Abandoned Mall Transformation Yields Two High-Profile Awards for Triangle Project

Choate Construction Company is honored to announce that The Stitch, a 244,000-SF adaptive reuse project located in Morrisville, NC, has received two prestigious industry awards: ENR Southeast’s 2021 Best Project Award of Merit for Renovation/Restoration and the Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas’ (ABCC) Excellence in Construction (EIC) Eagle Award for Interiors.

The Stitch exemplifies how a visionary owner, designer and construction team transformed an abandoned shopping center into a beautifully designed epicenter of life science and lab work, relaxation and fellowship.

“’Adaptive’ is the key word for this project. The owners, designers, brokers, and construction team had to remain adaptable throughout the entirety of the project as the vision grew and shifted during construction,” said Project Executive Jim Baker. “By proactively building a trusting partnership with the client, the project team was able to foster an open channel of communication that allowed for an effective delivery of the owner’s vision.”

Originally an outlet mall, the building began to fade – the once-bustling hallways went dark and sat empty for roughly a decade. Seeing a vision for the future through the dilapidation, Equator Capital Management partnered with Choate Construction and Gensler, a global architecture and design firm, to transform the space into an adaptive reuse visual concert of striking black brick, red exposed steel and soaring entryways. The Stitch is now fully occupied by a life sciences tenant conducting cutting-edge genetic research.

Joined in attendance with Equator Capital Management, the Choate project team accepted the ABCC EIC award at the Award’s Gala held in Charlotte at the UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, a facility also built by Choate Construction. Valued partner Sears Contract Inc. was also presented with an Eagle award for the Roofing and Sheet Metal work performed on the mixed-use / adaptive reuse project.