View of the Charlotte city skyline looking down 4th Street, with JWU’s Maple project in the left foreground, May 2026. Rendering by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting.

Johnson & Wales University Charlotte Residence Hall Renovation

Posted by Megan Asher on
Johnson & Wales University Announces Plans for Comprehensive Renovation of Residence Hall on its Charlotte Campus

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Today, Johnson & Wales University based in Providence, RI, announced plans to fully renovate a major residence hall on its Charlotte, NC campus to accommodate a mixed use of housing and student services. The 97,000 square-foot building currently called “The Maple” and previously managed as the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, will be completely overhauled with new mechanical and building systems and infrastructure, 150 rooms for upper class students (with a potential occupancy of 276), an admissions welcome center, and a central location for student services. 

“Our Charlotte campus continues to fulfill the promise that we imagined more than 20 years ago—to accelerate the food and hotel economy by educating the next generation of industry professionals. Over the years, we have expanded our academic portfolio and today are pleased to announce a significant renovation and redesign of one of our campus facilities that will enhance the experience of our students and contribute to the vibrancy of the Charlotte economy,” said Mim L. Runey, University Chancellor. 

The project is expected to take approximately two years to complete and the expected investment by the university will be around $42 million funded through a combination of investment reserves and philanthropy from individuals, corporations and foundations. The university will work with 3TEN Construction and Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, both with bases in Charlotte, NC. Both firms have completed early phase work on the project. 

Over the last year, the Charlotte Campus has celebrated several milestone achievements. Last June, the North Carolina Board of Governors granted approval to JWU Charlotte to offer the 90 credit, three-year degree program in Hospitality Management under the University’s current accreditation, making it the first in the Southeast to offer such a degree. It’s first Nursing Degree graduates were awarded their Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees in August. And in the fall, JWU announced that its Charlotte campus had achieved its highest enrollment numbers since 2020, primarily driven by its renowned Culinary Arts program. 

“We are pleased by the momentum around several of our important goals and this renewed facility will ensure that student life on campus will match the quality of the educational experience,” said Richard Mathieu, President of the Charlotte Campus. “The JWU Charlotte campus continues to reflect the vibrancy of the region and city. We are pleased to continue to educate and prepare students for professional careers in culinary arts, hospitality, business, and health and wellness,” he added. 

BUILDING PROJECT OVERVIEW 

The Maple building (built in 1988; purchased by JWU in 2004) formerly served as a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel for 20 years, until 2024. Initial capital work was completed at that time to transition the facility into a residence hall for upper-class students. Following one year of student residency, the university began more significant improvements and completed initial work in anticipation of a larger project.

YEAR BUILT: 1988 

YEAR ACQUIRED BY JWU: 2004 (Purchased from Bank of America) 

ADDRESS: 895 North Trade Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 

SIZE: 97,000 square feet, 8 floors with garage 

ARCHITECTURAL CONSULTANT: Little Diversified Architectural Consulting 

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: 3TEN Construction 

PLANNED SPACES 

FIRST FLOOR: Parking Garage with about 20 spaces within the building. The lower first floor will serve as an admissions welcome center and student lounge (during off-hours) approximately 6,500 square feet. 

SECOND FLOOR: This floor will be the location of several student services including: academic success, financial services, student affairs, student academic services, experiential education and career services. 

FLOORS 3-8: These floors will be residential (total 150 rooms) and 276 student beds. Each room includes a bathroom. The residential floors will feature laundry facilities on each floor and a lounge for studying, socializing, or a community kitchen for skills practice on some floors. 

PRESS IMAGES: Building Renderings Link 

ABOUT JWU

Founded in 1914, Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with more than 8,000 graduate, undergraduate and online students at its campuses in Providence, Rhode Island and Charlotte, North Carolina. An innovative educational leader, the university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in arts and sciences, business, food innovation, hospitality, nutrition, and health and wellness. It also offers undergraduate programs in culinary arts, dietetics and design. JWU’s unique model provides students with the personalized attention, academic expertise and industry connections that inspire professional success and personal growth. The time students spend at JWU is nothing short of transformative, as demonstrated by career outcomes, expected earnings and economic mobility rankings. The university’s impact is global, with alumni in 125 countries pursuing careers worldwide. For more information, visit jwu.edu.

REPRINT BY: JILL SMITH, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA RELATIONS, JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY | MAY 13, 2026

Three partners and one founding member of 3TEN Construction standing outside the Charlotte office.

Veteran Construction Leaders Launch 3TEN Construction in Charlotte, NC

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A group of veterans in the construction industry have combined their knowledge and experience to form a new Charlotte-based company. Chase Walker, Jase Shoe, Bill Blank, Mike Faulks, Kathryn Blank and Ron Jarvis merged local construction companies Walker and Shoe and Southeast Interior Systems to create 3TEN Construction. The new company launched on March 10. 3TEN’s headquarters, located at 4100 Revolution Park Drive in the airport submarket, spans 20,000 square feet with about 6,000 square feet of office space. The rest is warehouse and pre-fabrication space, Walker said. Walker, Shoe, Blank and Blank are company partners; Faulks and Jarvis are founding members. Blank said the group began working on the company last year, and things began coming together in a real way in the fourth quarter. “We all came together and began working together in December and ended up merging the companies shortly after the first of the year to build a better business.” He said each of them had what Blank described as a “Jerry Maguire moment” while planning. “It was about his mission statement, you know — fewer clients, less revenue focused, better relationships and better service,” he said.

Blank said the name 3TEN is based on the company’s three main tenets — being skill builders and leaders, valuing people and progress over process and showing authenticity and heart. “We wanted the name of the organization to be something that will last for generations, not about us individually,” he said. “(It) derived from our three tenets, things we feel that are lacking within the industry, and how we plan to conduct our business and serve our clients.” 3TEN focuses predominately on the health care, higher education and commercial automotive industries, Walker said.

The team declined to name specific clients, but Walker said they are currently working on several projects, including a design-assist on a regional university’s new residence hall, a design-build on a Concord-based car-dealership expansion and pre-construction on a new medical office building and freestanding emergency department in Summerville, South Carolina. “We want to focus on what we’d consider good clients and what we perform really well, which is health care, higher ed and commercial/automotive,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done in the market for the past 20 years between us.”

Walker added, “As we grow, our focus won’t be based on revenue goals, but rather on meeting the demands of our clients and how we can best serve them.”

REPRINT: BY ELISE FRANCO – STAFF WRITER, CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL | MARCH 20, 2025