Courtesy of Merriman Schmitt Architects

Construction is well underway on the final undeveloped site in the Pineville industrial corridor in the Charlotte metro area.

The last large-scale development there, the Pineville Distribution Center, will be a 194K SF Class-A industrial facility some 15 miles south of Charlotte, according to a Jan. 26 press release from Iconic Equities.

Iconic Equities, a Miami-based industrial real estate investment firm, led rezoning efforts for the center last year along with Shoreline Capital. Along with Iconic Overlook Ventures and LaSalle Investment Management, Iconic Equities is developing the project. 

Iconic Equities CEO Tim Bishop declined to provide details on the price tag for the development.

The 15-acre site is at 10203 Pineville Distribution St. on 15 acres in Mecklenburg County, with good access to I-485 and I-77.

The new facility will reportedly be used as a build-to-suit warehouse for distribution. Construction began in November and is expected to be completed later this year.

“Being the last available site adds scarcity value,” Bishop said in an email. “And the location is already proven, with major tenants in the nearby Carolina Logistics Park.”

The 288-acre Carolina Logistics Park features a 525K SF distribution center for Campbell Snacks and a 526K SF Amazon facility.

Beacon Properties developed the nearby logistics park, which has more than 3M SF of industrial space, and last year sold much of it amid deals totaling some $500M. 

“The Charlotte market is experiencing exceptional demand for high-quality industrial properties, fueled by population growth, e-commerce expansion, and regional manufacturing strength,” Bishop said. 

Industrial vacancy in the Charlotte metro area dropped at the end of last year to 7.5%, according to CBRE, backed by 2.3M SF of net absorption. For the year, tenants took 9.5M SF more than they vacated in the metro area.  

CBRE’s outlook for 2026 predicts a 5% year-over-year increase in national industrial leasing activity to nearly 1B SF. 

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.

Koelsch Communities announced the early success of the largest campus in its portfolio – University Village – in Vancouver, Washington. Additionally, construction on its newest communities located in Bellevue nears completion, with an anticipated opening in Summer 2024.

Koelsch Construction was the general contractor for both developments, with Shearer Construction as a partner on the Belle Harbour project. The interior design of both campuses was managed by Judy Koelsch and JSK Design.

The $112 million University Village development encompasses 13 acres and features 136 suites in its independent living community, The Park at University Village, and 101 suites in its assisted living community, The Inn at University Village. Additionally, The Park has 26 cottages comprised of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes.

More than 160 miles north of Vancouver in Bellevue, construction nears completion on the $93 million Belle Harbour project, home to The Park at Belle Harbour, an assisted living community, and The Inn at Belle Harbour, a dedicated memory care community. Spanning nearly three acres, the boutique campus features 145 suites across both buildings.

Trammell Crow Company (TCC) is on target to finish construction of a $100-million-plus lab and office building in Sorrento Valley by early summer as the life science real estate market slowly recovers from a post-COVID downturn, the San Diego Business Journal reported. TCC is building the four-story building on spec, with no tenants lined up prior to construction. 

Although no leases have been signed yet, “We’re getting really good feedback from everybody in terms of the design and the layout, so it’s just a matter of time getting it filled now,” Chris Tipre, principal and San Diego market lead for TCC, told the Business Journal.

The four-story building is named Vista Sorrento Labs for its location at 10251 Vista Sorrento Pkwy. in sight of Interstate 805. It was designed by Ware Malcomb with Swinerton as the general contractor. 

Although Vista Sorrento Labs is TCC’s first life science project in San Diego County, Tipre said it won’t be the last. “We are looking on a couple of others down the street that are in pre-development,” he said.

On May 1, catch the Industry Leaders C-Suite panel at Connect Los Angeles 2024 when Bob Hart, President & CEO of TruAmerica; Kyle Matthews, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Matthews REIS; Bill Frame, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Kidder Mathews; Anthony Graziano, Chairman and CEO of IRR; and moderator Lew Horne of CBRE take the stage. Register now to hear live from these industry leaders.