ATCO Properties & Management, an owner and operator of high-quality office, residential and mixed-use properties across the U.S., and developer of Camp North End, announced today that it is inviting talented, up-and-coming Black architects in the Charlotte region to compete for the opportunity to the design the exterior façades for a new retail corridor at the dynamic, 76-acre mixed-use site.

The architects will vie to serve as the design architect of the exterior façades for the forthcoming retail pavilions at 701 Keswick Avenue, a 35,000 square-foot building that is part of phase II of the development. Called the “Keswick Platform,” the new retail area will contain two to five uniquely-designed pavilions that will serve as the future home of local small businesses and food & beverage concepts.

ATCO is currently welcoming expressions of interest and portfolios from individual designers at architectural firms, students of architecture or architectural technology, and independent practitioners. ATCO will then shortlist ten individuals to create and submit their design proposals. Each of the ten finalists will be paid a cash prize of $1,000 for their designs. Up to five final winners will be selected in early 2021, and each will receive an additional $2,000. Final decisions will be made by a jury comprised of representatives from S9 Architecture, BB+M Architecture, and ATCO Properties.

“We are constantly striving to curate an experience that embraces and celebrates Charlotte’s incredible diversity in all aspects of the Camp North End development– from construction and placemaking, to leasing and events,” said Damon Hemmerdinger, co-president of ATCO Properties & Management. “We felt compelled to push ourselves further after the nationwide call for racial justice this summer, and this competition is one small way to deliver on the promise of equity in the design process as well. We hope to use our platform to open doors for others, and in this instance, for emerging Black architects with roots in Charlotte.”

Interested architects have until Tuesday, December 1^st to register. A short statement of interest and a portfolio of work must be submitted by Monday, December 7^th. For more information about the design competition and to register, please visit the official registration page by clicking here.

The design competition further reinforces ATCO’s commitment to excellence in design and adaptive re-use methods. In summer 2020, The Gama Goat Building was awarded the Southeast “Best Project Award” from Engineering News-Record (ENR), and was recognized as a finalist in the Charlotte Business Journal’s annual “Heavy Hitters” commercial real estate awards. The project was also named one of four developments in North America to receive Fitwel Community Certification from the Center for Active Design (CfAD), a national building standard that focuses on optimizing holistic health benefits in neighborhood-scale projects.

The retail pavilions are being developed as part of Phase II of the Camp North End development. The initial phase involved the renovation and leasing of 70,000 square feet in buildings facing The Boileryard and The Mount, two of the project’s districts. ATCO also recently celebrated the grand opening of the Gama Goat Building (1801 N. Graham Street) and the site’s main retail thoroughfare, Keswick Avenue, which is now 100% leased to four new food stalls including La Caseta, Bleu Barn Bistro, SARU by Bow Ramen, and Plant Joy.

In September, Camp North End hosted President-elect Joe Biden’s Black Economic Summit, a forum that provided Black business owners a national platform to share their perspectives and advocate for the kinds of legislative priorities that promote the health, safety and growth of the economy.

About Camp North End

Camp North End is a state-of-the art creative development that is being designed and curated to cater to today’s most innovative and cutting-edge companies in Charlotte’s up-and-coming North End Smart District.

As one of the largest adaptive reuse projects currently underway in the U.S., the project is transforming a historic 76-acre site where people once manufactured Model T cars and assembled US Army missiles into a catalytic hub of creativity and ideas.

With over 300,000 square feet of space already redeveloped for work, artistic expression, dining and hospitality, entertainment, recreation and community building, and another 1.5 million square feet on the way, Camp North End's curated development will drive growth at the businesses that join its community.

For more information about Camp North End, visit the official Camp North End website at https://camp.nc/ or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn at @campnorthend.

About ATCO

ATCO is a real estate investment and ownership platform deploying capital in select cities across the United States, with a particular emphasis on creating value through placemaking and other strategies in urban locations. ATCO seeks to improve people’s lives by creating places where they genuinely want to work, play, or live, and by doing our work with a long-term perspective.

Through eight decades and four generations, ATCO has owned, managed, and developed a diverse real estate portfolio, primarily in and around New York City and also in select markets we target. ATCO presently owns and manages more than 25 buildings ranging from high-rise office and residential towers to retail properties, from one-story industrial structures to a mixed-use former military base. The portfolio of New York City properties includes: 555 Fifth Avenue, 40 Central Park South, 41 West 58th Street, 630 Third Avenue, 381 and 373 Park Avenue South, 515 Madison Avenue and the Atlas Terminals. Nationally, the company owns properties in Charlotte and Chapel Hill, NC; Austin, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Darien, Stamford and Westport, Connecticut. Internationally, ATCO has investments in seven European countries.