Southern Apartment Group moves corporate office

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CHARLOTTE – Southern Apartment Group, a locally based multifamily developer, is a little busier this month and it has nothing to do with the apartment projects the company is working on across the city.

Southern is moving its corporate headquarters to the FreeMore area of Charlotte, at 1435 W. Morehead St. in the Grinnell Water Works Building. Southern needed to move its headquarters for the additional office space to continue to expand and needed a more central location to its projects in the Charlotte area, according to a release from Southern.

“We are thrilled to be in such a historic building located in this growing and revitalized neighborhood,” said Lindsey McAlpine, managing partner at Southern Apartment Group, in the release. “We feel at home in this unique, creative workspace and the additional space is welcomed as we grow and expand Southern Apartment Group.”

The 85-year-old Grinnell Water Works Building has been historically renovated and features exposed brick walls, large windows and high ceilings. The new headquarters is in a neighborhood in the middle of a revival, with many restaurants, businesses and retail shops popping up along the corridor.

Southern Apartment Group develops small and large, institutional-grade, multifamily communities and mixed-use properties across the Carolinas. Since 2010, the firm has developed more than $200 million in real estate assets, the release says. Southern Apartment Group partners with local and national real estate development and investment organizations, including Crescent Communities, Inland American Communities, Forestar Group, Brown Investment Properties, Greystar, and Carcon Corp.

Southern is a development partner on two large multifamily projects coming out of the ground in the city.

The company is partnering with Charlotte-based Crescent on a $58 million apartment project tentatively named Crescent Dilworth, at the intersection of Morehead Street and Harding Place. The multifamily building will be seven stories, and have about 300 units and 10,000 square feet of retail space, said Ben Collins, vice president of development with Crescent. Construction on the Crescent project started in September and will take between 18 months and two years.

Crescent Dilworth will be a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units, Collins said. Square footages will range from about 500 square feet for the smallest studio to 2,600 square feet for two-bedroom penthouses, which come complete with large balconies and indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Rents in those units are to range from about $1,000 for the studios to $3,500 for the penthouses, he said.

Southern is also partners Inland American, based in Dallas, on a project in the University Area called University House Charlotte. Construction started earlier this year on the $50 million, 300-unit complex, at the intersection of University City Boulevard and Mallard Creek Church Road. McAlpine said University House should be completed in the fall of 2014.