CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte developer Childress Klein and Maryland-based CGA Capital have acquired the Charlotte Metro Tower site at 525 S. Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte from Duke Energy. In connection with its acquisition, the Childress Klein-CGA Capital joint venture simultaneously entered into a long-term lease with Duke Energy and have agreed to fully fund development and construction of the new 40-story office building.
Duke Energy will occupy the LEED-Gold Certified Class AA office tower upon its expected completion in 2022. Charlotte Metro Tower will feature approximately 1 million square feet of office and retail space, and a 1,100-space parking garage.
“Metro Tower is a best-in-class project in an area with the highest net absorption of any submarket in the Southeast. We have a great team in place and are delighted to be partnering with CGA and expanding our relationship with Duke Energy on this exciting project that will deliver significant economic benefits to the area,” said Childress Klein Partner Tom Coyle.
“This is an outstanding opportunity from every standpoint. We look forward to working with Childress Klein and their team to fund the creation of a dynamic office tower and a terrific new addition to the city skyline,” said CGA Capital Managing Director and Principal W. Kyle Gore.
Baltimore-based CGA Capital provides capital for large-scale corporate, government, and nonprofit real estate projects across the country. Financing is being provided by a debt investor group led by Nuveen, a TIAA company. Construction is underway at the time of the acquisition, and Childress Klein is leading the design and preliminary site work, and serves as the development manager.
CGA Capital was represented in the transaction by Ballard Spahr, and Childress Klein was represented by Parker Poe. Duke Energy was represented by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and advised by Eastdil Secured. The debt investor group was represented by Greenberg Traurig. The project’s architect is TVS Design and the general contractor is Batson-Cook Company.
About Childress Klein
As one of the largest private, full-service real estate companies in the Southeast, Childress Klein has played an intricate role in the development of Uptown Charlotte. For more than thirty years, we have overseen the development of fourteen Uptown projects — totaling more than 7 million square feet of commercial space. Notable Uptown projects include the 42-story One Wells Fargo Center, the 48-story Duke Energy Center, the high-rise residential project Museum Tower, as well as mixed and multi-use projects such as The Green and the Levine Cultural Campus. The new Metro Tower is a continuation of Childress Klein’s involvement and dedication to shaping Charlotte’s Uptown skyline. For more information, visit www.childressklein.com.
About CGA Capital
CGA Capital is a privately held lender and investment firm focused on net lease property acquisition and development, debt and equity financing, and sales and trading of lease-backed securities. CGA Capital has closed more than $20 billion in financings, including corporate headquarters, government facilities, healthcare properties, and mission-critical special use developments. CGA Capital was found as a subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc, in 1989 and acquired the U.S. net lease financing business of RBS Group plc in 2009. Since then, CGA Capital has served active or standby asset management or servicing roles in more than $8 billion (principal balance) of net lease-related debt real estate assets and retains equity interests in more than $2.4 billion in net leased properties. Among the hundreds of net lease financings completed by CGA Capital are headquarters facilities for leading utility companies, including Sempra Energy, ComEd (Exelon), and Georgia Power. Visit www.cgacapital.com.
