High-rise living is hot in Fourth Ward.
A 36-story condo tower is under construction.
Buyers are pouncing on units in a planned 50-story building. And two
25-story towers have just been announced.
Neighbors, planners and real estate experts
aren't surprised -- or overly concerned -- at this point by the
surge in interest.
"Fourth Ward is the heart of downtown
residential," said multi-family housing analyst Emma Littlejohn
of The Littlejohn Group. "It has all the ingredients --
history, parks, restaurants, nice connectivity and a wonderfully
residential texture."
The first wave of urban pioneers reclaimed
blighted houses in Fourth Ward in the 1970s, and the uptown condo
craze took root there in the early 1990s.
"We've come to the conclusion that we
don't mind being surrounded by tall buildings" as long as
low-rise residential is protected in the heart of the neighborhood,
said Lynn Weis, president of Friends of Fourth Ward, the
neighborhood association.
The developers of the Citadin -- the latest
condo project planned there -- and the other high-rise builders
consulted Friends of Fourth Ward before proceeding, he said.
Tom Thornburg of JLT Partners is in sync with
Fourth Ward, Weis said, in proposing two 10-story mid-rise buildings
on Graham Street at the front of his Citadin project and two
25-story high-rises at the back.
"We think that what the Citadin is doing
will make our neighborhood all the more unique," he said.
JLT Partners plans to develop the project in
stages, demolishing sections of Fourth Ward Square Apartments and
replacing them with a mix of condos, townhomes and brownstones, some
atop about 20,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
About 40 percent of the project is to be open
space, with a courtyard, gathering spots, landscaped pathways and a
swimming pool. Each of the 25-story towers would have separate
pools.
Parking will be on lower levels of the
residential buildings.
The first building -- 10 stories, 82 condos --
is planned for Graham and Eighth streets. Buyers have reserved about
40 percent of the units at an average price of $380,781.
Thornburg expects general contractor Harold K.
Jordan & Co. of Raleigh to start work by early next year and
finish the initial building by early 2007. He estimates the value of
the first phase at $33 million, and the value of the entire project
at $171 million.
The tax value of the block today is about
$12.5 million, Thornburg said.
He originally filed a rezoning last April
seeking two 10-story buildings and four smaller ones on the 3.5-acre
site.
But after seeing the popularity of high-rises
uptown, he hired New York-based Perkins Eastman to redesign it and
revised his rezoning request.
The City Council is to vote on his petition
Oct. 19.
About 10,000 people live in the center city
and roughly 3,000 of those are in Fourth Ward, Thornburg said.
The Citadin and other proposed uptown
high-rise projects total more than 3,000 units.
If everything is built, the center city
population likely would grow to more than 15,000 over the next few
years, said Michael Smith, president of Charlotte Center City
Partners.
And with that density, he said, uptown would
become more attractive to retailers and service providers, further
enhancing its quality of life.
Citadin at a Glance
• 424
condos, townhomes, brownstones and penthouses off Graham Street in
Fourth Ward.
• First-phase
units range from 600 to 2,500 square feet and sell for $193,700 to
$1.1 million.
• Amenities:
pool, courtyard, community clubhouse, pet parks, fitness facilities,
secured parking at one space per bedroom.
• 10-foot
ceilings, granite countertops, double sinks in master baths,
hardwood floors in living areas, carpet in bedrooms.
• The name?
The developer says Citadin comes from a French word meaning "a
city dweller or person who loves city living."
