Highwoods Properties to Acquire Charlotte Tower for $203M

650 South Tryon at Legacy Union. Image courtesy of Lincoln Harris

Highwoods Properties Inc. has agreed to purchase 650 South Tryon at Legacy Union, a 367,000-square-foot office building within Charlotte’s CBD for a total investment of $203 million.

Based on CommercialEdge data, the seller of the LEED Gold-certified office building is developer Lincoln Harris. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

Highwoods has also agreed to buy a 1.3-acre development site at 1426 S. Tryon St., in the city’s Midtown South End submarket, for $27 million. The acquisition is scheduled to close in the second quarter.

Plans for stabilization and development

In November 2018, Lincoln Harris secured an $88.2 million construction loan originated by U.S. Bank for the development of the 18-story tower and delivered the office building in late 2020. 650 South Tryon at Legacy Union includes 10,208 square feet of retail space and features 23,800-square-foot floorplates.

The property is anchored by Deloitte. Its tenant roster also includes JLL and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, CommercialEdge data shows. Highwoods Properties plans to invest $3.9 million—as part of the total investment—to stabilize the office building, which is 78 percent leased.

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The high-rise at 650 S. Tryon St. is adjacent to the Highwoods-owned Bank of America Tower at Legacy Union. The two properties share a parking structure, and tenants at 650 S. Tryon have access to the fitness center located at the Bank of America Tower.

Highwoods’ plans for the mixed-use site call for 300,000 square feet of office space along with 250 residential units. Currently, the parcel is home to a 1928-built warehouse totaling 24,000 square feet, which is 57 percent occupied.

In February, Riverside Investment & Development announced plans for three mixed-use towers taking shape at 1111 S. Tryon St., less than half a mile away. The $750 million project will include 800,000 square feet of Class A office space. The Charlotte market closed the first quarter with 2.8 million square feet of office projects under construction, representing 3.7 percent of the total stock, CommercialEdge data shows.