CHARLOTTE — Ashley Hines remembers good times at the EpiCentre when she was in her 20s. They made such an impression that, over the past two years, she’s opened two businesses in the uptown complex now called Queen City Quarter.
Hines says she has yet to regret the risk of opening Lottie’s Cafe in June 2024 and then Nostalgia Hollow Co. next door in September 2025. But she acknowledges the 304,324-square-foot, mixed-use development at 210 E. Trade St. isn’t anything like the packed entertainment hub she enjoyed in its heyday.
For starters, it’s mostly empty.
At its peak, between 2013 and 2020, the development’s vacancy averaged about 4.2%. During that eight-year period, the highest vacancy rate was 5.9% in 2019 and 2020, according to data from CoStar. It spiked to 42.4% in 2021 and last year reached 62.1%.
Chuck McShane, CoStar senior director of market analytics for the Carolinas, said the dramatic increase in vacancy is attributed, in part, to a loss of foot traffic during the pandemic. This caused many retailers there, and elsewhere across the city, to close.
“Since then, increasing entertainment options in other neighborhoods like South End, combined with changes in commuting patterns, have continued to impact uptown retailers,” he said. “That includes smaller retailers and national brands right-sizing their footprints.”
Hines originally saw the decline as an opportunity. She heard that commercial real estate firm CBRE had plans to renovate and reposition the property. The Dallas-based firm took over leasing at the development when it went into receivership in 2021, launched a rebrand in September 2022 and completed a series of upgrades and renovations in 2024.
“We loved the complex, and when we saw that it could be coming back to life we reached out pretty early in (CBRE’s) process,” she said. “My hope was that it would start to look like a better version of what it used to be. I loved the previous model ... It was engaging and full of personality, and I wanted Lottie’s to have that access in center city.”
Now Hines and other Queen City Quarter tenants are wondering what’s next with CBRE’s plans to put the development on the market on behalf of owner Deutsche Bank. The bank acquired it in foreclosure in August 2022.
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