Centro Railyard Winner: Apartment or Condominium Development
Winner: Apartment or Condominium Development
The Centro Railyard development brought a unique apartment product to South End. Two-thirds of the 91 apartments are studio units that measure about 400 square feet.
David Furman’s Centro Cityworks and Ascent Real Estate Capital, two Charlotte-based firms, partnered on the project at 1425 Winnifred St. It’s on the same block as Beacon Partners’ office and retail development called The RailYard.
The thought behind adding smaller-than-average “micro” units was to offer comparatively lower rents than the rest of pricey South End and still be market rate. The apartments rent, on average, for $1,565 per month.
Centro Railyard includes a resident lounge and clubroom but lacks the flashy on-site amenities that can be found at many luxury apartment communities in the neighborhood. The developers have referred to its location and proximity to retail and transit as the amenity.
It’s not just the multifamily component of Centro Cityworks that’s “micro.” The development also has 12,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, of which more than 50% has a footprint of about 400 square feet. The largest retail unit tops out at 1,500 square feet.
Work on Centro Railyard began in late December 2018. It delivered in early June 2020.
KEY PLAYERS
Owner/developers: Ascent Real Estate Capital and David Furman’s Centro Cityworks
Architect: Axiom Architecture
Design/build contractor: Edifice
Lender: Atlantic Union Bank
Leasing brokers: Aaron Ligon of Ascent Real Estate Partners (retail); RKW Residential (apartments)
Engineer: McVeigh & Mangum Engineering
Lawyer: Alexander Ricks PLLC
BY THE NUMBERS
18 months under construction
569-square-foot units, on average
15 commercial tenants
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“The initial project challenge was to determine how to wrap Beacon’s RailYard parking deck in an attractive way on a tight site while adding interesting character to the area and street. No one wants to see a parking garage in the middle of a vibrant neighborhood. We created micro retail on the street level to bring back opportunities for small businesses in South End as well as mostly micro studios on the upper floors. Despite the challenging leasing environment and losing 25% of our residential leases, mostly due to Covid-related reasons, we believe we were able to lease up because of the unique product, great location, interesting design and low barriers to entry for retail such as short-term leases with little or no upfit.” — Jon Dixon, managing principal, Ascent Real Estate Capital.
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