: Although infrastructure work on the site has begun, the formal groundbreaking will take place in early 2023. The inaugural class of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte will be seated in 2024, Atrium has told Axios.

Why it matters: For a long time, Charlotte has been the largest U.S. city without a four-year medical school, so this project will change that. What’s more, local officials say this campus will help position Charlotte as a destination for research and innovation — it promises to bring hundreds of jobs in those fields, too.

• Yes, but: Some neighbors worry about the development’s effects on surrounding communities — including rising property values and displacement.

[Go deeper: Atrium unveils a new historically-rooted name and brand for its Charlotte innovation district]

Apartment tower on the Price’s site

Description: Charlotte-based Catalyst Capital Partners is partnering with developer Stiles on a 30-story “ultra-luxury” apartment tower on the Camden Road site where the iconic chicken joint Price’s used to operate. The building will have 291 apartment units, 9,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space and about 10,000 square feet of office space that Catalyst will eventually occupy.

Timeline: Construction will begin sometime in 2023, a Stiles spokesperson told Axios. There’s no timeline yet on demolition of the Price’s building.

Why it matters: This apartment high-rise will replace a local institution that operated there for nearly 60 years. This tower is the latest sign of South End’s evolution from a manufacturing area to a popular destination for local small businesses to a walkable neighborhood filled with tall office and apartment towers.

Of note: Outside of the ones mentioned above, a few major planned developments will have a transformative effect on their respective neighborhoods. For instance, Boston developer The Fallon Company partnering with Charlotte’s housing authority Inlivian on a $400 million mixed-use development called Centre South on a 16.7-acre site on the edge of Dilworth, where Strawn Cottages stood years ago. It will include residential, commercial, hotel and retail options.

• But the timeline for this major project is unclear. A spokesperson for The Fallon Company said the groups are working with the city and neighborhood stakeholders “to modify the master plan for the 16.7-acre Centre South site.” It’s unclear what that means, and when a groundbreaking will take place.
• Inlivian did not respond to a request for comment.

Editor’s note: We’ve updated this story with a newer rendering of The Pearl that was shared at an August Atrium Health board meeting.