SkyHouse Charlotte: Construction impending on Charlotte’s newest high-rise residential building

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CHARLOTTE – Since a development group announced in January 2013 plans to build the tallest residential building in Uptown since the 50-story The Vue, a lot has happened in the neighborhood’s multifamily market.

Childress Klein Properties, a local development company, has topped out its 22-story apartment tower off South Mint Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard; Spectrum Properties, another local company, has announced plans to start an seven-story project two blocks from the Childress Klein tower; and Proffitt Dixon Partners, also of Charlotte, has started work on a 210-unit apartment project off Stonewall and McDowell streets.

Still, Atlanta-based Novare Group, in a partnership with Charlotte-based Grubb Properties and Baston-Cook Development Co., is getting closer to starting work on a $63 million, 24-story apartment tower at 10^th and Church streets in Uptown’s Fourth Ward neighborhood.

The development group closed last month on the land and will begin construction this month on the 336-unit project. SkyHouse is set to be completed by the end of 2015.

Jim Borders, the president of Novare Group, said that even with the competing residential development in Uptown, SkyHouse will be able to take advantage of a living environment that barely existed in Uptown until recently.

“Charlotte has focused on creating a live-work-play environment in Uptown, has been very successful in that, and is continuing that with Bearden Park and the Knights’ new stadium,” Borders said. “It is one of the best places to be in the southeast, and SkyHouse fits perfectly with that dynamic.

Like most apartment projects in Uptown and the surrounding neighborhoods, the SkyHouse development team is catering to the millennial generation.

“As we studied markets for this innovative product with Novare, we were looking for job growth and dynamic, vibrant live-work-play cities,” said Mark Stewart, director of investments with Batson-Cook. “Charlotte, a city with which we are quite familiar, is ideal for SkyHouse from that perspective.”

SkyHouse will have residential units of between one and three bedrooms with high-end finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows. The actual SkyHouse will be on the 24th floor and contains the club room, fitness area and outdoor areas that will include a swimming pool, fireplaces, covered outdoor lounges and 360-degree views of the city. The project will be environmentally sustainable and Energy Star certified, according to Novare. Energy Star buildings earn that certification by keeping their utility use and emissions below a certain threshold, according to the Energy Star website.

BBVA/Compass Bank is providing most construction financing for the project, and NGI Investments and Batson-Cook are footing the rest of the bill. Robert LaChappelle, Jonathan Rice and Paul Berry of the Atlanta office of CBRE advised on financing, while Ryan Clutter of CBRE represented the seller in the land transaction.

The Charlotte tower will be the 11th SkyHouse-branded high rise in the southeastern U.S., following buildings in Atlanta; Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Raleigh. The SkyHouse brand has more than $700 million in new construction, according to Novare.

Project name: SkyHouse Charlotte

Address: Corner of 10^th and Church streets in Uptown

Developers: Novare Group, Batson-Cook Development Co. and Grubb Properties

Units: 336

Stories: 24

Cost: $63 million

Construction starts: Second quarter

Expected completion: End of 2015