Queen City Quarter, a food and entertainment complex at 201 E. Trade St. in uptown Charlotte, is going up for sale, with three of its tenants currently facing eviction, The Charlotte Observer reported. 

The Sea Grill restaurant at Queen City Quarter in Charlotte

It is a long fall for what once was a storied spot in uptown Charlotte. In its former life as the Epicentre, the complex was a popular nightlife destination that hosted events including NBA All-Star Weekend festivities. 

Now, a few years after its rebrand into a family-friendly entertainment center, only about 12 of its 50 retail spaces are occupied, and the center has experienced a net loss of eight businesses in just the last half year. 

Most recently, the planned Philadelphia-based Taste Cheesesteak Bar, which was slated to open in October 2024 but never did, is facing eviction. A complaint was filed this month stating that the restaurant owed $25,608 after not paying its monthly rent of $4,823 and other charges since January.

An eviction order was also placed on the Sea Grill Restaurant & Bar, which opened in the complex less than two years ago. That restaurant reportedly owes nearly $96K in back rent, having missed payments since last October. A complaint filed on Jan. 28 claimed that rent owed reached more than $144K after factoring in various fees.

Privee Clothing Rhema’s Boutique, a designer brand retailer that opened in the Quarter in 2023, is also under threat. A complaint for eviction was filed last September for $3,082 past due in rent. This case is currently pending an appeal, the Observer reported.

Separately, two other units, a CVS store and the Tailored Smoke Cigar Lounge, have been reported as closed in the one-block complex. 

Property management firm CBRE said on March 11 the complex will go up for sale “in a few weeks.” An exact date was not provided.

Some Queen City Quarter tenants were surprised by the news of its pending sale and hope the next owner will work to drive more foot traffic to the complex.

The Epicentre originally opened in 2008. In 2014, California real estate firm CIM Group purchased it for $130.5M, when it was almost fully leased and boasted 16 restaurants. 

The Charlotte Observer reported that the complex first began to falter due to an increase in crime and the effects of the pandemic on retail and restaurant spaces. In 2021, when the center was 70% vacant, it was forced into receivership after it defaulted on an $85M loan. 

In 2022, lender Deutsche Bank took control of the complex for $95M at a foreclosure auction, before renovating and rebranding it as the Quarter.

This string of Charlotte retail closures comes despite the city being named one of the top retail markets in the country in a recent report by Marcus & Millichap. Metro Charlotte saw slowed construction and increased net absorption in 2025, making for a 3.5% vacancy rate — one of the 10 lowest among major markets. Much of the city’s retail success was driven by big-box, single-tenant move-ins.

Charlotte and Raleigh have emerged as the top two retail markets in the country, according to Marcus & Millichap’s 2026 Retail Investment Forecast Report published March 12.

The report weighs a mixture of forward-looking economic indicators and supply-and-demand variables over a 12-month period. 

Nationwide, the retail sector exhibited resiliency in 2025, with a rise in vacancy in the first half of the year followed by surging demand to finish the year strong, the report stated. 

Charlotte ended the year with accelerating net absorption while holding one of the 10 lowest vacancy rates among major markets, according to the report. Momentum in the city was driven by big-box, single-tenant move-ins. Those included new leases by supermarkets such as Publix, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.

Andrew Margulies, Marcus & Millichap’s senior managing director of investments for the Carolinas, told Bisnow that soft goods discount chains like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Burlington were also key drivers of positive retail activity in Charlotte, reflecting the budget-consciousness of many consumers.

“That category has really excelled over the past five to seven years in terms of new store accounts, fewer store closures, actually just adding more stores and absorbing more space,” Margulies said. 

The metro area experienced slowing construction and growing net absorption, combining for a 3.5% vacancy rate. That’s 40 basis points under the city’s trailing 10-year average, according to the report.

Raleigh-Durham actually weathered the departures of several notable big-box retailers, and its positive retail fundamentals were driven by small-shop demand. A rise in completed projects in Raleigh-Durham helped vacancy to tick up slightly to 3.0%, but that still ranked second-lowest among major U.S. markets. 

Marcus & Millichap’s report noted that years of “robust in-migration and household formation” have supported significant demand for retail space throughout the Southeast. Margulies said there is almost unlimited appetite right now for well-located retail centers in both Charlotte and Raleigh, putting upward pressure on pricing. 

“In some cases for the same asset that may have sold 12 months ago at one price, today actually could be worth more just from cap rate compression,” he said.

As office vacancy remains high after boom years in the state and the region still working off a glut of multifamily overbuilding, retail has become the coveted asset class in the area, Margulies said. 

“From a financing perspective, it is one of the most coveted asset classes for investing and commercial real estate,” he said. “If you lose a tenant in a building, you sometimes have two, three, four, five, six options of other tenants you could backfill the space with.”

A North Carolina-based real estate investment firm is raising capital to try to cash in on properties that benefit from a key change in the tax code passed by President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Madison Capital Group launched Car Wash & Convenience Opportunity Fund LLC, seeking to raise $200M to buy up convenience stores and car washes, it announced Tuesday.

The fund’s strategy is to target properties that are eligible for 100% bonus depreciation that was made permanent through the OBBBA. Eligible properties must be purchased and placed into service after Jan. 19, 2025.

The accelerated Schedule F bonus depreciation allows owners to apply for bonus depreciation on assets such as store fuel pumps and canopies and car wash tunnels, conveyors, blowers and vacuum systems. It also applies to land improvements like driveways, signage and drainage systems. 

“Convenience stores and express car washes represent compelling essential service businesses with consistent consumer demand, multiple revenue streams and potential tax efficiency,” Madison Capital Group CEO Ryan Hanks said. “We believe this strategy aligns with our broader philosophy of identifying real assets in growth markets and structuring opportunities designed to optimize income and after-tax performance for investors.”

The Charlotte-based firm, which has about $4B in assets under management, will focus on states with no income taxes and growing populations. States with no income tax include Florida, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, New Hampshire and Washington.

The new fund is the second that Madison is raising in this space. In June, just a month before the OBBBA was signed into law, an affiliate of the firm, Madison Capital Markets, launched Madison Convenience Fund I LLC, which sought to raise $125M in investments toward convenience and gas station facilities. Properties acquired by that fund would be managed by FreshStop. That fund is now closed, according to PitchBook.

Madison Capital is one of a growing number of investors looking to leverage the bonus depreciation rule. Since it became law, there has been a boost in gas station, convenience store and car wash investment sales.

By October 2025, investment sale activity in convenience stores jumped 27% over the previous year, compared to a 17% increase in overall retail investment sales, according to data from net lease-focused real estate firm The Boulder Group.

Gen Z-focused retail brand Princess Polly is deepening its brick-and-mortar push with a slew of new stores planned in the U.S. and abroad.

Eight new U.S. stores are on the way from the midrange fashion company, according to a March 5 earnings report from parent a.k.a. Brands. Half will open this year, and the remaining four will debut the following year. The new openings will bring the brand’s store count to 21.

This year, Princess Polly will enter Minnesota and Texas. Houston and Frisco will each get a location in the Lone Star State. Edina, Minnesota, and Orlando, Florida, are also up for 2026 openings. 

Locations in Jacksonville and Boca Raton, Florida, are planned in 2027, as are stores in Nashville and Charlotte.

The company said it plans to announce even more U.S. openings throughout the year. 

Princess Polly began as an e-commerce brand in 2010 and first opened stores in its home of Australia. The first U.S. store opened in 2023 at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. Princess Polly co-CEO Eirin Bryett said in a press release that the U.S. reception to its brick-and-mortar expansion has exceeded expectations. 

In the U.S., fourth-quarter sales grew by 7% year-over-year in 2025, a.k.a. Brands CEO Ciaran Long said during a fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call. 

For the full year, sales increased 4.4% to $600M. 

Princess Polly’s physical presence follows its audience to the shopping mall. Gen Z has been a driving force behind the mall’s resurgence in recent years. Foot traffic is trending positive as indoor mall visits grew 4% in January and 5% in February, according to Placer.ai. 

The brand has ample space to choose from as storefronts are being vacated by brands unable to recover from the pandemic. Saks Fifth Avenue, Forever 21 and Francesca’s have all announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a major reduction in their footprints in the past year, mostly in malls.

Last year, Princess Polly entered New York City with an 8K SF SoHo location that spans two floors.

A North Carolina developer has acquired a large parcel of land in Durham, five months after receiving rezoning approval from the city for a 300-acre mixed-use development. 

Charlotte-based Beacon Partners bought 119 acres in southeast Durham in a $20M deal with longtime partner Stephens Enterprises, the Triangle Business Journal reported.

The land will be used for mixed-use industrial buildings that will be part of a development called Durham Gateway. 

The 119 acres are along Highway 70 and Leesville Road on the edge of Brier Creek. Stephens put the land up for sale in January 2023. 

Durham Gateway is a joint venture with HM Partners and SFRE Holdings. It comprises 1,750 residential units and 1.3M SF of industrial and commercial space that will be built out in two phases. Beacon received rezoning approval for the 300-acre development from the Durham City Council five months ago.

CBRE’s Ann-Stewart Patterson, Austin Nagy and John Hogan handled the leasing and marketing for the project.

While there was some backlash to Durham Gateway when the project was approved in September 2025, Mayor Leo Williams said it would bring substantial benefits to the community.

Beacon has agreed to donate $1M to the Durham Dedicated Housing Fund, $50K to Durham Public Schools’ capital needs, and $350K to a fire and emergency services grant project. Williams also said the project would feature affordable housing options.

The city of Charlotte has maintained a strong retail market, with smaller spaces proving to be especially competitive within the sector over the last year.

Charlotte ranked first among the top 43 U.S. retail markets with at least 100M SF of inventory in asking rent growth and overall investment performance, according to a recent CoStar report.

Brandon Svec, national director of retail analytics at CoStar Group, noted that several fundamentals combined in Charlotte’s retail rise.

“After coming in sixth place last year, Charlotte’s rise to the top was predicated on demographic tailwinds, a diversified economy, and a disciplined supply pipeline,” Svec said in a statement.

Retail rent growth in Charlotte averaged 7.4% last year, according to CoStar. Over the past 10 years, the city’s retail rents have increased 57%, compared to just 34% nationwide. 

Retail vacancy in Charlotte was just 2.9% in Q3 2025, marking three consecutive years below 3%, according to an Oct. 2025 Colliers report. 

The rumors of retail’s demise in the city turned out to be greatly exaggerated, said Clay Grubb, CEO of Grubb Properties.

“Retail had 10 brutal years, with everybody saying retail was dead,” Grubb said, speaking at the Bisnow Charlotte Commercial Real Estate Market Kickoff on Jan. 15. “But ever since coming out of Covid, the consumer has been very strong, and so the retail sector has been very strong.”

Smaller spaces were especially competitive for retail tenants, with vacancy in buildings under 10K SF at only 1.77%, Colliers reported. 

Converting the first floors of office buildings into spaces for retail tenants has proven to be a successful strategy in Charlotte, Grubb noted.

“They’re paying real rent and changing the images of office buildings, making the retail sector much healthier than we’ve seen in 15 years,” he said at the Bisnow event last week at the Union at West Station.

The last quarter of 2025 came with price haircuts across much of the U.S. real estate landscape. Urban offices were hit particularly hard.

Commercial properties took price haircuts across the U.S. at the end of 2025, according to MSCI.

While MSCI’s commercial property price index last month rose 0.2% year-over-year, it fell 0.4% from November to December. And the drop from the third quarter to the fourth implies an annualized pace decrease of 3.5%. 

“Price growth has been softening in recent months,” the analysis says.

The office sector was hit the hardest, with central business district properties falling in the fourth quarter at an annualized pace of 7.9%. That metric for their suburban counterparts showed a 1.2% drop. 

Retail and industrial prices edged down slightly in December, and the only sector to see prices rise was multifamily, with a monthly increase of less than 0.1%.

Still, the value of apartment properties was down 1.3% year-over-year.

“Apartment’s softening prices mark a reversal of earlier momentum, as what had been nearly two years of moderating annual declines has given way to renewed pressure,” MSCI’s report says.  

The report also broke down geographic differences in commercial price changes. 

The markets with the largest price increases over the last year were Orlando, Florida; Houston; Baltimore; Phoenix; and Sacramento, California. 

The sharpest price drops in 2025 were found in Boston’s central business district, New York City’s outer boroughs, Seattle, San Francisco’s East Bay and Nashville. 

Boston’s CBD also had the largest price decline over the five-year period ending in 2025, the report found. The other markets with the biggest five-year slides were D.C.’s central business district, San Francisco, Los Angeles’ central business district and San Jose, California.

The markets with the most price growth over the last five years were South Florida; Orlando and Fort Myers/Sarasota/Naples, Florida; Charlotte; and LA’s Inland Empire. 

MSCI Executive Director Jim Costello said the data center boom masked distress in other parts of the market last year. 

“In the beginning of the year, there was optimism and some price growth, but it’s weakened as of late,” he told Bisnow last month.

Related Ross CEO and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross added yet another headquarters to his growing collection within his West Palm Beach office buildings.

Courtesy of Collin Miller Photography

One Flagler at 180 Lakeview Ave.

Wells Fargo & Co. signed a 50K SF lease with Related Ross at the One Flagler office building in West Palm Beach to house a new headquarters for its wealth-management business, Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management, wealth chief Barry Sommers told Bloomberg.

“West Palm Beach’s strong business climate and expanding economic opportunities align well with our long‑term growth priorities—both in the region and across our organization,” a representative for Wells Fargo said in a statement shared with Bisnow. “Numerous members of WIM’s leader team will continue to be based in New York, St. Louis and Charlotte, North Carolina.”

About 100 employees will relocate to the new office, which opened its doors last year, by the end of 2026. This brings the office tower to 100% leased, a Related Ross representative confirmed to Bisnow.

The move, nearly two years in the making, is just the beginning of an expansion in the area. Sommers told Bloomberg the company plans to hire more employees, specifically looking to attract financial advisers, private bankers, and independent broker-dealers, and may rent additional space.

Wells Fargo is joining a list of tenants at One Flagler, including Vista Investments of Florida, GoldenTree Asset Management and Ocean Sound Partners. 

“Wells Fargo is making a bold move by bringing senior leadership and a major office of its wealth‑management business to One Flagler in West Palm Beach,” Related Ross Executive Vice President Jordan Rathlev said in a statement. “It’s a strong sign of long-term confidence in our city and in South Florida’s growth.”

The 25-story building has a 19K SF terrace and green space that overlooks Palm Beach Island, a Greek-style restaurant named Estiatorio Milos, retail space and offices, according to its website.

Related Cos. purchased the site in 2021 for $20M from the First Church of Christ Scientist, West Palm Beach, according to the Vizzda database, before Related Ross spun off into its own West Palm Beach-focused development company led by Ross in 2024. 

One Flagler was the first building to open under Related Ross.

Bisnow/Chloe Gallivan

The Related Ross showroom within the Shops at CityPlace in West Palm Beach illustrates the development plans for the city.

The company, which has 1M SF of office space under construction, spearheaded West Palm Beach’s development — especially after Ross pledged to spend $10B to turn the city into the “Wall Street of the South.”

But the company is looking to claim multiple titles for the region. Related Ross Vice President of Leasing Greg Kuhlman said at a Bisnow event in 2024 that the company was working to expand beyond financial service firms to technology companies and make West Palm the “next Silicon Valley.”

At another Bisnow event in December, Rathlev said the company’s next “big push” for West Palm Beach was in defense tech.

Other Related Ross developments have also attracted headquarters, like 10 and 15 CityPlace, which inked a deal with ServiceNow for 200K SF to host its regional headquarters in September.

Tech firm Visium also plans to open its headquarters at the 477 Rosemary boutique office building at Related’s CityPlace, The Real Deal reported.

A Charlotte apartment developer is spearheading a mixed-use project next to a Wieuca Road Baptist church that includes plans for a new office building.

The monument sign for the Church at Wieuca in Buckhead

Crescent Communities applied for special administrative permits Jan. 9 with the city of Atlanta to develop a 300-unit apartment complex and a multistory office building at 3626 Peachtree Road, part of the Church at Wieuca campus.

The church’s lead pastor, Kevin Head, confirmed the nearly 2.5-acre parcel at the corner of Wieuca and Peachtree roads in Buckhead is under contract to Crescent but declined to disclose the pending purchase price. 

“We have finalized the purchase and sale agreement with them,” Head said. “It’s a significant step for us as a church.”

According to SAP applications filed by engineering firm Kimley-Horn, Crescent is looking to build 300 apartments with a parking deck, plus an office building with 6,500 SF of commercial space and a parking deck. 

Harvey Rudy, an Atlanta-area development vet and founder of HSR Development Services, is the development partner with Crescent, continuing his affiliation with the site that he first established while with Greenstone Properties. Rudy said Crescent is considering a 375K SF office building on the site.

Crescent Commercial Managing Director Sagar Rathie declined to comment further about the project.

“Crescent Communities is excited about our continued investment in Buckhead, and we look forward to sharing more details in the future,” Rathie said in an email.

This is the latest iteration of the redevelopment of the Church at Wieuca’s land. Greenstone previously partnered with the church in 2021 on redevelopment plans. Two years later, the firm announced it had partnered with Toll Brothers to build townhomes, 400 apartments, 500K SF of office space and 12K SF of retail space on the site, but the project ultimately failed to materialize. 

Rudy was previously Greenstone’s development head, responsible for such projects as HD Supply’s 220K SF headquarters near The Battery in Cobb County and the 14th + Spring office tower in Midtown. Rudy continued to do planning for the Church at Wieuca when he formed his own firm in 2024.

Developers have scaled back to historically low levels of new office construction.

Courtesy of Harvey Rudy

HSR Development Services founder Harvey Rudy

Portman Holdings delivered its 525K SF Ten Twenty Spring office building in Midtown in 2024, which snagged consulting firm EY as an anchor tenant last year. The only other office under construction in Atlanta is 1072 West Peachtree, the 60-story mixed-use skyscraper by Rockefeller that includes 224K SF of office space and is set to deliver this spring, according to a fourth-quarter CBRE office market report.

A recent upswing in Atlanta’s office fundamentals, especially among landlords that own the city’s collection of trophy towers, could be encouraging developers to consider planning for new office development once again, said Sara Barnes, Avison Young Southeast market intelligence manager.

“I have a feeling some developers are going to start considering it,” Barnes said. 

Office tenants inked more than 7M SF in 2025, focused mainly on Class-A and trophy properties, according to a Q4 Avison Young report. In fact, nearly three-quarters of all new leasing activity in 2025 was among Class-A and trophy office properties as tenants vied for high-caliber office spaces amid back-to-office initiatives, according to Avison Young.

Metro Atlanta office landlords tallied negative net absorption of more than 475K SF last year, but trophy tower owners saw nearly 468K SF of positive absorption, demonstrating the growing bifurcation in the office market.

Still, Barnes said she doubts any developer will break ground on office in the next 12 months, especially as they must pencil in elevated construction costs. The average price to develop a new urban office building is around $750 per SF, up $200 from five years ago, according to data compiled by Avison Young senior associate Nick Steen. 

Further interest rate cuts and further cooling of the trade wars, however, could help push construction pricing downward, but most developers will likely sit on the sidelines in the near term rather than risk building new office space, Barnes said.

“Spec development, I still think we have a little bit to go before we see that break ground,” she said.

Rock Hill, South Carolina, 25 miles south of downtown Charlotte, might soon see a dual-hotel project.

On Jan. 6, the Rock Hill Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning request from an entity tied to Fort Mill-based Primo Investments, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

The hotel owner and developer, led by Hitesh Patel, aims to rezone 13.2 acres at 1505 and 1515 Riverchase Blvd., off Exit 82C of Interstate 77, for a project that will construct two hotels on the site.

The Rock Hill City Council, which has final authority on zoning, is expected to make a decision on Jan. 26. 

If the project comes to fruition, the first phase will be an 85,700 SF, 121-room hotel. The second phase will be a 59,300 SF hotel with 116 rooms. The first hotel is expected to be a Marriott-branded Residence Inn, and the second might be a Marriott-branded StudioRes.

Patel’s team is reportedly seeking a master plan-commercial zoning designation. This is designed to allow for a mixture of retail and office uses in a certain parcel or area based on a master plan approved by Rock Hill. The designation allows for some flexibility as the plans progress. 

Patel’s Primo Investments has an active hotel portfolio throughout the Charlotte market, especially in York County, with five hotels in Rock Hill alone. It also boasts two hotels in Fort Mill, two in Charlotte and one in Concord.