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May. 22, 2005
Balconies open wide like a garage
Distinctive Central27 borrows a
concept used in Seattle, Colorado
DOUG SMITH
A condo project planned for Plaza-Midwood
will take what urban planners call the ambience of the street to a new
level.
Garage-like eight-foot-by- 10-foot
balcony doors at Central27 will roll up and "pull the energy of the
street right into where you live," said Ray "Rip" Farris
III of
Charlotte
's Tuscan Development.
"Like cafes where you can sit
out in the street, these condominiums will have interior personality that
changes just by rolling up the door," he said.
Tuscan is teaming with
MarkPiercePoole Properties, a
Charlotte
commercial real estate firm on the $4.7 million project, diagonally across
Central Avenue
from John's Country Kitchen and the Wachovia bank branch.
Farris said he saw roll-up doors
used similarly in 1991 in
Aspen
,
Colo.
's Harris Concert Hall, a building he helped plan just after completing
his master's in architecture at the
University
of
Colorado
.
The building was two-thirds under
ground, but the top floor was above ground with doors that rolled up, so
people could walk out onto the lawn, he said.
James Dudley, who headed
Central27's architectural team at Tobin Design, said their inspiration for
the roll-up doors came from a project in
Seattle
.
The unconventional design has
struck a cord with buyers, who reserved 20 of the 27 units before the
developers could unveil the project to the public.
Prices range from $128,000 to
$260,000. The average sales price is $160,000, Tuscan says.
The developers plan 24 one-bedroom
condos. Twenty-three will range from 550 to 680 square feet and one will
be 720 square feet. Three two-bedroom units will each total 1,240 square
feet.
The project, to be started in
about three months and completed in spring 2006, will be the first
multifamily residential development inside the Plaza Central business
district.
Urban planners and neighborhood
advocates generally have supported such development around
Central Avenue
between uptown and
Morningside Drive
.
The Plaza Central business
district is at the junction of several close-in neighborhoods: Plaza-Midwood,
Commonwealth-Morningside,
Belmont
,
Elizabeth
and
Chantilly
.
John Nichols, president of Plaza
Central Partners, a business-oriented neighborhood organization, said he's
glad to see condos in the heart of the commercial strip.
"We call it Main Street USA
with the post office, the library, the Harris Teeter, the bank -- anything
you need," he said. "People at Central27 will be able to live,
literally, without a car."
City planner Kent Main said the
project is consistent with plans to reinforce older commercial areas such
as Plaza Central as pedestrian-friendly areas.
The condos, next to the public
library branch, will replace a building that housed Abra Costume Shop,
which owner Shirley Wensil closed in January.
Grey Poole of MarkPiercePoole said
his firm contacted Tuscan because of its experience in Plaza-Midwood
before acquiring the costume shop property for development.
Tuscan developed 20-unit
Kensington Court
off
Pecan Avenue
and 17-unit
Hawthorne Court
at
Hawthorne Lane
's bridge over
Independence Boulevard
.
Three-story Central27 will be
unconventional in more ways than roll-up doors.
Exterior colors will be bold --
yellow on the front, which faces Central, and rosy red in back.
Interior ceilings will be nearly
11 feet high. Sprinkler-system piping and ductwork will be exposed. And
kitchens and living areas will have grids for low-voltage pendant
lighting.
Allison Merriman, Tuscan's project
manager, said the developers will "soften" the sides of the
building by using wire or mesh screening to encourage the growth of
climbing vines such as ivy or akebia, a twining woody vine with fragrant
chocolate-purple colored flowers.
On the front of the building, she
said, the developers will work with an artist to create a facade that
meshes with the character of the neighborhood, which dates to the early
1900s.
"We may be setting the tone
for new residential development in the heart of Plaza-Midwood," said
commercial broker
Poole
. "This will be a catalyst for additional development."
He might be right. Neighborhood
leaders say they've heard rumors of up to 200 more residential units in
the planning stages for Plaza-Midwood.
Carocon Corp. will be Central27's
contractor. Tuscan Development is handling sales.
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