August 2004
From shabby to chic in Dilworth
Developer/contractor turning old apartments into luxury townhomes
DOUG SMITH
Developers will bite off big challenges to create
more housing in a desirable neighborhood close to the center city.
Just check out Bart Shaw's project under way in
Dilworth.
He's converting an eight-unit apartment building
constructed in 1928 to four townhomes at Kingston Avenue and Park Road,
about a block from Latta Park.
The structure had seen better days for sure.
Much of the interior had suffered water and termite
damage, and plaster walls and wooden trim weren't worth saving.
With help from project architect Bruce Keith of
Bruce Keith Design, he removed walls to create four two-story units with
open living areas downstairs and bedrooms upstairs.
Shaw announced the project -- valued at $1.7 million
-- in February and expects to complete construction by the end of the
year.
Buyers aren't waiting. Only one townhome is left.
Three sold for prices ranging from $399,000 to $499,000.
"Under-utilized" sites are hot commodities
in neighborhoods such as Dilworth, Myers Park, Eastover and Plaza-Midwood,
said Keith, who has four renovations under way in two of the
neighborhoods.
Record-low mortgage rates and buyers eager to beat
suburban traffic congestion are fueling the condo and townhome market in
the urban core.
Shaw got approval from the city's Historic District
Commission to remove 1980s aluminum storefront windows in front and
restore the brick exterior to its 1920s appearance.
"These are harder projects to do, but it's
easier to judge your success," said Keith, who also is a member of
the commission. "You have that tapestry you are working inside of.
The basic character is what drove Bart's building."
A nearly blank wall on the Park Road side posed
another problem. Shaw resolved it by building an addition. To create space
for parking and patios, he bought a house behind the building and redrew
the property lines.
He had renovated houses in Dilworth but had never
tackled anything so complicated.
"I felt comfortable doing the construction, and
I felt comfortable the market would justify it," said Shaw, whose
Shaw Construction is the general contractor.
The townhomes will have porches downstairs and sun
rooms upstairs plus 9-foot ceilings and hardwood floors, custom cabinetry,
granite countertops and gas fireplaces.
Three units are 2,100 square feet each. One is 2,650
square feet.
Such projects typically are even more of a challenge
for large development firms, Keith said, because they must pay a
contractor.
"Bart is the investor, owner and
contractor," Keith said.
Shaw has 10 years' experience as a residential and
commercial contractor in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.
He credits Des Roberts of Harris, Murr &
Vermillion real estate with the idea for the Dilworth renovation and for
bringing Keith into the project.
Joe Huneycutt of Cottingham-Chalk & Associates
Inc. is handling sales.
Wendover
Posted on Wed, Jul.
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