Did someone put mattress store signs in the old Soul building to mess with Plaza Midwood?

The latest: This week, rumors swirled that a Charlotte-based wing restaurant chain could take the space. Next thing we knew, mysterious signs appeared announcing "Mattress Center coming soon."

• The signs are — Axios confirmed — taped inside the building, meaning whoever put them up had access.
• However, "Mattress Center" lacks an internet footprint and has a weirdly adjacent font to the more well-known "Mattress Firm."

Flashback: Over a decade ago, some recall a Walmart sign appearing in NoDa, igniting similar panic for what was likely a prank.

Catch up quick: The Plaza Midwood building housed Soul Gastrolounge until August 2022. At the time, it was one of the rare Charlotte spots that made you feel transported to a big city, before the Yunta's and Counter-'s came along.

• "It was just a perfect expression of the best the area had, as far as just food, music, aesthetic style," says Jason Michel, executive director of the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association. "It was a very special place."
• Soul's owners say they were priced out after the landlord said the rent would increase 2.5 times following a sale of the building.
• Before Soul, locals remember the building as home to the comedy troupe The Perch, boutique Superior Feet, and art gallery-wine shop Twenty-Two.
• It's widely expected that only a chain could afford the rent today, though.
• "Whatever chain it would be, that will be a heartbreaking end to an era," Michel says.

Between the lines: The Soul building was sold to Woodhaven Development Group for $3 million in February 2023. Its appraised value is $1.4 million.

• Soul's owners point to the Commonwealth development across the street as another catalyst for rising rent. It's since brought on retailers, like premium salad chain Sweetgreen and a high-end cowboy boot store.
• John Nichols, a former broker for the building, says frequent vandalism and lack of parking make the space difficult to lease. But the new Commonwealth parking deck changes that.

The big picture: High rent outpricing small businesses isn't a unique problem to Plaza Midwood. It's an anywhere-that-is-popular problem.

• "It's not that people necessarily get greedy," Nichols says. "Even after COVID, mortgage rates doubled, so rents are gonna have to go up to match that. It's a waterfall effect that people don't really understand."
• Commercial rents in Plaza Midwood can range from $35 to $80 a square foot per year, Nichols says. The average is about $65.

Case in point: Yaz Humaideh pays $15,000 a month for his 4,200-square-foot business Sip City, a three-year-old bottle shop and market at 917 Central Ave.

• Humaideh is skeptical about how well a chain may do in the space because he sees how even newcomers to the neighborhood appreciate small businesses.
• "If a chain decides they want to come to Plaza Midwood, they have their work to do," he says.

The other side: Russell Fergusson, a merchants association member, says the neighborhood still has local businesses to support. And expecting Plaza Midwood to be only small businesses forever is unrealistic.

• "Sometimes having less than perfect activation is better than no activity at all," he says, adding, "We used to joke around about Plaza Midwood being a neighborhood where franchises came to die."

What's next: Woodhaven Development Group is staying silent. Axios is still working to confirm what's next.

• "If it is something like a Wild Wing Cafe, you can't really deny that that will be a very strong indication of the direction the neighborhood is going," Michel says.