Charlotte's Myers Park neighborhood will be home to a $12 million luxury condominium project likely to attract strong interest from empty nesters.

If that sounds like a familiar story, it is.

Myers Park's tree-lined streets and tranquil setting are a magnet for lateral and move-down buyers seeking to flee the upkeep of a big house without leaving familiar surroundings.

The Weatherspoon Group Inc. was well aware of the trend when it chose the southeast corner of Selwyn Avenue and Croydon Road for The Croydon, said principal Sandy Weathersbee.

Among the four-story, 14-unit project's nearby neighbors in Myers Park are Myers Park Country Club and two upscale condo projects -- St. Serrant and 2400 Roswell, which is under construction.

"Myers Park has always been a premiere in-town location" for single- and multi-family housing, said Charlotte residential market analyst Emma Littlejohn of The Littlejohn Group.

"It has beautiful trees, a country club, great walkability -- all the things they're now trying to create in the suburbs," she said.

The Croydon's 0.75-acre site, which doesn't require a rezoning, is occupied by a two-story apartment building. It will be demolished starting as soon as today.

Twelve units on the first three floors of the condo building will range from 2,400 to 3,000 square feet and be priced from the mid-$600,000s to the high $800,000s.

Two fourth-floor penthouses will measure about 4,900 square feet each and be priced around $1.5 million apiece.

Littlejohn said she's seeing brisk demand for condos and townhomes in the center city and near the center city.

"The Charlotte market is very vibrant and active right now," she said.

The condo market also is being driven, Littlejohn said, by professionals eager to beat worsening suburban traffic and get closer to jobs in the urban core.

The Croydon is in a position to capitalize on that trend, too.

"We have a high-visibility site in what we think is a unique urban location," Weathersbee said.

The building's exterior will be constructed predominantly of red brick with stone accents. All residences will have covered porches. Lower-level units will have 10-foot ceilings, and penthouses will have 12-foot ceilings.

Weathersbee, a principal in The Weatherspoon Group with Van Weatherspoon, said the developers expect to start construction in the fall and complete the project in about a year.

They're negotiating with a general contractor, he said. Missy Stewart of Bissell-Hayes Realtors Inc. is in charge of sales.