Commercial Confidential: 1616 Center

CHARLOTTE – Somewhat lost in the apartment boom in South End, where developers are putting up thousands of units across the neighborhood, has been talk about the commercial development that will surely accompany all those multifamily units.

The 1616 Center is slated a be built on the rest of this block of Camden Road, next to Price’s Chicken Coop. Photo by Payton Guion.

The South End development narrative hasn’t been lost on David Furman, the principal of local development firm Centro Cityworks. Furman last week unveiled plans to bring a 74,000-square-foot mixed-use commercial building to the corner of Camden Road and Kingston Avenue, where hundreds of apartments are under construction. His project would be one of the first, if not the very first, commercial development in South End tied to the recent multifamily mania.

“This is in the dead center of the heart of the emerging South End,” Furman said. “It’s going to be all about those five blocks along Camden (Road) as people start moving into South End. It’s really a terrific spot, with all these people that are moving into South End, they are going to need other places, other services.”

The people he’s talking about are the future residents of the underway apartment projects nearby. Within four blocks of the development site are three apartment projects totaling more than 600 units: 324 in Camden Gallery, 153 in Park and Kingston and 164 in 330 West Tremont.

Furman said those future tenants, and other South End residents coming through on the Lynx Blue Line light rail, will be in need of services that aren’t available in the neighborhood.

1616 Camden will be a five-story development, two of which will be dedicated to retail uses and three that will be office space. Retail will account for 23,000 square feet and office will occupy 51,000 square feet, Furman said. For the retail portion, he envisions a restaurant and pub or two, along with boutique or apparel stores. One the second level, which will be an exposed breezeway much like at the EpiCentre, Furman said he could see potential for a yoga studio or dentist office.

In the office portion of the project, Furman said he would hope to land one major tenant that would take up an entire floor, and lease the remaining space to smaller businesses and entrepreneurs. No tenants have been landed so far, he said.

A 250-spot structured parking deck, within the building, is also part of the plan, Furman said.

Construction is set to start in the spring and 1616 Camden will be delivered in the summer of 2015, after the tenants of the nearby apartments have had time to settle in and are itching for somewhere to shop.

Project name: 1616 Camden

Location: Corner of Camden Road and Kingston Avenue

Square footage: 74,000 total; 51,000 office, 23,000 retail

Project cost: Furman wouldn’t disclose

Construction begins: Spring 2014

Completion date: Summer 2015