Atrium Health’s Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte and innovation district known as “The Pearl” is taking shape in midtown on time and on track for the med school to seat its first class next year.
During a recent tour of the $1.5 billion project site, Hillary Crittendon, Atrium’s head of district strategy and operations, detailed key aspects of the development that now towers over its midtown neighbors.
The complex includes the 14-story medical school and a 10-story research building that will house the North American headquarters for French global surgical training center IRCAD. Both towers topped off in December, just under a year after construction crews broke ground last January.
The main focus continues to be delivering the 700,000 square feet of tenant space between the two buildings. An Atrium representative told Charlotte Business Journal the construction cranes will come down in the next few weeks, and work will begin on the second parking structure in the third quarter.
“There is a major focus on the infrastructure and site development aspects of the project,” the representative said. “While there will be more lane shifts in McDowell Street near Baxter, the new roadways, landscaping and hardscaping will be taking shape in late 2024.”
The Pearl, which will be home to the city’s first four-year medical school, is under construction on 20 acres at Baxter and South McDowell streets in midtown. The school will anchor the Howard R. Levine Center for Education in the heart of the innovation district. It will be the Winston-Salem-based school of medicine’s second campus.
Crittendon said in addition to the medical school, the 14-story tower will include the Carolinas College of Health Sciences, shared learning labs on the third floor to be utilized by all sorts of academic partners and a 250-person tiered auditorium on the second floor.
IRCAD will occupy the first four floors of the 10-story Research Building 1. The building’s second floor will be what Crittendon called a “social lab,” a programmed lobby/coworking area with a coffee bar, small conference rooms and open lounge areas. A walkable plaza that connects the two buildings will also be used for district-related events or community events.
Atrium plans to fill the remaining six floors with additional corporate partners. “We’re looking to attract others to work with us through a contract of the innovation district … Most of those partners will have offices within IRCAD,” Crittendon said. “The hope is that the partners will want to stay, to spend more time here and create more jobs.”
The med school will have more than 100 specialized programs and will support about 3,500 students each year, including Wake Forest School of Medicine students and Atrium and Wake Forest medical residents, fellows and nursing students. The innovation district is also slated to eventually include additional research buildings, retail, apartments, a hotel and open community spaces.
“The timeline on that is dependent more on real estate interest rates than on our own ambitions right now, but we’re very excited about the growth opportunity that it brings,” Crittendon said.
