Riverside Investment and Development, Singerman Real Estate Acquire $36.5M Charlotte Mixed-Use Site for $200M Redevelopment
A joint venture between Chicago-based Riverside Investment and Development and Singerman Real Estate has completed a real estate acquisition of the former Two Wells Fargo Center complex in Charlotte's Uptown district, paying $36.5 million for the 3.4-acre site in a transaction that closed April 23, 2026, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
The property carries a tax-assessed value of approximately $204 million, per county records. The sellers were Wells Fargo & Co., with CBRE serving as the listing broker. CBRE had originally listed the property for sale in June 2023.
A Comprehensive Mixed-Use Redevelopment Plan
The joint venture has outlined a $200 million overhaul of the site, now known as 301 South Tryon, encompassing multifamily real estate, hospitality, office real estate, and retail real estate components. The redevelopment plan calls for converting the 30-story tower — built in 1971 and once the tallest building in Charlotte — into 275 multifamily units in the upper half of the building and 200 hotel rooms in the lower half.
The 11-story office tower, originally constructed in the 1950s and redeveloped in the 2000s by Wells Fargo, is planned for a minimum of 250,000 square feet of renovated office space. An additional 30,000 to 40,000 square feet of retail is planned across the site. The existing plaza connecting the two towers will be redesigned to incorporate green space and improved connectivity to adjacent office and retail properties.
Tony Scacco, president of Riverside, described the site's layered history as both a challenge and an opportunity.
"It's been a little bit of a Frankenstein ... When the (30-story tower) was completed it was the tallest building in Charlotte, and so it's an important one in the city's history," Scacco told the Charlotte Business Journal. "If you fast forward to the early 2000s, Alive After Five and so many community-related elements were centralized at this asset, so it's been a hub."
Scacco added that the firms are pursuing avenues to leverage the buildings' historic character. "We're pursuing some avenues that try to leverage the historic nature of the building. I think the plaza and the atrium create both a complexity but an opportunity for revitalized public (space) in terms of active programming and redesign of the spaces to function, again, as a hub in the center of Charlotte," he said.
Timeline and Development Milestones
Construction is expected to begin in early 2027. Redevelopment of the 11-story office building is slated to deliver first, in early to mid-2028, with the remainder of the project — including the multifamily and hotel components — expected to complete in late 2028 or early 2029.
Scacco noted that the scope of the real estate development could shift as the firms work through permitting and capitalization during 2026, potentially resulting in additional office space and slight adjustments to the number of apartment units.
The joint venture also confirmed that two existing retail tenants — Johnny Burrito and Mimosa Grill, the latter of which has operated at the site for more than 30 years — will remain as part of the redeveloped property.
"We've heard innumerable times that we can't do anything with Johnny Burrito, so I want to assuage the market's concerns ... We're listening to people's feedback on that. As for Mimosa Grill, how often does a restaurant stay open for 30-plus years?" Scacco said.
Joint Venture Formation and Strategic Rationale
The real estate acquisition marks the second major Charlotte investment for Riverside Investment and Development, which entered the market in late 2021 with a $35 million purchase of a 2.75-acre site at West Morehead and South Tryon streets for the Queensbridge Collective project. The first phase of that development — a 42-story luxury multifamily tower called Vivian — delivered earlier in 2026. Phase two, a 43-story mixed-use tower with 304 multifamily units and 400,000 square feet of office space anchored by law firm Moore & Van Allen, broke ground in late 2025 and is expected to deliver in 2028.
Scacco said Riverside had been eyeing 301 South Tryon since breaking ground on Queensbridge Collective in May 2023, but challenging capital markets delayed action. Discussions resumed in early 2025, at which point Riverside brought Singerman Real Estate on as a joint-venture partner.
"We'd cleared the deck in terms of initiating all phases of the Queensbridge deal and had a little bit better visibility into market conditions," Scacco said. "We knew (301 South Tryon) is where we wanted to place our next bet for a lot of the same reasons we love the Queensbridge site — there's the scale and locational quality that allows us to execute a true live-work-play hub."
Kiley Carter, principal at Singerman Real Estate, highlighted the property's location and redevelopment potential as key factors in the firm's decision to partner with Riverside.
"We expect this critical, high-visibility location to thrive with thoughtful redevelopment," Carter said in a statement. "We are excited to partner with Riverside, who has quickly established a reputation in the Charlotte market for best-in-class product quality, amenities and collaborative approach."