Announcements
Since Northwood Investors acquired Ballantyne® in 2017 and established Northwood Office, there have been many exciting changes to the 535-acre campus. Northwood delivered its first development at the Overlook Building in March 2021, attracting high-quality customers with its amenity-rich features and thoughtful design. As the traditional workday shifts for many nationwide, Northwood is repositioning office space to adapt and appeal to the customer's evolving needs while transforming the Ballantyne® development into a destination.
The first phase of Ballantyne Reimagined is underway to create a more walkable, mixed-use community with The Bowl at Ballantyne™, a retail and dining district, The Amp at Ballantyne™, a 3,500-person entertainment venue, the six-acre Stream Park, a connection to the greater Charlotte greenway system and over 100 acres of green space programmed with engaging activities for customers and guests.
Ballantyne's success means creating a place where people want to be. With that in mind, Northwood continues to explore new opportunities to enhance the quality of life through meaningful experiences, thoughtful design and convenient amenities.
In honor of Women's History Month, we asked three women at the forefront of Ballantyne's evolution to share how their teams' initiatives are elevating the campus to the next level. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
SVP, Leasing & Redevelopment
Kate Urey
It is an exciting time in commercial real estate and redevelopment. As a primarily female team in a historically male-dominated industry, we are forging innovative solutions with fresh perspectives and new talent. This differentiator, coupled with the Ballantyne® property's one-owner advantage, gives Northwood Office the ability to provide customers with more than just a place to work.
The Ballantyne® campus's robust inventory, repositionings and campus improvements allow Northwood to provide customers maximum flexibility as their circumstances evolve. We are creating a convenient, cross-campus community to fill the gap between work and home and encourage healthy, vibrant living with amenities like convenient dining, access to green space, on-site car detailing, meal delivery and more.
Northwood plans to add dedicated weekday activations like Java + Jive, food truck pop-ups, workshops and socials, and exclusive perks like a disc golf course, pickleball courts and access to 200+ discounts through the goBallantyne app. These magnets will promote connectivity, collaboration, and inspiration for our customers.
Our goal is to do more than develop amenities; we are changing how we think about office space and what we offer. The dynamic environment, cross-generational appeal, and rich mix of high-quality uses created by Ballantyne Reimagined enable our customers to recruit, engage and retain talent with diverse, compelling experiences.
Director of Community Relations
Hailey Rorie
The past few years have posed challenges and opportunities as we've navigated a global pandemic while developing a massive mixed-use project. Historically, we've had a heightened focus on engaging and appealing to the daily office customer. While that's still the case, the rapid changes to the traditional workday propelled us to widen our scope and appeal to the greater community, which aligned well with Northwood's goal to create a destination at Ballantyne®. The closure of the former golf course presented the opportunity to activate a 100+-acre community park with meaningful experiences where the community could safely socialize and support local businesses when they needed it most.
Since May 2021, we've launched ongoing programs like Markets at 11, food + drink festivals, outdoor fitness series, live concerts, drive-in movie nights and more to build momentum toward the next phase of Ballantyne®. In 2022, we added CREATE Ballantyne, a program that brings more vibrant art installations and immersive exhibits to south Charlotte. The response from our community has been incredibly positive, and we've welcomed thousands of customers, partners and guests to the Ballantyne® campus each month.
The massive growth and change we've had to embrace the past few years have put the Ballantyne® development on the map as an expected source of quality entertainment, connection to nature and meaningful experiences that positively impact the greater Charlotte region. Everything we're accomplishing at Ballantyne® ultimately supports hundreds of local businesses and artists while setting the stage for the exciting amenities to come with The Bowl and The Amp.
This year, our community can expect to see national-headlining concerts, local performances, the Charlotte International Arts Festival, food truck pop-ups, weekly workshops, socials and so much more to stay engaged and inspired.
Director of Interior Construction
Dori Graham
Since the pandemic, the need for a more comfortable, flexible workspace with elevated, customized finishes has pushed unique design to the top of the list. Exciting projects are happening all over the Ballantyne® campus, from creative interior overhauls to modern common space renovations. Curated spec spaces are also in process across the property to showcase the Ballantyne® development's potential.
We have worked with the leasing team to define opportunities for incredible new customer amenities and make them a reality—shared spaces with grab-and-go fare, a variety of conference areas for hybrid meetings and dedicated fitness centers with state-of-the-art equipment.
We know The Bowl at Ballantyne™ will bring even more diverse retail and entertainment options for the community, and we at Northwood Office are looking for ways to help complement those for our office customers. We continue to explore how we can add value to the customer experience at Ballantyne® to help keep employees engaged and thriving.