Smart growth may be the real estate buzz word of the day, but it's nothing new to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Cousins Properties. Committed to quality development in urban markets for over 40 years, Cousins Properties has teamed up with Bank of America and some premier residential players to develop Gateway Village, a 15-acre, $450 million mixed-use development occupying five city blocks in downtown Charlotte.

Headquartered in Charlotte, Bank of America needed space for its technology and operations support, so CEO Hugh McColl Jr. employed his longtime commitment to urban revitalization and planned to develop a mixed-use development on the west side of downtown Charlotte. In 1997, he looked to Cousins Properties to become both development and equity partner of Gateway Village, located in the vibrant Third Ward neighborhood between Trade and 5th streets.

"We both felt it was important that this be a live/work/play environment, so we were as committed to the retail and residential components as we were to the office space," says John Goff, project executive and vice president of development for Cousins Properties. "Located in a technology center, the office space has a 24/7 nature, so it benefits the office users to have a neighborhood surrounding them as opposed to just a dark downtown. And it benefits the residents to have the office users around during the day. The retail component is kind of the glue that holds it all together."

Currently in Phase I of development, Gateway Village encompasses 1 million square feet of office space, 65,000 square feet of retail space and about 583 residential units, with full occupancy expected this fall. The commercial space consists of two buildings: 800 West Trade, 650,000 square feet of space that houses the Bank of America Technology Center, and 900 West Trade, a 450,000-square-foot building, of which Bank of America is the primary tenant, but which will also be leased to other technology-oriented companies. "The space has a strong fiber-optic network, so we've had interest from telecommunications companies as well as large consulting companies, software development companies and various types of call center environments," says Goff. "But we worked hard to create a flexible office space that could work for virtually any type of company. We're really targeting progressive companies that are looking for the convenience of the suburbs with the amenities of an urban location."

On the retail portion, the developers are catering to restaurants and food operators as well as other service-oriented companies for both the commercial occupants and residents in nearby residential units as well as the overall Third Ward community, which is currently under-served. They have also leased 29,000 square feet to the YMCA. Henry Atkins, Cousins' senior vice president for the Carolinas region, says retail tenants will be attracted to Gateway Village just for the sheer size of it. "We're being very selective about which tenants we put in the project because we want to create the right synergy for both the office workers and the residents in and around Gateway Village. The market calls for multiple uses, but we want to be sure we don't have multiple uses in the same categories so the businesses don't overlap.

Three developers were brought on to create the residential component of the project. Post Properties is developing close to 400 four- and eight-story, mid-rise, urban-style apartments; The Boulevard Company, a local condominium developer, is developing Gateway Plaza, a more traditional product type of 111 one- and two-bedroom condominiums with floorplans you would expect to see in a pre-war New York City building; and Boulevard Centro, a spin-off of The Boulevard Company, is developing Gateway Lofts, a cutting-edge product of 52 loft spaces. "We're not residential developers, so we brought in people who are -- for their expertise, as well as to spread the financial risk," says Goff. "And we knew it was important to have the diversity of both rental and for sale." Chris Branch, president of The Boulevard Company, says both types of condominium products have found a market niche and have been very successful. "Part of having a vibrant city is maintaining some sort of heterogeneity. You have a diverse group of people who have a diverse set of interests, and that set of interests manifests itself in different housing choices," he says.

Scheduled for completion in 2004, Phase II of Gateway Village will include another 300 to 350 residential units, and roughly 10,000 square feet of retail space and 450,000 square feet of office space in the 950 West Trade building. Now in pre-leasing, this build-to-suit space is designed for single tenants or for development as a multi-tenant facility. Lower floors of 40,000 square feet are designed for technology-intense users and upper floors with 25,000 square feet allow space for more traditional users. "The advantage of this building is its close proximity to I-77," says Goff. "With great visibility from the interstate and a downtown location, this space appeals to companies that want to get out of the suburbs and be in the urban mix, but still have the convenience of the interstate."

Design planning of the entire Gateway project included many distinct amenities. Foremost is the massive, hidden 2800-car parking deck -- the largest in the Carolinas. The very high-density residential development is glued onto the parking deck so that the deck becomes hidden from view. It also serves as parking for the commercial space.

Another commitment of the development team was to provide a public space for the city of Charlotte. This space includes Gateway Gardens, a 1.5-acre park between the 800 and 900 West Trade buildings that can be used for public and private gatherings. The gardens will be divided into separate "garden rooms" -- the water garden which contains a fountain and water wall, the terrace garden with the Gateway Caf? and the central green that will seat up to 1500 people for outdoor concerts and events. The Promenade, located in the connecting hall between the two wings of the 800 West Trade building, also serves as a concert hall and community gathering place.

Cooperation with the city was very important for Gateway Village, according to Goff, though there was virtually no public investment in the project. "Charlotte has the benefit of being a very vibrant city, and with the commitment of corporate leaders like Bank of America and First Union, the city doesn't need to invest," claims Goff. "But this is home for Bank of America and home for this division of Cousins, so for us, it wasn't a deal stopper."

So what will the project do for Downtown Charlotte? All involved feel the implications for the city are huge. For starters, a lot of would-be suburban office workers will be setting up shop in the city. "Gateway Village will create another neighborhood within the Center City," says Branch. "And it will help maintain and make even more vibrant the neighborhoods that it touches, Third and Fourth Ward." Atkins notes that the project has already had an impact. "Because of its size and magnitude, it's been able to make an impression on a part of downtown that was blighted for years. It's a multi-block, multiple-use project that provides a tremendous anchor for the central business district."

And partners are counting on a vibrant neighborhood to achieve their goals. As investment-driven entities, both Cousins Properties and Bank of America are committed to creating a property that will have strong investment potential long term. "We believe quite strongly that the overall value of the project will rise better than average due to the fact that we've created this mixed-use environment," says Goff. "We base that on historical reference that buildings located in vibrant neighborhoods are worth more than those that are not. Capitalization rates on ultimate sales tend to be higher."


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