ATCO Properties submits rezoning petition for a transformative adaptive-reuse project in Charlotte’s North End

ATCO Properties has filed plans with the city of Charlotte to redevelop a historic warehouse and distribution center in Charlotte’s North End.

The company spent $13.5 million in to buy about 75 acres last year between Statesville Ave. and North Graham St., formerly the site of a major Rite Aid distribution center and industrial complex.

In late February, the New York-based developer filed plans to rezone the site, potentially bringing a huge amount of creative office space, light industrial and craft production, a film studio, new apartments, shops, restaurants and a hotel a now vacant corner of the city, the Charlotte Business Journal reports.

ATCO plans to start by adaptively reusing the buildings on site, some of which date to the 1920s (Henry Ford once built built Model Ts at a plant there, and it was later used for a short-range missile assembly plant for the military). There are currently about 1.2 million sq. ft. of vacant warehouse space.

A site plan provision indicates a 300-room hotel could be developed instead of 300 apartments or commercial uses. The plan also shows several new buildings, including parking decks, to be constructed on the site.

ATCO has been silent about project details.

The site includes an industrial building at 1701 N. Graham St.; Hercules Industrial Park at 1830 Statesville Ave., 901 Woodward St. and 9210 Woodward St.; and the 1920s-era former Ford factory, missile plant and Rite Aite distribution center at 1776 Statesville Ave.

The development would take place in phases, and ATCO would start by redeveloping some of the buildings into creative office space. The company could partner with other firms to bring in developers outside its area of expertise, to handle future projects such as apartments.

At its full build-out, which would likely take a decade or more, the plans could include:

• 1.5 million sq. ft. of office space — as much new office space as there is in the 48-floor Duke Energy Center.
• As many as 1,500 multifamily residential units.
• Alternatively, as many as 300 hotel rooms (These would be subtracted from the residential units on a one-to-one basis, so each hotel room would mean one fewer apartment).
• 200,000 sq. ft. of retail shops and personal services.
• Up to 80,000 sq. ft. of restaurants, bars and other eating and drinking space.
• 65,000 sq. ft. of light industrial use.

The project’s community manager Varian Shrum said at a recent North End town hall meeting that the project would include creative office space. The firm will host an onsite meeting in April.