Greystar – Kingston South End

This project involved the partial redevelopment of a single building within a larger, interconnected complex located in a prominent South End location at a major intersection. The site had been part of a comprehensive development where several buildings were physically and infrastructurally linked, with only one portion slated for removal while the rest continued operating as an active arts space. The project required significant coordination with the City of Charlotte, adjacent property owners, and utility providers, extending the scope well beyond typical site design into infrastructure untangling and public coordination.

The primary challenge centered on separating the building slated for demolition from the rest of the still-operating complex without disrupting its function, since shared power and telecom feeds had to be untangled so each building could operate independently.

The remaining buildings had no development budget for infrastructure modifications, so DRG had to design solutions that minimized cost and impact on their end. Complicating matters further, the existing buildings had shallow, undocumented footings, requiring the grading of the new adjacent road to be executed with extreme care to avoid structural impact. The site's location at a major, high-traffic intersection in a prominent part of South End added further complexity to construction sequencing and public coordination.

DRG coordinated directly with CDOT on adjacent street improvements and managed extensive telecom and power relocation efforts to disentangle aging infrastructure shared across the building complex. The firm revised the existing signalized intersection and pedestrian crossings, developed streetscape improvement plans, and negotiated with the City to secure allowable deviations from standard streetscape requirements.

DRG also designed a new private street connecting to a future development area, requiring cross-firm coordination since a separate firm was designing that adjacent project, and worked with the City to leverage bonus height options for the building. Throughout, DRG balanced the technical demands of utility separation and grading with the practical constraints of the neighboring buildings' operating status and limited budget.