After years of waiting, Charlotte’s Centre South megaproject is finally moving from glossy renderings to real dirt work. Boston-based developer The Fallon Company says it has locked in financing and is ready to break ground on the long-delayed mixed-use site wedged between South End, Dilworth and Uptown. The first phase, a six-story midrise dubbed Twelve03, is slated to bring 329 apartments to the former Strawn Cottages parcel, including income-restricted units aimed at lower-income residents.
According to the Boston Business Journal, Fallon has secured financing for this initial phase and is targeting site work this spring. The company is positioning Twelve03 as the first of several residential buildings that will anchor a broader 16.7-acre Centre South master plan.
What Twelve03 Will Include
The Fallon Company’s project page details a plan for Twelve03 to rise at 1203 S. Caldwell St., with 329 studio, one- and two-bedroom units stacked into a six-story building that comes with rooftop amenities and co-working space. The Fallon Company describes it as the first of three multifamily buildings that will ultimately fill out the Centre South site.
A Long-Delayed Project With Affordable Units
Local reporting has tracked Centre South’s slow march toward reality, noting its history as the Strawn Cottages site and highlighting that the first phase will include about 66 affordable apartments reserved for households at 65 to 80 percent of area median income. As reported by the Charlotte Observer, the full Centre South vision is a roughly $500 million mixed-use project that could deliver up to 975 total residences along with office, retail and a hotel at full build-out.
Developers have said that move-ins for Twelve03 could begin as early as 2028, with this first phase intended to spark additional office and retail investment along South Boulevard. Axios Charlotte and other outlets have pointed to the project’s role in stitching together South End, Dilworth and Uptown as a key reason local leaders backed the public-private partnership.
The effort is a public-private deal, with Fallon working alongside Inlivian and Horizon Development Properties. Developers say the collaboration will include aggressive MWBE participation and deed-restricted affordable units. The Charlotte Business Journal has reported on the partnership and on outreach events held to line up contractors and subcontractors for the construction.
After years of stop-and-start planning that have included stormwater upgrades, the pandemic and financing hurdles, developers now say work will finally begin with funding secured. According to the Boston Business Journal, Fallon expects to move quickly on the construction schedule and plans to share more updates as permits and closings are finalized.
