Grubb Properties wrapping up its first car-free apartment development in Charlotte (Charlotte Business Journal)

Grubb Properties’ first car-free apartment project is nearing the finish line on Charlotte’s west side.

The local multifamily developer will deliver Link Apartments Cykel, a 104-unit apartment community focused on micromobility, in September. Cykel is at 539 State St., just across from Portman Holdings’ Savona Mill mixed-use development in the Seversville neighborhood.

This is a project we lobbied City Council to approve years ago. We have worked with Grubb to highlight how reducing parking allows the building owner to pass those substantial savings on to tenants in the form of lower rents, a key affordable housing strategy.

Brian Bradley, senior associate of development at Grubb, said the site’s direct access and proximity to uptown on the streetcar line and Stewart Creek Greenway made it the best option for this project type.

“There (is) quite a large group of active participants in transit and micromobility who live in the Seversville community, but there’s also a large percentage of the community that doesn’t have access to a car as well, about 20% to 30% of the submarket,” he said.

“These are just some of the reasons why a car-free lifestyle and reducing the cost of housing by removing the cost and exposure of cars is important and why this is a great location.”

Not including parking, which can run up to $30,000 per space, allows Grubb to build below-market-rate units without subsidy, Clay Grubb, CEO of Grubb Properties, said during a public hearing in 2020. Charlotte City Council approved Grubb’s request to rezone the 0.7-acre site in October 2020.

Read the Charlotte Business Journal article (subscription required).