Office leasing has picked up across Charlotte as companies' confidence in the market continues to build. Rhea Greene, managing partner of office leasing at Trinity Partners, said consistent momentum at Camp North End over the last two years is proof of that.

While Camp North End is well known for its retail offerings, the adaptive-reuse campus continues to be a high performer in the Charlotte office market. Retail occupancy is currently at 93%, with office occupancy reaching 63%, according to recent data from Trinity. Since mid-2022, seven companies — Google Fiber, Petfolk, Bolton & Menk, Kingsman Software, Mentra, Passero Associates and Progressive Cos. — have signed long-terms leases for new office space at Camp North End, totaling nearly 80,000 square feet.

Greene said a common denominator among many of those tenants, including Google Fiber, Bolton & Menk, Kingsman and Progressive, are that they chose to move to Camp North End from uptown. "The majority of the leasing we’ve done to date have been tenants that are uptown who already believe in an urban core," she said. "They believe this is the central (part) of Charlotte ... They want a little bit more of a different experience, so this move from uptown to Camp (North End) seems to work well."

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A Midwest design firm is expanding its Charlotte office footprint with a move to Camp North End.

Progressive Cos., a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based firm, signed a 10-year lease with the option for five more years. The firm will occupy 16,500 square feet at Camp North End's Gama Goat Building at 1801 N. Graham St. Currently, Progressive occupies 11,500 square feet at 330 S. Tryon in uptown.

"We needed a space that would better represent who we are now and we are continuing to grow into," Jeff Roman, director of engineering at Progressive, said. "We’re a design firm that's continuing to expand, and we're doing larger and more complex projects and higher levels of design. We need a space that reflects who we are as that type of firm."

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Thrift Pony, a growing local thrift and consignment business, is expanding and relocating to Camp North End this fall.

What to expect: The new 2,700-square-foot space will sell more of the "fun and trendy secondhand and vintage clothing, shoes and accessories" available at the shop's current Plaza Midwood location, according to owner Helen Moffitt.

• It'll also have a separate entrance for consignment appointments for those wishing to sell their gently used clothing.

"Right now, our consignment appointments are booked out a month in advance," Moffitt tells Axios, adding that she hopes the new space will allow her to add more.

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ATCO Properties & Management will announce today that Charlotte-based video production agency Loyd Visuals will open its new studio space and headquarters in Camp North End. The photo, video and podcast studio will be a first for the company, which was launched by brothers Khaleel, Maleek and Najm Loyd in 2016.

Before acquiring a permanent independent space of its own, Loyd Visuals has worked out of an office at hygge coworking in Camp North End since 2020, where they’ve been surrounded by other creatives and cultural agencies, including Black-owned companies like BlkMrktCLT, DUPP&SWATT, and Kicks & Fros.  

“During the past three years, we have experienced all that Charlotte and Camp North End has to offer and are convinced that the dynamic atmosphere here, especially for creatives, makes it the perfect place for us to plant our roots in the community with our first office and studio space,” Khaleel said. 

The Loyd Visuals team won’t be the only ones working out of the new studio, as the studio will be available for other companies and independent creatives to rent. Residents of Kinship, which will include 301 new apartments and is set to open in late 2024, will also have access to the space as an amenity. 

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In Camp North End, land is spliced by old buildings and railroad tracks. The incoming apartments, Kinship East and Kinship West, are split into two buildings with open space in the middle.

• "Dense, urban locations create better design, more people-friendly places than non-urban locations," Hemmerdinger says.

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A New York-based architecture and design firm has tripled its local footprint with a new office lease in Charlotte's north end.

Passero Associates recently signed a seven-year lease for 8,343 square feet at 1801 N. Graham St. in Camp North End's Gama Goat building. The firm opened its first Charlotte office in 2021. It signed a three-year lease for 2,632 square feet at 1824 Statesville Ave in Camp North End's Boileryard.

Jeremy White, Passero senior design director and Charlotte office manager, said that while the firm has a hybrid work policy, the growth its experienced over the last three years and plans for the next several years required more space.

"We're doubling down on the concept that people need people in the community ... to the point that we’re tripling our space and giving our people the opportunity to work in person," he said. "It’s absolutely important, and it gives us the breathing room to entertain and have gatherings for special events, both companywide or within the Camp North End community."

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Amid the ongoing high-rise building boom in downtown Austin, one of the newest residential towers is welcoming its first residents.

Vesper, a 41-story luxury project with 284 condominiums, began its first phase of move-ins. Vesper is at 84 East Ave. in the popular Rainey Street District on downtown's southeast side and overlooking Lady Bird Lake.

The developers are Austin-based Pearlstone Partners and New York-based ATCO Properties and Management. Prospect Real Estate is marketing the units.

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Damon Hemmerdinger, co-president of Atco Properties, said in a statement to CBJ that Shorenstein's decision to exit its stake in Camp North End comes after a six-year partnership and the completed redevelopment of five office buildings.

"Atco plans to continue in its current role within these buildings, guiding the vision and actively managing the project on behalf of our partners," he said. "In addition to maintaining our current ownership stake and role within these commercial buildings, Atco remains fully committed to Camp North End, which at full build-out is slated for up to three million square feet.

In the statement, Hemmerdinger said Shorenstein played an integral part in Camp North End's successes.

"Camp North End would not be what it is today without our longstanding partnership with Shorenstein Properties, and we are grateful to them for sharing in the vision for this development and for making one of the largest investments of capital into the North End," he said.

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Halal Food Cart fans and white sauce aficionados, you’re in for a treat. Halal Street Food is opening a second brick-and-mortar location in Camp North End’s Keswick District on Wednesday, April 24.

 

The food: Halal Street Food’s new location will serve its familiar traditional halal dishes and favorites such as chicken and lamb over rice, kabobs, gyros and hummus and pita — with plenty of its popular white sauce. Falafel, salads and vegan selections will join the menu, as well as breakfast and dessert options.

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COULD CAMP NORTH END BE ADDED TO THE RED LINE?

Alex Wohlbruck, who described himself as a big advocate “for transit and cycling projects,” said he’d like to see a station added at Camp North End. The 76-acre site is home to food stalls and shops. It frequently hosts events, too.

 

“That would be a huge miss if they didn’t include that,” he said.

 

The idea of a Red Line station in the vicinity of the entertainment venue emerged during discussions in the 2010s about North End development, developer Damon Hemmerdinger told the Observer.

 

“My understanding was that there was talk at that time about the fact that if the city and both the public sector and the civic sector wanted economic development to occur in Charlotte’s north end, if the Red Line was to happen, that adding a stop would make sense,” he said.

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