Stonewall Street is in line for another new apartment project. This is Montage.

Montage will be 302 units with a wrapped 450 space parking deck and most importantly: 11,000 square feet of retail.

It is located on Stonewall Street and is bordered by 277 to the south, 277 exit to the west and South Alexander to the east.

Taking a look at the design, I saw a fantastic comment on Instagram: “at least they are adding in new colors to the existing cookie cutter designs.”

This is a hilarious quote and is mostly spot on.

While I agree all the elements of almost every other complex in town are there, there are also some really solid features that show a positive trend in the Charlotte apartment development scene.

It’s definitely nice to see some Carolina/Panther blue in the mix and so is the masonry in the center. The ground floor is pedestrian friendly and it is so refreshing to see Proffitt Dixon not put the leasing office on valuable street scape real estate. Axiom Architecture definitely tried to do something different with the overall design.

11,000 square feet of retail is A LOT for a project this size and it is going to be so important to help create that cohesive district that is being built on Stonewall.

Between this, Brooklyn Village, the Northwood Ravin project next door, Crescent Stonewall Station, Tryon Place and the Observer development there will be an entire street of wall to wall retail. Just amazing.

I know a lot of you will complain about more apartments.

But Charlotte is continuing to grow at a remarkable pace. So believe it or not, we do still need the units. Especially around city center.

We will report back with more as this project develops but just remember, this project enhances the Stonewall corridor.

This is a very tricky site (weird shape, tough roads to be on, etc) and while I still have criticisms, this is a solid project.

I do also wish we could see some of the more interesting and unique design (Google: cool apartment complex designs), I understand there are factors at play that prevent super off-the-wall things. While it may sound as if I am just saying “this is good enough,” that is not what I mean.

Actor’s Theater wasn’t going to last there forever, it didn’t destroy any historical buildings, design is good, lots of retail and enhances the street. It’s a win in my book.

Cover image via Google Maps. Renderings courtesy of Axiom Architecture.