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Apr. 14, 2005
Massive condo project for 4th Ward
Replacing apartments, 454-unit
project would be city center's largest
DOUG SMITH
Developer Tom Thornburg plans to build the center city's largest condo
project in number of units on a Fourth Ward block now occupied by
apartments.
The Citadin at Fourth Ward Square
would replace the 154-unit Fourth Ward Square apartments with up to 454
condos and 20,000 square feet of commercial space in as many as six
buildings, including a pair of 10-story towers.
Thornburg said JLT Development Co.
considered converting the apartments at
501 N. Graham St.
to condos, but "the more we looked at it, the more we realized that
it would not be the highest and best use of this site."
Center city living is a hot trend
nationally and locally, and developers are cashing in on it in
Charlotte
by converting apartments to condos and announcing condo towers.
With seven residential high-rises
planned or under way uptown, Thornburg said, the timing seemed right for
his redevelopment.
The largest tower, The Vue at
Fifth and Pine Streets, will have 411 units.
Thornburg plans to build The
Citadin in phases as a hedge against condo market saturation inside the
Interstate 277 loop.
"We own our block," he
said. "If the market turns against us -- if we see it's overbuilt, if
interest rates go up, we can just wait to do the next building."
The redevelopment plan hinges on a
rezoning petition that will allow mixed-use buildings on the 3.5-acre
site.
Thornburg wants to start marketing
condos in the first building -- four stories, 55 units, at Ninth and Smith
streets -- by mid-May.
If City Council approves the
rezoning, work could start by early fall and be completed in about 13
months, he said.
Four penthouses will be built atop
the first building, which also will include a fitness center, but most of
the initial units will be one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
Condos will range in size from 700
square feet to 1,750 square feet and sell for about $180,000 to about
$450,000.
The average size of a first-phase
condo probably will be about 1,125 square feet, Thornburg said.
A second building, four stories
with 32 units of similar size, will be started beside the first condos
once construction crews get under way, Thornburg said.
After that, he said, "We can
go up or down on size in future buildings. We can react if the market
leans more toward efficiencies or more toward larger units."
Overall, The Citadin will include
about 450,000 square feet of residential space atop parking and, in some
cases, shops or restaurants.
Condos will include features such
as Jenn-Air appliances, hardwood floors, granite countertops and Italian
porcelain tile baths plus one underground parking space per bedroom and
storage space.
Although design details are still
being determined for future buildings, Thornburg knows how he wants to
proceed.
"We want the block to look
like it was developed over time," he said. "We'll vary
materials, designs and building heights so everything doesn't look
homogeneous."
The existing Fourth Ward Square
courtyard will be retained and expanded, Thornburg said.
Two buildings in the old complex,
which opened in 1991, will be demolished as the initial condo structures
are started near the Ninth and Smith streets corner.
"No one in those buildings
was on a long-term lease," Thornburg said. "We're working with
people whose leases expire after the project construction date."
He said Fourth
Ward Square
will continue operating as an apartment complex during the redevelopment,
valued at roughly $135 million.
Thornburg, the general partner in
the venture, said he owns 70 percent of the site, and his partners, the
heirs of
Rock Hill
developer Jack White, own 30 percent.
The condo project was designed by
Watts Leaf Architects. Thornburg said he's working with general contractor
Harold K. Jordan & Co. of
Raleigh
.
The Citadin (www.thecitadin.com)
plans to open an on-site sales office with a model kitchen at Fourth
Ward Square
in May, he said.
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