By Ashley Fahey – Real Estate Editor, Charlotte Business Journal
Jan 6, 2020, 2:25pm EST
A tech company that’s kept its headquarters in uptown for several years will relocate to Camp North End in a few months, with an eye toward ambitious growth there.
CloudGenera, which provides analytics on cloud services to companies, will move to a 3,000-square-foot space at 1824 Statesville Ave., also known as Camp North End’s Raceway Building. For Brian Kelly, CEO of CloudGenera, the space will serve as a hopeful first step for what he sees as long-term growth at Camp North End, which covers 75 acres and includes more than 1 million square feet of former warehouses north of uptown.
“Long term, Camp North End holds so many opportunities for expansion and growth,” Kelly said, adding he sees potential for the company to one day occupy multiple buildings at the campus.
Kelly said he expects CloudGenera to at least double in size this year, with new jobs in software development, sales and marketing. Today, CloudGenera employs 17 locally but Kelly said that number could grow to “a couple of hundred” within the next few years.
CloudGenera ranked No. 5 on the Charlotte Business Journal‘s Fast 50 list in 2017, posting two-year revenue growth at that time of a little less than 140%. Its clients include AIG, United Technologies Corp., Dick’s Sporting Goods, Intel, VMware, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The company is currently headquartered at what’s commonly known as the Chamber building, at 330 S. Tryon St.
Since New York-based ATCO Properties & Management closed on the North End property in late 2016, the developer has spearheaded significant building renovations, hosted myriad events, inked a joint-venture deal with Shorenstein Properties and signed on a slate of tenants, primarily retail and food-related, which ATCO hopes will help propel another wave of leasing activity: companies wanting creative office space.
“It’s certainly easier when people can walk in and see a space ready to go,” said Damon Hemmerdinger, co-president at ATCO. He said CloudGenera is hopefully the first of “a series” of new office deals this year.
Currently, ATCO is actively leasing the Gama Goat Building, 1701 N. Graham St. and 301 Camp Road. Hemmerdinger said the company is underway on pre-development work on other components of the project.
Upcoming food and beverage venues for Camp North End include a brick-and-mortar location for local food truck Bleu Barn Bistro, noodle shop Bow Ramen, gourmet bakery Wentworth & Fenn, a second location for Free Range Brewing and a restaurant by James Beard-nominated chef Greg Collier. All five are set to open in March.
CloudGenera will begin a phased move to Camp North End beginning later this month, with an expected opening there in May.
Jessica Brown, David Dorsch and Grant Keyes at Cushman & Wakefield represented ownership in the transaction. Jack Glasgow at Cresa represented CloudGenera.