Charlotte – The residential and contracting divisions of Crosland LLC, one of the Southeast’s leading real estate companies, have earned a 2007 design excellence award from Multi-Housing News magazine for the Alpha Mill apartments.
Crosland won the for-rent adaptive re-use category for its historically sensitive renovation of Charlotte’s second cotton mill. The Eastern Columbia in Los Angeles won in the for-sale category; other adaptive re-use finalists were from Atlanta; Binghamton, N.Y.; Dallas; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Nashville; and Washington, D.C.
The Terrazzo mixed-use condominium tower in Nashville, another urban infill project by Crosland’s residential division, was a design excellence finalist in the green development category. Finalists in other categories were from as far away as Beijing and Tokyo.
"Alpha Mill is fully leased, so it has certainly been received well by the market," said Jud Little, president of Crosland’s residential division, who is retiring at the end of the year. "To win this award, against such high-profile international competition, proves that it’s possible to achieve historic sensitivity, design excellence and consumer preference without compromising one for the other."
Alpha Mill, a landmark visible from I-277 between uptown and NoDa, is a $23 million development at 12th and Brevard streets. Working with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission to preserve a rare remnant of Charlotte’s textile heritage, Crosland converted the original mill buildings into apartments. With the help of Narmour Wright Creech Architecture and LandDesign, Crosland also created new structures that blend with the original architecture, for a total of 167 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments in eight buildings.
Converted mill residences feature exposed brick, wooden beams, 12-foot windows and lofted ceilings as high as 17 feet. Amenities include a lounge with wireless Internet access, billiards and video arcade; a fitness center; an outdoor recreation area with a pool, bocce lawn, fireplace and grills; and two rooftop terraces with unobstructed views of uptown Charlotte.
The apartments range from 416 to 1,367 square feet, with rents from $700 to $1,800 a month. The first residents moved into the community in October 2006, and construction was completed this summer.
Alpha Mill is a local Historic Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Alpha Cotton Mill was originally developed by industrialist D.A. Tompkins in 1888 and was the home of the Carolina Textile Engraving Co. It later became Consolidated Engravers, which closed the facility in 2001. For more detail about the community and its history, visit www.alpha-mill.com.
Source: Daily Business News