A year ago the center city housing market was so strong that developers couldn't announce projects fast enough to keep up with demand.

Uptown real estate watchers counted more than 2,500 condominiums and apartment units proposed or started by early 2001.

Several of the condo projects are under way and almost certainly will sell out before construction is completed.

But for those that didn't get into the pipeline before the economy slowed late last year, the going has been tough. Here are some examples:

This week the real estate agency representing The Park Condominiums mailed letters updating buyers on delays to the 126-unit project planned at Third and Caldwell streets in Second Ward.

"The developer has yet to secure suitable construction financing for The Park," wrote Jeff Adams of Helen Adams Realty. "While the past eight months have proved to be a volatile economic period in which to secure financing, the developer is confident that this issue will be resolved in the near future, allowing us to commence construction by September or October."

Seventy-one people have signed agreements to buy units ranging from the $150,000s to more than $500,000 since the project was announced 14 months ago and expected to open next year.

Pete Verna, a structural engineer and general contractor, and Tom Woollen, who are spearheading the project through a venture called 222 S. Caldwell Street Partnership, initially thought they would be starting construction last fall.

They have tweaked the design to crown the building with a skylight pavilion and add 12 more units. The 21-story structure will be built on top of a four-story parking garage and include a rooftop park.

"Given the construction cost increases and delays in obtaining construction finances, the developer asks that you approve an extension of the construction completion date to Oct. 31, 2003," Adams said in the letter to buyers.

Said Verna: "Getting a construction loan has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done. While the market has tightened, we feel that our project is so unique that it will sell out."

Lenders typically require at least 50 percent of the units be sold before approving a loan. Verna has commitments for 56percent of his, but, he said, now lenders want to see "liquid credit availability." His venture's participation is primarily the equity in the land and parking deck, he said.

Verna said he's working with a mortgage broker from Philadelphia on an estimated $24 million construction loan.

Buyers have been supportive. "A couple of them are getting into the act and helping me get this credit thing straightened out," Verna said. "They're coming up with ideas on how I can make it work."

Another project just getting under way in Fourth Ward had to overcome a financing hurdle that delayed construction for several months.

Spectrum Investment Services announced the project, called Fifth and Poplar, as a mix of condominiums and apartments. But local lenders, nervous about the sputtering economy, balked at the mix of for-rent and for-sale units, something unusual for Charlotte.

The developers redesigned the $60 million project as all apartments - 305 units total - and brought in a New York-based venture partner to secure financing. Fifth and Poplar is now scheduled to open in June 2003, almost a year later than planned.

Washington developer Paradigm Development Co., which planned to launch a 22-story apartment building at Third and Church streets by late spring, still hasn't broken ground.

Summit Properties, which won a bidding war in December 1999 for four acres of city-owned land on Cedar Street next to the Carolina Panthers' practice fields, has put its planned 380-unit apartment project on hold there.

Summit officials are still in discussions with the city to buy the land. "But we can't move forward under the current economic conditions," they said. "We look forward to doing the project when the Charlotte uptown apartment market rebounds."

It's a different story for developers who were able to secure financing and gear up before the slowdown.

Tuscan Development says Tivoli, the largest condo development in the Garden District of First Ward, has sold 76 of 95 units ranging from $123,900 to $166,900 in the first two phases and is preparing for the first residents next month.

Boulevard Centro's 44-unit Skyline Terrace in the Garden District is virtually sold out, and the first residents are starting to arrive.

Verna remains optimistic about The Park. "We have permits for underground plumbing, fire protection and electrical," Verna said. "We could start immediately upon getting the construction loan. I'm positive we are going to get it."


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