Scoop: Former business center on North Tryon will be home to an event space, coffeehouse and gym

Why it matters: Foundation Supply was previously envisioned to be a buzzing hub for office users. But as office demand dried up in recent few years, the plans for the property, did, too. The growing retail tenant lineup is intended to keep the building filled from morning until evening.

Details: The nearly 25,000 square-foot event space will be called The Casey, and it’s the latest project by Marysue Boyle’s hospitality firm Beau Monde, which also includes The Ruth in Wesley Heights.

• The Casey will include a main 8,000-square-foot reception space, a 4,000-square-foot event space, indoor and outdoor bar areas, a catering space with a full kitchen and Beau Monde’s main offices.
• The space will be able to host all kinds of large-scale events, from weddings to nonprofit auctions to corporate functions.
• Boyle describes The Casey as “a masculine counterpart to The Ruth,” with rich details such as exposed brick, 22-foot-high sawtooth ceilings and tons of natural light.

Timeline: Booking is already open for The Casey, which is slated to open in April 2024.

• “As we grow our spaces within the footprint of Charlotte it’s important we (go into) neighborhoods that are growing,” Boyle tells Axios. 

Flashback: Foundation Supply was formerly known as City North Business Center, home to 120 small local businesses, many of them Black-owned, as the Observer reported in 2019.

[Go deeper: On North Tryon, a rehabbed century-old factory gets new life]

In late 2018, Austin-based Artesia Real Estate bought the 125,000-square-foot site at North Tryon and Keswick for $8.8 million, Axios reported. The developer spent years overhauling the property with plans of filling it with office and retail tenants.

• But as workers nationwide began working from home amid the pandemic, the developer did not sign any office users, and the building sat vacant for years.
• Charlotte-based Browder Group Real Estate bought Foundation Supply this spring for $15.1 million, the Observer reported.

Of note: Browder is still looking to fill about half the building. Representatives for the other two tenants — the climbing gym and the coffeehouse — either declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment.

What he’s saying: “We looked at the building and decided that office was not a viable use there,” Matt Browder, owner of Browder Group Real Estate, tells Axios. “Any office user looking at our building will also look at Camp North End,” which includes all kinds of walkable amenities, including shopping, restaurants and bars.