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Feb. 10, 2005
Condos will refine home-office hybrid
South End homes to offer living
space on floor above work space
DOUG SMITH
South End development pioneer MECA
Properties is introducing a project aimed at business owners who work at
home.
Abbott Street Professional Town
Homes will have an office and a garage on the first floor, a living area
on the second and two bedrooms on the third.
"More and more, people are
telecommuting and working from home," said MECA Properties President
Tony Pressley. "They don't need an office and a workplace, but they
want to compartmentalize their lives."
The concept is a refinement in
Charlotte
of traditional live-work condominiums combining businesses and residences.
"This is not meant for
businesses who employ people who come to work every day -- that's a
different product," Pressley said.
"This more like a home
office, where you can receive people without taking them into your living
area."
Pressley said he discovered a
similar project in south
Florida
and modified it for the
Charlotte
market.
The 16 townhomes will be
constructed in two buildings on about an acre across
Abbott Street
from MECA's Camden Square Village West -- the multi-colored commercial
lofts visible from the corner of
South Tryon Street
and
Worthington Avenue
.
The townhomes, which average about
1,800 square feet, are listed for sale at $225 a square foot, or roughly
$405,000 each.
Pressley believes the project will
dovetail with one of
Charlotte
's newest initiatives -- attracting more workers in "the creative
class" -- ambitious workers ages 25 to 44 more interested in quality
of life than specific jobs.
"South End is on the
forefront of this -- we've been trying to build a creative class down here
for more than 10 years," he said.
The new project also will help
reinforce MECA's strategy of attracting a diversity of businesses --
especially those related to the building trades and design industry -- to
South End, off
South Boulevard
near uptown.
MECA helped ignite the district's
redevelopment surge more than a decade ago with restoration of the
Atherton Mill. More recently, it created the
Design
Center
of the
Carolinas
in a cluster of renovated industrial buildings.
About 230 design-related
businesses ranging from home accessories suppliers to technology firms now
operate in South End.
MECA's professional townhomes
likely will appeal to people in those fields or small operators who
provide services to them, Pressley said.
Solo practitioners he envisions
there include graphic artists, architects, engineers, interior designers,
consultants and accountants.
"A secondary market might be
the generation of workers who are finishing up their careers but are not
ready to close their businesses," Pressley said. "They might
have homes at the mountains or coast but need to be in town for business
two or three days a week."
The design of the townhomes will
be edgy with large windows, balconies, high ceilings, track lighting and
stainless steel finishes, Pressley said.
Narmour Wright Associates designed
the project, and David M. Sidbury Inc. will build it. LandDesign Inc. was
the land planner. MECA's residential division is handling sales.
Pressley expects to begin site
work soon and deliver the first townhomes in early 2006. He estimated the
value of the project at $6.5 million.
MECA started neighboring Camden
Square Village West commercial lofts in 2002.
Pressley said 18 of those units
have been sold to businesses ranging from architects to building products
firms. Six additional units were finished recently, and six are to be
completed later this year.
The village's eye-catching red,
blue and yellow buildings were inspired by a trip Pressley made several
years ago to
Vancouver
,
British Columbia
.
He returned to
Charlotte
with photographs of a former
Granville
Island
industrial area that had been transformed by urban pioneers operating from
colorful corrugated metal buildings.
Architects Reg Narmour and Curtis
Sloop of Narmour Wright Associates used the images as the starting point
in designing Camden Square Village West.
"As I travel and see
interesting urban areas ... I'm always looking for the next opportunity to
do something different," Pressley said.
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