New Boulevard Centro project's average price will
be in $120,000s
Charlotte's upsurge in center city condo development is showing no signs
of letting up.
David Furman's Boulevard Centro, with construction
under way on 16-story, 104-unit Courtside at Sixth and Caldwell streets,
is proceeding with plans for a companion project beside it.
Court 6, at Sixth and Davidson streets, will be four
stories and include 80 condominium lofts selling for an average price in
the $120,000s, Furman said.
Both projects -- about a block from the uptown arena
site -- share a First Ward city block with Autumn Place Living Center, a
68-unit public housing facility for the elderly.
Furman said he acquired the land parcels from the
Charlotte Housing Authority with the intent of creating homes that
"step down" from the uptown high-rises and "reach into the
neighborhood."
The condos -- to include street-level retail space
-- will help bridge homes in First Ward with the new arena district
emerging along East Trade Street.
Courtside was the first large condo building started
uptown since the 10-story, 57-unit Ratcliffe on the Green sold out late
last year on South Tryon Street.
But in the months following Courtside's unveiling in
April, developers have announced three more center city projects with a
combined total of 582 units.
The center city population has climbed to 8,500 from
about 5,500 in the mid-1990s. And it got a boost last week when 1,200
Johnson & Wales University students arrived for classes.
"What we're seeing is an existing housing
market in which typical homebuyers are making choices between suburban and
urban opportunities," said residential market analyst Emma Littlejohn
of The Littlejohn Group.
"People moving to the center city aren't urban
pioneers anymore," she said. "They are sensing the
community/neighborhood feeling that the center city affords."
Real estate experts began to notice renewed interest
in the core in the early 1990s as smaller projects were started in Fourth
Ward, Third Ward and First Ward.
Suburbanites weary of commuting, empty nesters
seeking to downsize and young professionals eager to get near nightlife,
trendy restaurants and jobs are helping fuel the latest surge.
Court 6 likely will appeal to young, single
professionals, a market niche Boulevard Centro farms with edgy designs
that include large windows, open loft floor plans and affordable prices.
The units will be compact -- roughly 500 to 700
square feet -- with areas for sleeping, eating or cooking rather than
floor-to-ceiling walls between rooms.
"We take a different approach," said
Furman, whose architectural firm designed the project. "We believe we
are designing units for the way people actually live."
The smallest available units are selling for about
$111,000. A few two-bedroom condos are listed for about $190,000. The bulk
of the units are in the $115,000 to $135,000 range.
With 10-foot ceilings and liberal use of glass,
Court 6 offers buyers views of the city or an internal courtyard to
include a fountain and landscaping.
Other features include private balconies or patios
in a secured building, parking in the adjoining Courtside deck, cork
flooring and ceramic tile bathroom floors and shower surrounds.
Furman believes 6-year-old Boulevard Centro has
developed what he describes as "a brand following" for its
trendy urban designs. So as a project fills, his sales team begins
compiling a list of potential buyers who couldn't get in but remain
interested in a condo.
That system enabled Boulevard Centro to take
reservations on about half the units in Court 6 before disclosing the
project publicly.
Buyers -- including 70 on an advance list --
reserved all of neighboring Courtside's condos within two weeks. But a few
buyers failed to follow through and sign purchase contracts, putting eight
units -- $277,500 to about $550,000 -- back on the market.
Also available in Courtside, Furman said, is a
7,400-square-foot, ground-level retail space designed for lease, most
likely to a restaurant tenant.
Court 6's street-level retail -- two spaces totaling
2,700 square feet -- will be for sale at a yet-to-be-determined price, he
said.
Boulevard Centro will time the ground breaking on
Court 6 to construction under way on Courtside so that both open in fall
2005, Furman said.
Boulevard Centro's Ashley Ackerman is handing the
retail space, and Lori Furman is selling the residential condos.
Furman estimated the value of Court 6 at $11
million.
He believes the uptown boom is far from over.
He and other residential developers are working to
secure sites for more projects.
Doug Smith
