Local firm snags East Morehead office building, plans renovations
Abacus Capital Acquires 1200 East Morehead in Charlotte’s Midtown Office Submarket in Off-Market Transaction
March 3, 2020
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By Ashley Fahey Real Estate Editor, Charlotte Business Journal
Abacus purchased the 26,000-square-foot office building at 1200 E. Morehead St., which it will renovate in the coming months, said Wes McAdams, managing partner of the firm. The building is at the corner of Berkeley Avenue and East Morehead Street, just a couple of blocks over from the Pappas Properties-led redevelopment of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association site in midtown.
The firm paid $6.4 million for the building, McAdams said.
Plans include redeveloping the property’s facade as well as a refreshed lobby, corridors and bathrooms. The building, today known as The Commercial Building, will be renamed Midtown Commons. Abacus says it expects to begin work immediately and finish the renovations by the third quarter of this year.
Abacus Capital plans to move its headquarters from uptown to the building later this year, McAdams said. Depending on future lease commitments, that will leave between 4% and 14% of the building up for lease after Abacus’ relocation, he said.
“Our firm’s view is that the core East Morehead corridor possesses the intangibles from a location perspective and favorable supply/demand dynamics from a fundamentals perspective to be well-positioned to outperform the broader local office market over both the near and longer term,” McAdams said in a statement.
The Midtown Commons project joins a growing list of significant real estate developments planned or underway in midtown and Dilworth. Atrium Health has a major rezoning petition out to expand its flagship Carolinas Medical Center campus while medical office developer Summit Healthcare Group has purchased high-profile properties, including the Key Man Building and Dilworth Starbucks, on East Boulevard, presumably for redevelopment. Abacus also owns the Latta Pavilion building on East Boulevard, where it plans updates to the building and streetscape. Farther down East, toward Kings Drive, an entity affiliated with Jim Gross acquired several lots for what could be a dense, mixed-use project.
