Tech company Untappd is vacating its headquarters in downtown Wilmington, leaving the office space up for lease.
An app for beer drinkers belonging to Wilmington-born Next Glass Inc., Untappd was the sole tenant at 21 S. Front St., where the Untappd sign had been removed from the front of the building as of this weekend. The property is owned by James Goodnight, a developer known for renovating historic properties in Raleigh and Wilmington.
Originally built in 1939 for the Barefoot-Jackson Furniture Co., the building underwent a full renovation spearheaded by Goodnight in 2016 before Next Glass occupied it in a move
hailed as a milestone for Wilmington's tech scene. Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Kurt Taylor, then-startup Next Glass had previously been working out of University of North Carolina Wilmington facilities and coworking space before announcing its consolidation into the Goodnight property.
The Untappd app allows users to keep track of beer they've tried and rate it. Efforts to reach current CEO Trace Smith to find out more about the firm's decision were not successful this week to find out how many workers might be remote but still living in Wilmington. Smith took the helm of Next Glass when PSG Equity made a strategic investment in Next Glass in 2020 to help grow the business.
Real estate broker Brian Wallace of Raleigh-based York Properties Inc., who represents Goodnight, said the lease for Untappd had run its course of seven years and the company opted not to renew it.
But Wallace said he and Goodnight, the son of SAS founder Jim Goodnight, will continue to offer the building as office space.
Last week, Wallace said, "We’ve already had a tour or two."
Asked about the impact the economy could have on efforts to find a tenant, Wallace was optimistic about the downtown Wilmington office's chances of being scooped up.
"The office market right now is a little bit off just with the way the economy is, especially in Raleigh," said Wallace, who is vice president of brokerage services for York Properties. "The office sublease market has exploded. There’s a lot of availability in Raleigh, but not nearly as much in Wilmington."
The building at 21 S. Front St., which won a Preservation NC award for its rehabilitation, includes a rooftop deck overlooking the Cape Fear River.