PHOTO | KW COMMUNICATIONS

The historic Johnston Mill building is undergoing renovations that will convert it into 84 apartments as part of the 235-unit NoDa Wandry project. Construction is expected to finish by spring 2023.

The historic Johnston Mill property is undergoing a redevelopment for mixed-income housing.

Chevy Chase, Maryland-based FCP and The Community Builders announced a joint $50 million venture of NoDa properties that includes new development of 419 and 423 E. 36th St. and adaptive reuse of the old Johnston Mill at 3315 N. Davidson St. The 3315 building and adjacent parcels will be converted into 235 apartments under a new name, NoDa Wandry.

Eighty-four apartments will be located at Johnston Mill while the rest will be built at 423 E. 36th. NoDa Wandry will include 2,800 square feet of retail, leasing center and co-working amenity space in the 419 E. 36th Street building, which will also include a transit lounge that connects onto the ramp leading to the Lynx Blue Line’s 36th Street Station.

FCP, a privately held investment company, provided $18 million in mezzanine financing for the project, arranged for senior financing with Bank of America, which was also recruited as a state and federal historic tax credit investor.

Construction, which started in March and is expected to finish in spring 2023, will result in 80 studio apartments, 97 one-bedroom units, 51 two-bedroom floor plans and seven three-bedroom homes. TCB bought the Johnston Mill buildings in 2011 from the city of Charlotte.

“TCB is equally excited about the opportunity to complete the work started at this transit-oriented site in NoDa,” TCB regional vice president for development, Juan Powell said in a statement. “Combined with 47 affordable units contained in the previously restored Mecklenburg Mill, we have been successful in moving toward a truly mixed income community. … We look forward to expanding our services to the Charlotte community by providing more first-class affordable and mixed income housing in the future.”

The Johnston Mill redevelopment will include historic assets such as large windows with exposed brick and wood ceilings with wood beams in some units while all apartments will have new flooring. Exposed brick and beams will go to the clubroom, gym and art production center. An old boiler room will be retrofitted into an outdoor lounge with a rooftop patio overlooking the pool area.

“FCP is excited to work with TCB, who has been a longstanding member of the NoDa community, delivering needed quality housing and recovering important historic properties as part of their work,” said FCP’s Ross Magette. “Working with Juan and his team at TCB, FCP lined up the financing and completed a highly complex capital stack to fulfill the needs of our partner.”

As one of Mecklenburg County’s last textile mills, Johnston Mill has historical and architectural significance. Built in 1916 by Iredell County native and textile magnate Charles Worth Johnston to keep up with demand for cotton goods during World War I, the mill was expanded in the 1920s. Chavis Textile Manufacturing of Gastonia bought the property in 1975 when it was shut down, then sold to Confederate Textile Machinery of Greenville, SC the following year for use as warehouse space. In 1990, the building, along with the former Mecklenburg Mills, was sold to developers for low-income housing.

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