Spectrum, Invesco Real Estate Team Up in Charlotte

By Barbra Murray

The Spectrum Cos. recently formed a partnership with Invesco Real Estate to bring a new mixed-use destination to Charlotte, N.C. Together, the companies will develop a five-acre parcel on S. Tryon St. at Carson Blvd. in the city’s South End, just outside of Uptown.

The new project, which marks Spectrum’s first venture with Invesco, comes on the heels of another development Spectrum recently completed along the South Tryon Street Corridor—the 638,000-square-foot 300 South Tryon office tower. “Following our success at 300 South Tryon, where we partnered with Barings to transform a parking lot into an iconic office tower and destination, Spectrum brings the same expectations to this project with Invesco,” Steve McClure, COO of The Spectrum Cos., said in a prepared statement.

The Spectrum-Invesco development will link the South End with Uptown and enhance the burgeoning South Tryon Street Corridor’s offerings with an additional 440,000 square feet of premier office space distributed between twin nine-story buildings. The project will also feature a 200-key boutique hotel, 40,000 square feet of street-level retail offerings and an urban plaza. Construction is on track to commence in the first quarter of 2019.

Sprouting offices in the South End

Spectrum asserts that its South End project will help fulfill a need for office space just outside of Uptown. Recent statistics on the Charlotte office market support the claim. According to a report by commercial real estate services firm Savills Studley, the average asking rental rate for Class A space in the South End was $36.69 per square foot in the third quarter, the highest asking rate of Charlotte’s 10 submarkets. 

Other developers are answering the call for accommodations in the South End. The lengthy list includes Beacon Partners, which is building The RailYard, a 300,000-squre-foot, mixed-use office project with an address on S. Tryon St. Stiles Corp. recently completed vertical construction of the 64,000-square-foot office building known as 300 West Summit.

The Charlotte office market in general continues to fare relatively well. “Employment growth and leasing activity appear to be moderating slightly across the region. Nevertheless, availability is at its lowest point in three years and rent continues to rise, presenting larger tenants with challenging conditions,” Mark Ayers, an executive vice president with Savills Studley, noted in the report.

Image courtesy of The Spectrum Cos.