Architect/developer Anderson Pearson spent five years taking notes on little things that could have been done better on condominiums he helped design.

Now, he has incorporated those ideas into his first development project since starting his own firm -- Anderson Pearson Architecture -- a year ago.

A sign announcing his New Park West townhouse-style condos went up about four weeks ago at Park West Drive and Park Road, across from Holy Comforter Episcopal Church.

And people are noticing: this isn't your run-of-the-mill residential development.

The image on the sign shows a glass-enclosed loft -- Pearson calls it a perch -- atop seven units connected by a porte cochere entranceway to two-car garages in back.

He recalls an informational session with neighborhood leaders where someone asked, "Why do we need another condo project?"

Since the early 1990s, the Park Road area -- convenient to uptown, Park Road Shopping Center and Freedom Park -- has been a hot corridor of development in the county's strong condo market.

Fueled by downsizing empty nesters, young professionals and newcomers from major urban centers, condos and townhomes account for about 15 percent of the single-family construction market in Mecklenburg County, said housing analyst Emma Littlejohn of The Littlejohn Group.

Last year, 2,191 units sold countywide at an average price of $177,889.

Getting back to that question -- why another condo project? -- Pearson agreed that Charlotte doesn't need more of the same, but it could use more innovative housing.

New Park West will make a statement about his firm and the niche he hopes to fill: "stitching together neighborhoods" with one-of-a-kind projects on small sites typically overlooked by large residential developers.

Pearson spent five years prior to starting his firm as an architect with developer-architect David Furman of Boulevard Centro.

Furman developed Gateway Lofts in Third Ward, Silo Urban Lofts in Fourth Ward and a half-dozen condo projects in First Ward's Garden District.

"When I interview David, he asked me where I wanted to be in five years," Pearson recalled. "I told him I wanted his job."

He said Furman's mentorship helped him reach his goal of being in full control of his own projects.

"I learned architecture in school," Pearson said, "but I learned to be an architect from David Furman."

Said Furman: "The way things work around this place, people take the ideas that are thrown out and make them better." Pearson "was one of the best guys we ever had at making a thing better," he said.

Pearson's 0.6-acre development site was a parcel left over from the Park West condominiums Furman helped design and develop while at The Boulevard Co.

Furman said Pearson "is so astute. He saw this land we were going to throw away, and he bought it ... and got it rezoned."

Pearson, a 1984 graduate of South Mecklenburg High School, got his architectural degree from N.C. State University and worked for several years before earning a master's in architecture from Harvard University in 1997.

His wife, Michelle, works for Duke Energy Corp., and he says it's her strong support that has enabled him to pursue his dream.

To relax and relieve the pressure of running a one-person shop, he slips behind the wheel of his burgundy 1941 Buick Roadmaster convertible and hits the road for what Michelle calls "a one man parade."

His studio at 115 E. Park Ave. in South End doubles as a sales office, with a scale model, materials samples and renderings of New Park West on display.

Two- and three-bedroom condos range from 1,355 to 2,565 square feet and sell for $225,000 to $399,000 with garages, balconies and attics that can be finished as an extra bedroom.

Pearson preserved four large trees on the Park Road corner of the project and designed the units with stained cedar shingles and custom brickwork to blend with existing architecture.

The porte cochere isn't just for decoration. It includes living space atop the passageway.

Other Pearson features in what he calls a "nice modern" design include recessed lighting in each residence, 8-foot-tall closets and a metal strip for hanging pictures and preventing nail holes.

Remembering an experience driving through a large condo project and seeing garbage cans behind buildings, he designed small alcoves in back of the units to hide them from view.

Buyers so far have placed contracts on three units and reservations on three. Pearson would like to start construction by April and complete the $2 million project by the end of the year.

Furman, who is familiar with Pearson's design, said, "It reflects little details that go beyond the typical. ... I see him generating more special projects like this."