Another big Uptown office is flipping to apartments, hotel
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Another prominent Uptown tower, 400 South Tryon, is headed for a major conversion to housing and hotel after falling into foreclosure in 2024.
Why it matters: Uptown has lost some of its vibrancy in the years since the pandemic. Adding more visitors and residents will enliven the city's business district beyond the three days a week most workers now come in.
State of play: As landlords struggle to keep aging towers full in the hybrid-work era, many companies are flocking to younger neighborhoods for the newest office construction and the sleekest amenities.
- This phenomenon, dubbed "flight to quality," puts Uptown at a disadvantage because most of its buildings are older.
- Repurposing office towers for other uses, such as apartments and hotels, may be investors' best bet for recouping.
Driving the news: Spandrel Development Partners recently filed construction permits to redevelop 400 South Tryon, a 30-plus-story building from the '70s, into residential, hotel and retail space.
- Plans also show the developer intends to add two more floors of parking deck space atop the existing structure and redesign the plaza off Tryon and West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
- Spandrel Development Partners, which bought the building, previously known as the Wachovia Center, for $36 million in April 2025, declined to comment.
- The New York firm's first project in Charlotte was the Radius Dilworth apartment tower, which opened in 2024.
By the numbers: Uptown's office buildings are nearly 25% vacant, according to Cushman & Wakefield's Q1 2026 report.
- For comparison, the Midtown-South End market is 11% vacant. That rate shows space is in demand but is a bit below a healthy level, as there are fewer options available to prospective tenants.
- Charlotte Center City Partners estimates that the public and private sectors are investing $2 billion in announced conversions and renovations, including the $800 million Bank of America Stadium upfit.
The big picture: The first wave of pandemic-induced office conversions will begin opening this year and next, bringing new energy to corners of Uptown.
- The Brooklyn & Church project is converting the '70s-era Duke Energy headquarters on South Church Street into 460 luxury apartments by the end of 2027. A more pedestrian-friendly streetscape design and ground-floor retail should help draw more activity near the stadium.
- The Johnston Building — a 17-story, century-old office tower — is becoming The Beckworth Hotel with 240 rooms, two restaurants, and a lobby and rooftop bars. The opening is expected this fall, CBJ reported.