Vacant 33-Year-Old Uptown Bank Building Springing to Life as Office Center

CHARLOTTE-Southern Development Partners, spotting a demand by 7,000-sf tenants in the tight Uptown office market, believes its purchase of the vacant 33-year-old, seven-story, 68,000-sf former Home Federal Savings Building at 139 South Tryon St. is on target. Southern paid First Charter Bank $3.5 million or $51.47 per sf for the asset and is putting in another $4 million in renovations scheduled to be completed by next summer.

The property is being renamed the 139 South Tryon Building and will have some ground-floor retail. Rental rates haven’t been set but principals Buddy Green, Sarah Ledbetter and Diane Rivers expect to compete in the Uptown market where rates are ranging from $28 per sf in the newest and best buildings to about $12 per sf in older properties. Because it has been difficult for companies to find Uptown space in blocks as small as 7,000 sf, the group believes the timing is right for putting the building back on the market.