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April 21, 2005
Developer considers condo/hotel tower
uptown
35 stories on old convention center
site?
DOUG SMITH
Developer Afshin Ghazi says he's
working to add a 35-story condo hotel tower to his EpiCentre project on
the old convention center site uptown.
The concept would be new to
Charlotte
, but it's gaining momentum in large cities such as
Miami
, Seattle,
Chicago
,
New York
and Dallas.
Condo hotels combine rental rooms
with for-sale units offering owners all the amenities of living in a
luxury hotel, from room-service dining to housekeeping.
Ghazi, president of The Ghazi
Co.
, said he's interviewing hotel developers to join the EpiCentre
entertainment center and residential high-rise development on a block
bound by
Trade Street
,
College Street
,
Fourth Street
and the trolley tracks.
The Ghazi Co. bought the 3.2-acre
site across Trade from the new uptown arena last year. It plans to implode
the old convention center on May 15 and replace it with a 53-story
residential tower and 265,000-square- foot retail/entertainment center.
The first shops would open in 2006; the tower, 2007.
The condo hotel plan is less
certain.
"We are in the very
preliminary stages," Ghazi said. "We've talked to three very
reputable operators, and we're inviting others who might have an interest
in joining us as a co-developer."
He envisions a luxury tower at the
College and Fourth streets corner with up to 150 to 200 hotel rooms and
100 to 200 condos, but probably no more than 300 units total.
In other parts of the country, the
lodging industry's biggest names -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hilton
Hotels Corp., Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton -- are developing condo
hotels.
Combining for-sale condos with
hotel rooms helps developers raise money for new projects in a lodging
industry still recovering from a glut of rooms.
The
Charlotte
market is one of those still digging out.
"We've been working very hard
to stabilize the dramatic oversupply we've had from the 1990s," said
Tim Newman, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
The hotel occupancy rate,
measuring the monthly average, has improved in the
Charlotte
metro area to about 55 percent, but he said it needs to reach 65 percent
for the market to stabilize.
Charlotte
industry watchers say the last thing the market needs is another large
hotel, but Newman said a small, "extremely upscale product"
could work.
"If you truly had a
Ritz-Carlton type amenity in the market, that would be a good thing and
could fit," he said, "but I would want to see more
specifics."
Ghazi said he plans to talk with
independent boutique hotel operators, as well as big chains, in
anticipation of announcing specifics in two to three months.
He said EpiCentre's developers
have chosen to keep the project relatively small to enhance its appeal to
a limited number of buyers.
"This will be the most
exclusive project in downtown
Charlotte
" with larger than usual condos and hotel rooms, he said.
It's too early to talk specifics,
he said, but he expects condos to sell for more than $1 million.
In other cities, buyers say condo
hotels provide them the management experience of a luxury hotel operator,
plus amenities far beyond the standard.
Any services offered to hotel
guests are available to condo owners, including signing for purchases in
the hotel bar and restaurant, dry-cleaning, dog walking, plant watering,
housekeeping, concierge, valet, spa, fitness center and room service.
When condo owners are away, they
can earn income on their units by arranging with the hotel management to
rent them to hotel guests as suites.
The condo-hotel craze has been
gaining popularity in south
Florida
for nearly a decade, but it began spreading only recently to other parts
of the country.
Financing is the big attraction,
industry experts say. Developers unable to arrange traditional loans are
selling units to individual investors.
In some cases, they say, such
sales can raise up to 40 percent of the equity needed to start
construction.
Ghazi said EpiCentre is to include
a multiscreen movie theater, restaurants, bars, shops and offices in
several buildings totaling more than 1 million square feet.
The 53-story building -- the
tallest of seven residential high-rises announced uptown over the past
year -- is to be co-developed with The Ghazi
Co.
by Flaherty & Collins Properties of Indianapolis.
The developers haven't determined
whether it will be condos or apartments. Ghazi said he expects to announce
a decision within the next couple of weeks.
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