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Activating a Community to Thrive Beyond the 9-to-5
An infill rezoning project in Charlotte is changing Ballantyne from a traditional office park to a mixed-use mecca.
Ballantyne, an upscale, 2,000-acre neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, is recognized as one of the largest mixed-use communities in the Southeast. Developed on farmland in the early 1990s, primarily by The Bissell Companies, Ballantyne grew into a thriving community with features such as a golf course and a corporate park with more than 4 million square feet of office space.
With 17,000 employees working in the corporate park pre-pandemic and over 70,000 residents, Ballantyne didn’t face growth challenges. What was missing, however, was a sense of connection that would encourage people to stay, engage and explore. So, in recent years, Ballantyne has been undergoing a monumental transformation aimed at redefining its future.
An aerial view of the surroundings before vertical construction began on The Bowl at Ballantyne.
To become a great place, Ballantyne needed to develop a recognizable, coordinated and sustainable civic realm. The goal is to evolve the area from a 9-to-5 environment into a vibrant 24-hour community that is connected to neighboring areas while maintaining its own unique identity.
A New Vision
Northwood Investors, a global real estate investment and management firm, acquired Ballantyne from The Bissell Companies in March 2017 for $1.2 billion, making it the largest real estate transaction in Charlotte’s history. Several months later, Northwood teamed with Boston-based land-planning firm Sasaki, locally based LandDesign (which had been involved with the master-plan project since its inception), and Cooper Carry on architecture and experiential graphic design to start working on its vision for the Ballantyne campus.
Northwood’s master plan, Ballantyne Reimagined, aims to transform the surrounding area from a traditional office park and public golf course into a more urban, walkable environment, creating a vibrant community destination that benefits office workers, guests and visitors alike. The design seeks to maximize the use of an underutilized site by increasing its density and enhancing connections to the surrounding natural landscape.
“Our goal was to create a new standard for sense of place that makes life better and more fun,” said John Barton, president of Northwood Office, Northwood Investors’ office platform. “We have developed an activated area beyond the eight-hour workday that brings more options to Ballantyne.”
Under its previous zoning, the 535-acre Ballantyne Corporate Park was permitted to have retail only on the first floor of office buildings, and no multifamily was allowed. Northwood worked collaboratively with the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on a three-year rezoning process allowing for a mixed-use development district. The rezoning received approval over a Zoom call amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in June 2020. “It was said to be the largest and most complex infill rezoning in Charlotte’s history,” Barton noted.
Another important component was a more than 1,300-page traffic impact analysis required to ensure all aspects of the infrastructure would perform. The project team established a forward-thinking infrastructure system to accommodate long-term growth and the potential to evolve to meet future demand. Northwood invested $111 million in infrastructure, including the construction of two new main thoroughfares and improvements at more than 20 intersections. Infrastructure work began in February 2021.
An overview of the Ballantyne campus, with The Bowl at Ballantyne outlined in yellow at the center.
With a full master plan on paper, Northwood worked strategically to place major roads near future development pads. “Our flexible infrastructure opens up future development parcels for intentional growth,” said Clifton Coble, senior vice president of development at Northwood Office.
The initial phase of Ballantyne Reimagined is primarily complete. It includes 600 multifamily residential units, a 5,000-person-capacity amphitheater, the 6.4-acre Stream Park, 70,000 square feet of retail, and a 300,000-square-foot office building — adjacent to existing office buildings — that is 99% leased.
“Northwood’s vision is to create a better quality of life and experience for current and future employees, residents, guests and visitors to Ballantyne,” said Fred Merrill, principal at Sasaki.
Where Urban Meets Garden
Ballantyne Reimagined implements a “where urban meets garden” design strategy. This creates a walkable, urban destination that maintains a strong connection to the surrounding natural landscape.
“We were inspired by the existing network of golf cart paths and trails, mature trees and the vast expanse of surrounding nature to integrate the existing campus into a densified 18-hour, mixed-use environment,” said Jim Babinchak, principal at Cooper Carry. “The resulting design is a harmonious balance of structure and nature.”
Northwood has named its new retail and entertainment district “The Bowl at Ballantyne,” paying homage to the previous owner’s description of the topographical features of the former golf course. Northwood incorporated some of these conditions into The Bowl’s design. For example, the amphitheater stage is at the lowest point of the former 18th hole’s fairway, providing spectators with expansive vistas toward the former tee boxes. In addition, an existing golf course tunnel was retained and now provides pedestrians with easy access between Ballantyne Corporate Place and The Bowl.
The project team adopted a Main Street approach for the retail and dining structures, featuring vibrant storefronts and a diverse restaurant mix, enhanced by outdoor gathering spaces. Seven standalone retail buildings feature storefronts that spill out onto the sidewalk through alfresco outdoor seating, deep canopy overhangs and pop-up markets that encourage guests to linger. Configured into a walkable woonerf (a Dutch term meaning “living street”), the well-landscaped thoroughfare is dotted with opportunities for human interaction without vehicle interference.
Northwood is also developing Oro Ballantyne, a 26-story luxury apartment community under construction along Bowl Street, providing a front-row seat to all the action at The Bowl and a defined sense of place. SK+I served as the architect for Oro, which is the tallest residential tower in South Charlotte. Move-ins are occurring throughout 2025.
An aerial view of The Bowl at Ballantyne, with The Amp in the foreground and Oro Ballantyne, the tallest residential tower in South Charlotte, in the background.
At the center of The Bowl is an urban green space where people can gather in a natural environment. Rooftop dining decks and elevated terraces provide additional areas with views of the natural surroundings.
“This is a first-of-its-kind development for South Charlotte, so we wanted to design for long-term resilience and functionality,” said Kevin Roberts, associate principal at Cooper Carry. “When the landscape is fully grown, this place will truly feel like walking through a garden, and we have introduced calming elements that align with that intention. The outdoor spaces are an extension of the retail and dining, with it all working together to create an enjoyable third place for the community.”
The project team used a variety of new building materials and innovative systems. Elevated finishes help differentiate the project, including terra-cotta facades, exposed aggregate sidewalks, custom precast concrete and Ipe benches, granite curbs and paver driving surfaces. Apartment views look onto two retail jewel boxes that sandwich the central urban green space. The project team installed green roofs composed of living shrubs to soften the appearance of the hoods and other restaurant rooftop equipment.
Ballantyne by the NumbersSize: 2,000 acres |
Throughout the construction process, 300,000 cubic yards of dirt were excavated and moved. The project consists of nearly 100,000 new plantings. The trees throughout The Bowl were hand-selected by the project team and professionally pruned to ensure an aesthetically pleasing, consistent shape that did not interfere with the visibility of the retail tenants.
LandDesign further enhanced the Sasaki master plan and provided civil engineering and landscape architecture services. Native plant species were used to promote local biodiversity and minimize ongoing maintenance costs.
A Successful Public-Private Partnership
With significant infrastructure investments to build roads, sidewalks and other transportation-related improvements, Ballantyne Reimagined exemplifies a successful public-private partnership. Northwood partnered with the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on two grants. The first was for $17.5 million with the city’s Capital Investment Plan, a bond subject to voter approval. In addition, the city and county participated in a tax increment grant for $25 million.
Priority was placed on offering outdoor gathering places for retail and dining structures so that guests would be encouraged to linger. Shown here is the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery.
Northwood intentionally formed relationships with local leaders to create community benefit beyond Ballantyne. Establishing alignment among all stakeholders to find alternative funding solutions for greenway connectivity, infrastructure improvement and future transit linkages was essential to the project’s success. Northwood funded the infrastructure portion of the project and financed the retail and the residential tower, Oro Ballantyne, through U.S. Bank and TD Bank.
Filling Up The Bowl
Leasing activity for The Bowl has been strong. Northwood previously owned Blakeney, a major mixed-use retail project in close proximity to Ballantyne, before selling it in 2021. Based on that experience, “we knew there was a hole in South Charlotte and a strong demand for better food and beverage and service offerings,” said Ward Kampf, president of Northwood Retail. “Because of the size of the Ballantyne campus, we felt that we could attract impactful drivers if we had the right content and context. We knew the design and scale were spot-on and that we needed to lead with authoritative food. National brands always recognize great markets and open in hot areas, and with Charlotte being such a desired market, Flower Child, Postino and North Italia were natural early fits.
“What surprised us most was the local interest and the incredibly powerful response. At Northwood Retail, we feel like local concepts contribute to 80% of the character of a project, so we’re grateful to have the likes of chef Jim Noble of Noble Food and Pursuits and John Marrino from The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery put their stamp on The Bowl at Ballantyne. As a result of the overall development and the leasing traction, we’ve also landed a deal for a Wegmans supermarket adjacent to The Bowl. Wegmans is so coveted — everyone in the country is chasing them.”
Popular retail concepts line Bowl Street. In the background are an office building, Towerview (the first multifamily offering on campus), and a portion of the Northwood-owned Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne hotel.
Northwood is exceeding absorption and rent levels, with more demand than space available in phase one of the project.
“Because of the mix of uses — hotels, office space, residential and retail, plus The Amp [the outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts, festivals and other events] — Ballantyne is evolving into a small city,” Kampf said. “We anchored the project with a brewery [Olde Mecklenburg], and we knew we were looking for operators to fill an 18-hour day — food and beverage, fitness, coffee, services, places for morning workouts, salon blowouts, lunch meetings, happy hours, and dinners and drinks — that catered to the residents, workers, families and hotel guests, day and night. … The Bowl has opened strong, and we’ve brought in a wide range of uses matching our merchandising vision,” which includes a mix of national, regional and local vendors.
A Mixed-use Model
Ballantyne is creating a new community that brings together what is often separated — homes, workplaces, daily necessities and places to unwind.
With most of Ballantyne Reimagined’s first phase complete, the development has entitlements for up to 1,000 multifamily units, 300,000 square feet of retail within the campus and 200 hotel rooms. The second phase, which is years out, could include an additional 1,000 multifamily units, 300 townhomes and 400,000 square feet of office. A third phase could occur with significant infrastructure improvements, and three potential light rail stations have been designated throughout the campus.
“What makes Ballantyne stand out is how it brings everything into one seamless experience,” Merrill said. “It creates a strong sense of place where everything feels connected, convenient and easy to access.”
Christina Thigpen is senior vice president of marketing and communications at Northwood Office.
Green Space GaloreBallantyne’s 100-plus acres of green space have always been a differentiator for the area, so the project team took intentional steps to activate the campus’ natural beauty. With an existing 20 miles of walking paths and bike lanes throughout Ballantyne, the project extended the commitment to green space with a greenway connection, Stream Park and an amphitheater. Public art, tree canopies, water features and street furniture, complemented by community programming, contribute to the experience. “We gave careful attention to how these new parks could be programmed and designed to be used by everyone, whether living or visiting here,” said Rhett Crocker, president of LandDesign. The project team quickly learned that the pandemic had increased the public’s desire to be outdoors and adapted The Bowl’s design accordingly, incorporating 100,000 plantings, enhancing Stream Park, expanding the size of The Amp and ensuring that The Bowl’s restaurants had ample outdoor seating, which is a defining mark for the space. “We definitely leaned in more to the outdoor experience,” said John Barton, president of Northwood Office. “While green space has always been a hallmark for Ballantyne, we amplified what we were thinking about, doing a stream park, an amphitheater, an extended trail network and other signature green spaces. We did more of it, and we did it even better.” |
The Bowl at Ballantyne Project SummaryProject Location Type of Site Development Type Transportation Modes Mix of Uses Parking Site Dimensions Retail Tenants Retail Rents and Lease Terms Development Team Financial Partners Timeline Development Cost Information |
