High Point — A multi-tenant showroom complex, complete with a promenade and a pedestrian-friendly courtyard, will be built on the former Beeson Hardware property in downtown High Point.
The new complex, called Pavilion on Hamilton, will include 100,000 square feet of exhibit space in the first phase, and up to 125,000 square feet in a second phase. The first phase, a three-story building, is expected to be ready for the October 2004 market.
"The architecture surrounding the courtyard will be a village style ... similar to what you might find in Charleston (S.C.)," said Darrell Ferguson, president of high-end furniture importer Ferguson Copeland and a partner in Pavilion on Hamilton.
Building facades will include canvas awnings, and landscaping features will include cobblestone walkways and gas lanterns in the courtyard.
"It will have a shop-like atmosphere," Ferguson said. "The style of the buildings allows tenants to maintain their own identities within the development with creative signage and façade definition."
The four-acre site, vacant for over five years, is bounded by Hamilton Street, East Broad Avenue, North Centennial Street and Kivett Drive. The main entrance, a promenade, will be on Hamilton Street between the existing Casa Bique and Casa Stradivari showrooms, but the building also will be accessible from Kivett Drive and Broad Avenue.
The site is adjacent to the 200 Steele Street showroom, which opened in 2002. Ferguson said the existing Beeson Hardware buildings will be demolished next month.
Already 60% leased
Showrooms will range from 5,000 square feet to 33,000 square feet, and Ferguson said the project already is about 60% leased. Eventually, eight to 10 tenants will occupy the space, he said.
"We're very excited about the interest we've received ... even though we've really done nothing to promote it as of yet," said Ferguson.
The second phase of the project, which probably won't be completed until 2005 or 2006, may include an upscale restaurant. Ferguson said it's also possible that his company, Ferguson Copeland, could move its showroom to the site once the second phase is finished.
Ferguson and several partners purchased the property in 1996 and originally intended to construct a showroom building and condominium complex. Those plans were scrapped after the economy soured and the market for condos dried up.
Most of the showrooms in the original plan were at least 40,000 square feet, and little interest was shown in exhibit spaces of that size, he said.
