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.

Crescent Communities and GTIS Partners are working together on an industrial project planned in Huntersville. The local planning board is recommending approval of a rezoning request that would allow the duo to build 450,000 square feet of industrial space at 12705 Commerce Station Drive, which is called Axial Commerce Station. The buildings are slated to be 316,250 square feet and 136,5000 square feet. Crescent is hoping to start by the end of this year. The buildings will be delivered in late 2026.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports the developer said the total investment in the project would exceed $50 million. Crescent estimates that once the buildings are completed, the project will create over 250 jobs.

New York-based real estate investment firm GTIS also has several projects in the Charlotte area. The firm announced plans for a $27 million industrial project in Gaston County.

Crescent Communities started construction on a 400-unit multifamily project in Durham’s University Hill neighborhood. Kyuden Urban Development and NEC Capital Solutions are investing in the project, along with Crescent Communities, which obtained a construction loan from Santander Bank. The Triangle Business Journal reports that The Novel UHill is expected to cost over $100 million to build.

Novel UHill is on two parcels totaling 6.5 acres at 3737 Durham Chapel Hill Boulevard and 3019 Auto Drive. Crescent acquired the properties in two separate transactions for $8.8 million.

The developer plans to open the first apartments at the end of 2026. The entire project should be complete by the end of 2027. Townhomes will also be part of the project.

Rental rates will be between $1,900 for a studio and upwards of $4,000 for 3-bedroom townhomes. The apartments will range from studios to three bedrooms and be between 600 and 1,500 square feet. The townhomes will have two- and three-bedroom options and average about 1,800 square feet.

Crescent Communities is hoping to get final approvals from Mecklenburg County to build a 31- story high-rise at 1102 S. Tryon St. in South End. The company took out permits with the county totaling $126.3 million.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports Crescent, along with Nuveen Real Estate, announced the project in February 2022. The developers paid $37 million in 2022 for the 3-acre property at the intersection of Carson and South Tryon streets.

The mixed-use development called Carson & Tryon included 560,000 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of retail space, 200 Novel-branded apartments and a 200-room boutique hotel.

It is also to include an 18,000-square-foot sky terrace with outdoor meeting space, casual lounge space and unobstructed views of uptown and South End, as well as a 12,000-square-foot indoor amenity lounge will have a fitness center, locker rooms, wellness programming and on-site conference and boardroom spaces.

The Spectrum Cos.’ Virginia Luther and Dillard Williams are handling office leasing at the project.

Crescent Communities will soon break ground on HARMON Jefferson Village, a 130-unit build-to-rent townhome project at 1500 Highwoods Blvd in Greensboro. It’s Crescent’s first BTR community in the area. They have built in Charlotte (photo).

The Triad Business Journal reports the project will cost $50 million. Move-in is slated for a year from now. Copper Builders will handle construction duties.

HARMON Jefferson Village will include three-bedroom and four-bedroom townhomes, ranging from 1,650 to 2,165 square feet. The company estimates that rents will be around $500 to $1,000 less than a monthly mortgage rate in Greensboro.

Outdoor amenities include a pool with nearby pavilion, grilling area and event lawn; an outdoor plaza area with outdoor seating; and a trailhead near an already existing walking trail and two ponds.

Crescent says it’s development portfolio has included more than 86 multifamily communities and 25 million square feet of commercial space since 1963. 

Crescent Communities’ Harmon Foxbank build-to-rent neighborhood on the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina.

A major Southeast commercial real estate developer is teaming up with Chicago-based investment management firm Heitman to spearhead more than $200M in new single-family build-to-rent homes across four states.

Charlotte-based Crescent Communities and Heitman, along with an unnamed state pension fund, plan to start construction this spring on Harmon by Crescent Communities rental neighborhoods in North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Arizona, the company announced Thursday. 

The initial $235M investment will erect new three- and four-bedroom townhouses and single-family detached home communities full of amenities that will be offered for rent only, according to the press release.

“The expanding relationship with Heitman during a very challenging capital markets environment is a testament to this growing sector and the confidence in our brand,” Crescent Senior Managing Director Tony Chen said in the release.

Crescent is known for its Novel apartment brand and also develops and owns office, industrial and life sciences real estate. It first entered the build-to-rent category three years ago when it teamed up with Sumitomo Forestry’s DRB Group as its builder, with plans for communities in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh and Charleston.

The Heitman partnership comes as build-to-rent is hitting a new peak. Developers unleashed 27,500 for-rent houses in 2023, 75% more than 2022, according to data compiled by RentCafe. More than 45,000 build-to-rent homes are underway in the U.S., with the bulk projected to deliver in 2025. Phoenix has the biggest pipeline with 4,000 units, followed by Dallas and Atlanta.

The industry is surging due to the high hurdle both prices and interest rates have placed on households to buy their own dwellings, along with the ongoing housing shortage. The build-to-rent platform gives households the space and features of single-family living without the capital outlay for maintenance and upkeep, industry experts say.

“We believe demand fundamentals for single-family rental housing will continue to grow at an attractive pace,” Brian Pieracci, head of North America private equity at Heitman, said in a statement. “Over the next decade, we expect a growing number of older millennials and retirees to rent as median home prices have grown at twice the pace of median incomes since 2000, making home purchasing less attainable and far less desirable.”

Developer Crescent Communities, along with global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group, has announced plans for a new mixed-use community in Nashville’s Edgehill neighborhood.

The community is located at 801 12th Ave. South, within an opportunity zone and will include 270 apartment homes along with 6,000 square feet of retail space and a dedicated co-working space. The property will be called NOVEL Edgehill and will include a rooftop sky lounge and pool deck with views of the downtown Nashville skyline.

Crescent and development partner Pearl Street Partners acquired the three-acre property earlier this year. Construction is scheduled to begin this quarter, with residences available for move ins in late 2021.

“NOVEL Edgehill’s location is experiential, offering unobstructed views of downtown Nashville’s skyline, and high-rise amenities that include our Sky Lounge on the pool deck that faces east, north and south, with a heated spa and pool, outdoor dining area and firepit,” said Khris Pascarella, principal at Pearl Street Partners. “These amenities will provide a high-rise experience without high-rise prices.”

The Edgehill neighborhood has existed for more than 200 years and is currently made up of a number of commercial businesses, single-family and multifamily homes as well as several community churches. Its location is south of downtown Nashville, bordering Music Row and The Gulch.

An affiliate of Starwood Capital provided financing for the project.

“With this project, Starwood continues to identify attractive and growth-oriented Opportunity Zone investment opportunities that create value for our investors,” said Ethan Bing, managing director at Starwood Capital Group.

Crescent Communities is currently the largest multifamily developer in Nashville, with over 2,236 units developed and a total investment of $422.5 million. This will be the sixth community that Crescent and Pearl Street have collaborated on together.

Hawkins and Partners has been tapped as the land planner and landscape architect on the project with KTGY serving as architect and Manual Zeitlin Architects serving as local design architect.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact David Cohen