A condominium building that offers buyers a touch of New York City's upper west side is coming to Myers Park.

Developer and architect Lucia Zapata Griffith of Metro Landmarks Inc. said her design team started by looking at the old Carolina Theater's classic facade in uptown Charlotte for inspiration, but their quest for ideas eventually led them to New York.

"We saw something similar to what we had in mind on the upper west side -- not only in the architectural style but in the arrangement of the condos," she said.

Their research produced the design of 422 Queens, an elegant, four-story, stone-and-stucco finish building with a penthouse, a roof garden, an underground parking garage and "cocktail" balconies overlooking Queens Road.

"We wanted to offer buyers something that gives them the freedom of an urban lifestyle but still allows them to remain in their neighborhood -- Myers Park," Griffith said.

The project, valued at about $5 million, will be developed on a half-acre site in the 400 block of Queens Road, not far from Third Street and Presbyterian Hospital.

A vacant, four-unit apartment complex will be demolished to make way for the development.

Six condominiums ranging from 2,403 to 2,552 square feet are priced from $599,900 to the mid-$600,000s. The 4,012 square-foot penthouse is listed at about $1.4 million.

"What we're trying to do is offer people a lot of convenience and not lose the sense of privacy they would have in a single-family home," Griffith said.

The six condos, for example, will be built two to a floor on the first three levels with a front door and a back door, similar to the typical single-family house.

Only the powder, laundry and mechanical rooms share a common wall.

"Trash chutes are not in the middle of the hallway; they are at the back of the building so you don't hear the noise of someone dumping trash in the middle of the night," Griffith said.

The first level will have a foyer with marble floors and French doors. The second will have a private "meditation" garden instead of a foyer. On the third level, oversized windows will bathe hallways in natural light.

Condos will have 40-square-foot balconies. The penthouse will have a 940-square-foot roof garden, plus 544 square feet of terraces.

Residents will have secured access to the parking garage and gated courtyard parking. The steel-and-concrete building will be served by an elevator and two sets of stairs.

Other features will include hardwood floors and 10-foot ceilings in most rooms, large master suites, granite counter tops, walk-in closets and intercoms in the foyer.

Griffith plans to start construction when at least half the units are sold. The goal, she said, is to begin by summer and complete the project in about a year.

Griffith, a licensed architect who came to the United States from Peru in 1985, formed Metro Landmarks to do multifamily development projects.

She also is a partner in the condo ownership company -- 420 Queens Road on Myers Park LLC.

The project team includes Wash Hatem Nelson Architects, Burton Engineering and WGPM Inc. structural engineering.

Diana Sanders of Metro Landmarks, lead interior designer, will work with buyers on coordination and selection of finishes.