Kingsmen Software to double its office footprint in move to Camp North End
By Elise Franco Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal
Local tech firm Kingsmen Software is upgrading its office space with a move to Camp North End.
Kingsmen was founded in 2013 and has operated out of a 7,800-square-foot space in uptown, at 500 W. Fifth St., for the last seven years. Greg Hart, chief financial officer and founding partner, said the company began looking for a new office space earlier this year. After considering several options, it ultimately decided on Camp North End. Hart said the team wanted the new office to have the same collaborative, industrial feel as the current space.
“We’re just busting at the seams,” he said. “We decided on taking the big steps to configure the space exactly how we want it. Designing the space for how we work to fit our culture was very important to us, and it gave us the opportunity to take this path.”
The software firm signed a seven-year lease with the option to extend and will occupy 16,000 square feet in its new location. It will include a 1,500-square-foot mezzanine, a large group presentation space, collaborative spaces and a speakeasy that Hart said the company will use to host internal and external events.
“As we look forward to where we plan on being, we wanted to make sure we have a space we could grow into that would flex with us,” Hart said. “I think one of the big features that drew us to the space was that adaptive-reuse, industrial feel.”
He said Kingsmen is investing about $2 million into the upfit.
Construction is slated to begin in September, and Hart said he expects the firm’s 60 employees to begin moving in early next year. Redline Design Group is the project architect, and DPR Construction is handling to build out.
Camp North End is being developed by ATCO Properties & Management, with select buildings are being jointly developed by ATCO and Shorenstein Properties. That project has already redeveloped over 300,000 square feet of former industrial space, with another 1.5 million square feet to go.
A variety of office, retail and restaurant tenants have signed on or already opened there. The list includes, to name a few: dairy-free ice cream shop Seemingly Overzealous, a new venture by Hygge Coworking founder Garrett Tichy; Rent EBoards, which provides personal electric vehicles; multiple concepts by Greg and Subrina Collier’s BayHaven Restaurant Group; a special event venue to be run by Best Impressions Caterers; and a facility for local specialty roaster Hex Coffee. The complex has also played host to temporary exhibits and events. Construction on a multifamily component should be complete in 2024.
