AEW, GMH Move Forward With Charlotte Project
A $114 million loan backs the first residential development of the city's innovation district.
AEW Capital Management and GMH Communities have secured the development site for ANOVA The Pearl, a 382-unit luxury residential project in Charlotte, N.C. The property is part of The Pearl Innovation District, a $1.5 billion campus currently underway.
The duo is developing the 20-story tower in partnership with Wexford Science & Technology, with delivery slated for 2028. Santander Bank issued a $114.2 million construction loan, according to Mecklenburg County public records.
ANOVA The Pearl will rise at 900 Pearl Park Way, at the intersection of Uptown, South End and Dilworth neighborhoods. The site is close to Interstate 277 and to the historic Pearl Street Park, in an area with multiple retail options. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is 7 miles away.
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When complete, the community will include 6,621 square feet of ground-floor retail space, while 5 percent of its units will be reserved for affordable housing. Apartments will feature modern kitchens, smart storage spaces and light-filled living spaces.
Indoor amenities are to include a fitness center, a yoga and Pilates studio, coworking spaces with private meeting rooms, a clubroom, a game room, a golf simulator and a wellness spa center with sauna, steam rooms, cold plunge, cryotherapy chambers and hydro-massage chairs. Outdoor amenities will feature a terrace on the property’s seventh floor with a swimming pool, rooftop lounge, kitchen and dining spaces. ANOVA The Pearl was designed to achieve Fitwell certification.
Part of a long-term, mixed-use vision
ANOVA The Pearl is part of the second phase of The Pearl, a 26-acre campus representing the first medical innovation district in the city. Plans for ANOVA, the first residential component proposed within the larger mixed-use complex, were first submitted to the city of Charlotte in late 2025, according to WCNC Charlotte.
The Pearl debuted in 2022 with the redevelopment of Atrium Health’s data center at 801 S. McDowell St. But the project’s idea originated three years prior, in 2019, when Wexford Science & Technology, Atrium Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine joined forces to create Charlotte’s first four-year medical school.
To come online over roughly 15 years, the district will comprise research, education, health-care, residential and retail spaces. The first phase, including Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte, reached completion in 2025. Future phases will involve the development of other medical research facilities and a hotel.
Strong economy fuels Charlotte’s development
Charlotte’s multifamily sector continued to benefit from strong economic fundamentals during the first quarter of 2026, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report. In 2025, the metro’s employment growth reached 2.7 percent, 210 basis points above the U.S. average. There were 37,000 net jobs added last year.
At the same time, the unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent, below the national average. The city is poised to attract $4.4 billion in investments in 2026, with plans focusing on transforming Uptown, Midtown and South End into mixed-use destinations.
Development activity remained among the strongest in the country. In 2025, some 18,436 units reached completion—7.4 percent of existing stock—the largest number of deliveries in the metro over the past five years.
Charlotte’s multifamily units under construction totaled 24,927 as of March, with another 96,000 units in the planning stages. More than three-quarters of the underway apartments pertain to luxury projects.
