A Transformative Moment: Scout Motors to Bring 1,200 Jobs to Commonwealth in Plaza Midwood
- Blair Smith
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Elise Franco – Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal
Nov 13, 2025
Melissa Key/CBJ
The nearly yearlong effort to bring Scout Motors Inc.'s corporate headquarters to Charlotte involved commercial real estate brokers, developers, city and county officials, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, as well as state officials across two administrations.
The startup automaker announced Wednesday afternoon it will bring 1,200 jobs to Commonwealth in Plaza Midwood, occupying the entirety of an existing 150,000-square-foot office building and eventually building another building similar in size on the mixed-use campus. The headquarters will be an hour north of Scout's production center now under construction in Blythewood, South Carolina.
Tim Sittema, managing partner at Crosland Southeast, said securing Scout for Charlotte was a group effort. Crosland, in partnership with Nuveen Real Estate, is developing Commonwealth.
"It really was a team sport, and not only our team on the ground working on the development and the details, but the Charlotte Alliance, the city, the county, the state," he said. "At every level, it took a lot of people going through this process."
Melissa Key
The office building delivered in August as part of the Commonwealth's first phase, which also includes a 383-unit apartment community called The Rowe and 100,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
Charlotte's winning bid over other competitive markets for such a large-scale headquarters affirms Crosland's confidence in starting a new office project in the middle of the pandemic, Sittema said. "Some of us never really had a doubt, despite the risk. This is such a special project in such a special neighborhood. There’s no Class A office in this neighborhood, but that’s only because nobody took the chance. And now we’re celebrating this success."
Melissa Key/CBJ
Bobby Spier, Crosland senior vice president of mixed-use investment, said Crosland, Nuveen and leasing brokerage Stream Realty Partners have spent about 12 months working through the deal. Spier said that though the lease is not yet signed, Scout is committed to the property.
Scout, started in 2022, plans to introduce a line of electric pick-up trucks, known as the Terra, and sport utility vehicles, known as the Traveler, in 2027. Both models offer a 21st-century spin on the original Scout off-road utility vehicle produced by International Harvester in Indiana during the 1960s and '70s.
The vehicles will cost just under $60,000 each and be available in electric and extended-range electric models, with the latter enhanced by gas-generated electric battery recharging.
Volkswagen AG owns the company. Scout broke ground on the Blythewood plant in February 2024.
"For a headquarters decision like this, especially with a parent that is out of the country, there are a lot of layers. They wanted to make sure the deal was far enough along before they got to this point," Spier said. "We dreamed about landing an HQ tenant, but we couldn’t have imagined how well the brand was going to match up with what we were doing here."
Spier said it was Commonwealth's unique, campus-like feel; office design; and mix of ground-floor retail that really differentiated the property.
"Our motto from the beginning was 'Nod to the past, but look to the future,' and just like we heard from (Scout president and CEO Scott Keogh), the legacy and heritage of this brand and bringing it back to life matches so well with what we were trying to do here."
The lease will likely be finalized before the end of the year and will include Crosland's commitment to build Scout's second office building, Spier said. A timeline on the upfit of the current building and on construction of the new building were not immediately available.
"Scout wants a campus here, and they want the second building to feel similar to the first," he said. "From a timing standpoint, we have a lot to work through… and at the end of the day we want to get their employees on site as quickly as they want to get them here."
The headquarters will bring a total investment of $207 million to Charlotte. Scout is receiving incentives totaling $51 million from state government and another $20 million from the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The jobs are expected to pay an average of $172,878 in total annual compensation.
Scout declined to specify how many employees will be relocated here and how many will be local hires but the number of newly created jobs is likely to be significant, the company told CBJ on Wednesday.
Full article: https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2025/11/13/scout-motors-corporate-headquarters-commonwealth.html
