Turning Vision into Reality: The Pass

Making my way to The Pass, cruising fast, faces pass and I’m NoDa bound du du du du du du!

The Pass is a large mixed-use development that has various adaptive re-use and new construction components with over 260,000-SF of creative office, retail, multi-family spaces, and open spaces that everyone can enjoy. There is a mix of new construction, and some adaptive re-use portions to transform this once industrial area into the next hot spot just outside of NoDa. UDP’s role quickly grew from the conceptual development of Pass41, to being an important team player throughout the permitting, and now construction of the entire site.

At the time of permitting, the City of Charlotte provided an option for an Enhanced Review Process that reduced review timelines significantly creating a huge benefit for the developers. This required us to do some extensive coordination internally and with City review staff to ensure deadlines where met. Meetings were held City staff prior to submittal and throughout review to ensure an accelerated permit approval time of 2.5 months.

The site is also located along the lightrail, so it was important to incorporate access to the Sugar Creek station in the design. This coordination with CATS was no small task as our priority entailed providing a prominent entry to the site, CATS safety requirements, and providing an aesthetically pleasing fire turn-around route while incorporating a pedestrian plaza. The fire access for the site had to be creatively coordinated to ensure access to each of the 4 buildings on site,. We also coordinated with the planning department to allow us to use the fire turn around as open space so we could increase the number of pedestrian access points to the lightrail.

The Sugar Creek overpass forced us to think creatively on what the best way is to use this space for The Pass. With the goal of a single community in mind we developed several concepts of a park and presented them to Third & Urban. The design utilized the space while connecting Pass41 and Pass43 to Pass42. The park spans from the lightrail station to the XCLT trail on the opposite side of the site. Along with these design concepts our team worked closely with Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation throughout the permitting of this. The current plan for the space is to utilize it for a soccer mini-pitch in conjunction with Charlotte FC. UDP assisted with the encroachment permitting through NCDOT to activate the use under the bridge.

We also were extensively involved in coordination with the civil engineer and architect for Pass43 and provided enhanced landscape features along the front of the building abutting the XCLT Trail. Along with the enhanced landscape, we were requested to help with the two amenity areas. The amenity areas are the northern courtyard and pool deck. The goal of the courtyard was to accommodate a variety of uses with access to the XCLT trail and parking deck. To accomplish this, the courtyard has active recreation with the bocce ball court, communal gathering areas, private gathering areas, and remote working areas all with lush plantings to create smaller areas within the space. The second amenity area is the pool deck with a large outdoor kitchen and open access.

The Pass has truly transformed the NoDa submarket into a large community with spaces for everyone to enjoy for years to come. Through its challenges, we were able to develop creative designs and accomplish the 1 community goal the site had. We are excited to have been a part of this project and are looking forward to enjoying the offerings this development provides!