On Saturday, September 5, a line ran down the sidewalk on Barbrick Avenue SW and a DJ played outside a new coffee shop. That's how VAROSH Coffee Roasters, the Charlotte roaster that supplies the shop, described opening day at 1122 Coffee Co., with people walking out with drinks in hand while the two owners watched the place fill up.
The shop is small. The building around it matters more. 1122 sits on the ground floor of NOVI Flats, one of three apartment buildings that together added hundreds of new homes to downtown Concord over the past few years. The apartments came first, and the storefronts are only now starting to fill. So far they're filling in the order of a day: coffee first, with dinner and drinks still to come.
Three Buildings, 304 Apartments, and Ground Floors Still Filling
NOVI is a three-building development by Lansing Melbourne Group, made up of NOVI Flats, NOVI Rise and NOVI Lofts. Here's how Downtown Concord's project pages describe them, along with where each building's commercial space stands this fall.
| Building | Address | Apartments | Commercial space | What's in it this fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOVI Flats | 25 Barbrick Ave SW | 48 | 2,333 sq ft | 1122 Coffee Co., open since Sept. 5 |
| NOVI Lofts | 26 Union St S | 89 | 5,134 sq ft, plus a rooftop restaurant and patio | The Union Sky, listed as coming soon |
| NOVI Rise | 30 Market St | 167 | 3,504 sq ft | Planned ground-floor retail, no business announced |
That's 304 apartments and close to 11,000 square feet of commercial space across the three buildings. For everyone else downtown, the commercial square footage is what changes the daily routine, because it's what gives people a reason to stop after a walk on Union Street or before an evening out.
The city had a hand in how this got built. Concord sold Lansing Melbourne Group the vacant former municipal building at 26 Union Street for NOVI Lofts, and the city backed the overall project with a downtown MSD performance-tax incentive. NOVI Flats is attached to the Cabarrus County Parking Deck. That's useful to know whether you're a resident upstairs or someone driving in for a latte.
The Morning Arrived First
The first NOVI storefront to open from the businesses announced for the project is the smallest one. CharlotteFive reported in July that the shop was planned at 643 square feet. That's a little more than a quarter of the commercial space in NOVI Flats, and VAROSH lists the shop's address as Suite 103 at 25 Barbrick Ave SW.
The owners are sisters Karlee McBride-Webber and Kayla McBride, a WNBA All-Star guard for the Minnesota Lynx. The name comes from the address of the house they grew up in in Erie, Pennsylvania. VAROSH says the sisters wanted to bring the feeling of a living room to the neighborhood, and the space has lounge seating, warm lighting and '90s memorabilia.
The menu is built for a quick stop or a longer sit. Coffee comes from VAROSH, which roasts in small batches in Charlotte. The drinks on offer include:
- Espresso, drip, cappuccino, latte and flat white
- Signature drinks, including the 1122 Latte with blueberry vanilla, a Brown Sugar Honey latte, a Strawberry Cream Matcha and a White Chocolate Dirty Chai
- Matcha latte, chai, iced peach green tea lemonade and hot chocolate
For food, Axios Charlotte reported pastries, cinnamon rolls and savory croissants. It listed hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, with the shop closed Tuesday.
Those hours shape what 1122 does for downtown. It's a daytime business. It closes at 5 p.m. most days and early afternoon on Sundays. NOVI's first open storefront adds to downtown's mornings and lunch hour. Its evenings depend on the building around the corner.
The Evening Is Planned Seven Stories Up
That building is NOVI Lofts, and its rooftop is where downtown's evening hours are set to grow. The Union Sky, a rooftop restaurant and cocktail lounge, is going in above the seven-story Lofts on Union Street. Axios Charlotte described it as Concord's only rooftop spot and said it would bring "a big-city staple" to the growing downtown.
It's run by husband and wife Krushani and Ronak Patel, who also own Red Chillez Indian Restaurant in Concord. The plans as Axios reported them:
- Size: 3,085 square feet total, with 2,062 square feet indoors and a 1,023-square-foot rooftop patio with views of downtown
- Food: Elevated American dishes, including shareable flatbreads, gourmet burgers, wings, cauliflower wings, pasta and salads
- Drinks: Tropical and classic cocktails, plus mocktails
Two-thirds of that space is indoors, which matters as fall turns colder. The Union Sky also sits around the corner from 1122 Coffee Co. A short walk could take you from a morning latte to an evening cocktail without moving the car out of the county deck.
The timing has slipped. In August, Axios reported a target of August or September. 6AM City's restaurant roundup, updated October 13, still lists The Union Sky with a projected opening of fall 2026 and no specific date. Some listings give its address as 23 Market St. SW. Axios and Downtown Concord's project pages place it at NOVI Lofts, 26 Union St S. Until an opening date is announced, it's still a planned evening spot, not an open one.
What the Empty Square Footage Is Waiting For
Most of NOVI's commercial space has no business announced yet. Downtown Concord's available-properties page has marketed a 1,573-square-foot ground-floor suite at NOVI Lofts, Suite A2, for lease. NOVI Rise, the biggest of the three buildings with 167 apartments, has 3,504 square feet set aside for ground-floor retail. Its project profile doesn't name a business for it.
The street out front is already finished. Downtown Concord's streetscape project was completed in 2025, with wider sidewalks, space for outdoor dining, new lighting, landscaping and utility upgrades. The downtown master plan treats that investment as a draw for cafes, nightlife, retail and new uses for upper floors. The wider sidewalks are there, and the rooftop above Union Street was designed for a restaurant from the start. What's left is to fill the ground floors.
So far the order has been a 643-square-foot coffee shop open during the day, a rooftop restaurant listed for fall, and the largest ground-floor spaces still waiting. Downtown has added morning hours first. Its evening hours depend on the rooftop opening, and its afternoon foot traffic depends on who leases the rest.
Spending a Day Downtown This Fall
For now, a morning or lunch downtown is easy to plan:
- Park in the Cabarrus County Parking Deck, which connects to NOVI Flats.
- Walk to 1122 Coffee Co. at 25 Barbrick Ave SW on any day but Tuesday, when Axios Charlotte reported the shop is closed.
- Head around the corner to Union Street and look up at NOVI Lofts at 26 Union St S, where The Union Sky is listed as opening in fall 2026.
For an evening out, it's still worth waiting on an official opening date from The Union Sky. The 6AM City roundup that tracks it was last updated October 13. Until The Union Sky opens, NOVI's open storefront closes at 5 p.m. most days.
I follow downtown Concord the way I follow every neighborhood I work in, one storefront at a time. If you'd like to talk about what's opening around Union Street, or just want a good coffee recommendation the next time you're downtown, Mackenzie Amirfar would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.
