A plan for apartments at The Pearl

Details emerge after scrutiny of affordable housing at medical innovation district

The following article appeared in the December 19, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.

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Planned 20-story residential tower includes rooftop lounge, golf simulator, pool — and 19 affordable units; Mecklenburg commissioners chair considers rejecting Atrium Health’s board nominees

(Image courtesy of Wexford Science & Technology)

by Michelle Crouch
Co-published with N.C. Health News

Four years after Atrium Health pledged to include affordable housing in its new medical innovation district, The Pearl, city filings now show a concrete proposal for the site: a gleaming 20-story tower with 382 apartments, including 19 for low-income residents.

Called ANOVA, the project includes ground-level retail and luxury amenities like an outdoor pool and deck, grilling space and golf simulator, along with a rooftop lounge that will offer sweeping views of uptown, said Dennis Miller, a senior vice president at Wexford Science & Technology, Atrium’s development partner at The Pearl.

The project will be built on the corner of South McDowell Street and Pearl Park Way, across from The Pearl’s research and education buildings, which opened last summer.

Six floors of indoor parking will be wrapped on three sides by residential units, Miller said. Wexford hopes to start construction in the first half of 2026, and open the building in 2028.

Atrium executive Collin Lane mentioned that plans had been filed for a residential tower during the public comment session of Tuesday’s Mecklenburg County commissioners meeting. It was the first public mention of a specific plan for housing at The Pearl.