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May 11, 2005
Empty-nester condos reshaping
Myers
Park
Stephens Square the latest near
country club
DOUG SMITH
The real estate closest to Myers
Park Country Club is becoming a condo haven for
Charlotte
's well-heeled empty nesters.
Over the past four years,
developers have announced a half-dozen projects within walking distance of
the private club at
2415 Roswell Avenue
in the heart of
Myers
Park
.
The latest --
Stephens Square
-- is being unveiled today by LandCraft Properties and Simonini Builders.
It consists of 19 units in a four-story building and five two-story
townhomes at
Queens Road West
and
Selwyn Avenue
, about a block from the club.
Prices range from about $700,000
to about $1.2 million for 2,145- to 3,468-square-foot condos that buyers
can customize -- just like a home in the suburbs.
"It has a super location in
what is starting to be a great empty-nester neighborhood," said
Charlotte
residential real estate analyst Emma Littlejohn of The Littlejohn Group.
"Having that concentration of
projects is nice because they will complement each other in that upper-end
market."
Projects completed or under way
near
Stephens Square
in
Myers
Park
include:
• St. Serrant, with 11 units,
priced from about $1.2 million to nearly $2 million at
Queens Road East
and
Roswell Avenue
.
• 2400
Roswell
, with 21 units priced from $545,000 to $1.3 million across
Roswell Avenue
from Myers Park Country Club.
• Queens & Selwyn, 18 units
sharing a courtyard with 2400
Roswell
and selling for $675,000 to $1.6 million.
• The Croydon, 14 units selling
from the mid-$600,000s to about $1.5 million at
Selwyn Avenue
and
Croydon Road
.
• Roswell Place, 15 units priced
from $750,000 to $800,000 at
2210 Roswell Avenue
.
The luxury condo market is fueled
mainly by traditionalists -- people who prefer large dwellings and
tree-lined streets over funky concrete-and-glass towers with skyline
views.
Littlejohn said traditionalists
find what they're looking for in neighborhoods such as
Myers
Park
, where developers cater to their preferences and property values have
held up well.
The most likely buyers in such
projects are empty nesters from the neighborhood. In many cases, they're
seeking to escape the demands of home maintenance without changing
shopping patterns and social circles.
"These types of projects
usually don't attract investors -- the buyers primarily are people who
want a condo for a residence, not for resale," Littlejohn said.
At
Stephens Square
, 60-somethings, most of whom own second homes, have reserved 11 condos,
said residential developer Frank Martin of LandCraft Properties.
He and Ray Killian Jr., co-owner
of Simonini Builders, say they have extra incentive to make this project
-- valued at $23.5 million -- a Myers Park showcase.
Killian lives on
Queens Road West
with his family and Martin's grandfather George Stephens -- the project's
namesake -- developed
Myers
Park
.
The buildings will be of concrete
and steel frame construction with a hard-coat stucco exterior, covered
terraces and architectural features that blend with the neighborhood.
Interior features include 10-foot
ceilings, granite countertops in kitchens, cultured marble and ceramic
tile floors in bathrooms, hardwood floors in social rooms, stainless steel
Bosch appliances and gas fireplaces.
With available finishes and
optional upgrades, Killian said, buyers will have virtually thousands of
interior combinations.
Simonini Builders, which is
handling sales, will team buyers with a design center specialist and an
interior designer to help customize and price condos via computer.
"I think that degree of
customization is what will set us apart from everyone else," said
Killian, whose company built 95 luxury custom homes in 2004.
Outside, the project will have a
wall-enclosed garden with a fountain, a built-in grill and an outdoor
fireplace.
Residents will have a fully
equipped exercise room with a personal fitness trainer available on a
consulting basis.
Condo owners in the four-story
building will have elevator service and secured parking underneath.
Townhome owners will have two-car garages. Guest parking will be provided
between the buildings.
Rodgers Builders Inc. will handle
the project's heavy construction and Simonini Builders will do the rest.
Sam Greeson of Meyer-Greeson-Paullin
and Tom Wright of Narmour Wright Associates collaborated on the design.
LandDesign Inc. handled site planning and engineering.
The developers expect to start
site work by the end of this month and complete the project by fall 2006.
The first step will be demolition
of four residential buildings on the 2-acre site, where the developers
will work to preserve large trees in the front yards.
The project won't need a rezoning.
Under the current zoning, the developers could have built up to 44 units.
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