Childress Klein

About Childress Klein

Childress Klein is a real estate operator. Childress Klein operates in Asheville, North Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. Its investment focus is on Hospitality, Industrial and Logistics.

Childress Klein is a privately held, full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Formed in 1988 by real estate pioneers Don Childress and Fred Klein—who initially established their working partnership in 1974 within the Trammell Crow Company—the firm has completed 38 years of independent operation. Operating with approximately 215 to 280 professionals across its primary offices in Charlotte and Atlanta, the enterprise manages the complete property lifecycle as a developer, owner, investor, asset manager, and leasing agent across the Southeastern United States. The firm focuses its allocation strategy on high-growth Southeastern submarkets, primarily maintaining operational assets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. Childress Klein has developed more than 57 million square feet of commercial real estate and directs a portfolio valued at approximately $3.5 billion. The enterprise organizes its capital deployment across five distinct asset classes: Class A corporate office towers, major logistics and industrial parks, premium multifamily residential communities, open-air retail centers, and institutional self-storage facilities. Childress Klein maintains significant scale in the logistics sector as a leading owner of industrial real estate in the Carolinas, having developed over 25 million square feet of industrial space. To fuel ongoing portfolio expansion, the firm completed a $575 million joint venture with INDUS Realty Trust, recapitalizing a substantial portion of its industrial holdings while retaining long-term operational and leasing management. The developer's historical footprint features prominent skyline and mixed-use projects across the Southeast. Its landmark office portfolio includes the 1-million-square-foot One Wells Fargo Center, the 3.3-million-square-foot LakePointe Office Park campus, and the 48-story, 1.3-million-square-foot Duke Energy Center (550 S. Tryon), which achieved international recognition as the first high-rise office building to earn a LEED Platinum Core & Shell certification from the USGBC. Its mixed-use and multifamily residential capabilities are further demonstrated through modern developments such as Apex SouthPark and Element SouthPark in Charlotte, alongside the Element Music Row high-rise in Nashville.