Developers incessantly scour the neighborhoods that
ring uptown in search of "infill" locations for new housing.
But it's difficult to top the 1-acre site of the 21
luxury condominium units Spectrum Properties' principals and RVJ
Investments plan to develop.
The project, 2400 Roswell, will be at Roswell Avenue
and Queens Road West, directly across from Myers Park Country Club and
diagonally across from the $1-million-plus St. Serrant condos in the heart
of tree-canopied Myers Park.
Spectrum Properties' residential division developed
the uptown 304-unit Fifth and Poplar Apartments, which opened in June, but
this will be the firm's first residential condos.
"It was a matter of timing," said
Spectrum's Jim Dulin, chairman and chief executive. "The empty nester
demographic is strong; financial rates are low and the site just made
sense."
Condos will range from 2,113 square feet to 3,520
square feet and sell for $545,000 to $1.3 million.
When developers do infill -- especially in upscale
neighborhoods -- they expect to "fill in" underdeveloped or
underutilized lots with more units of greater value and hopefully attract
buyers from nearby.
Buyers have choices in all price ranges of condos
from Lake Norman on the north end of the county to Ballantyne on the
south, but local real estate analysts believe the hottest markets will
continue to be neighborhoods that cut the commute time for workers.
Myers Park and Eastover projects attract downsizing
south Charlotte homeowners who find they can maintain familiar patterns of
shopping and socializing after they sell their houses.
Of the eight buyers who have units under contract at
2400 Roswell, several are downsizing from large houses in nearby
neighborhoods, Dulin said.
"For a lot of empty nesters," he said,
"this is going to be one of their houses. They might also have a
place at the mountains or the beach. And they're ready to spend more time
there without having to worry about a house and yard."
The trend isn't unique to Charlotte. S. Lawrence Yun,
senior economist at the National Association of Realtors, said recently
that in most metropolitan markets, baby boomers are looking at empty -- or
soon to be empty -- nests. For many, he said, no-maintenance, high-amenity
condos offer a way to simplify life.
Dulin said the developers consulted with Cottingham
Chalk, a Charlotte residential sales agency, for help in hitting the right
demographic market and price range.
At Spectrum's Roswell Avenue site, two old houses
will be cleared in November to make way for condo construction. Dulin said
2400 Roswell, valued at $16 million, is to be completed in January 2005.
All units in the four-story, concrete-frame building
will have large 38-foot-by-10-foot Charleston-style porches with columns,
ceiling fans and gas grills.
"People still love to have that outdoor space
even when they leave lawn care behind," said Wendy Field, who is
sales manager for Spectrum Residential at 2400 Roswell.
The building will be set back 50 feet from Roswell
and nestled among large oak trees, said John Gray of Spectrum Residential.
Residents will be able to meet and entertain in the
project's indoor-outdoor party room, dubbed "the veranda room,"
with a gas fireplace and built-in bar.
Each condo will include two covered parking spaces
and a storage room. Units will have 10-foot ceilings, custom cabinets with
granite countertops and large master suites with his-her closets and
marble bathrooms.
Field said buyers will be able to visit suppliers
and select cabinetry, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing
fixtures and appliances "like a custom home."
LS3P Associates Ltd. designed the condo building and
R.J. Griffin & Co. will construct it.
Doug Smith
