"The condo market here (center city) remains strong. This year, 740 new units were introduced and all have sold … I remain confident in this market."
- Michael Smith, president of Center City Partners

Center city Charlotte is thriving with jobs and amenities, and young professionals are seeking that live-play-work lifestyle while baby boomers are selling their suburban homes and moving back into town.

Hot Spot
Center City Maintains Appeal, Despite Cool-Down in Overall Market
BY LEE MCCRACKEN

In center city Charlotte, the demand for real estate is high. From Avenue to 210 Trade, condominiums are being sold before the units are even completed.

"The condo market here remains strong," says Michael Smith, president of Center City Partners. "This year, 740 new units were introduced and all have sold. … I remain confi dent in this market."

As concrete and steel creep skyward in uptown Charlotte, both in commercial and residential projects, the number of people who want to be part of the energy keeps escalating. Center city Charlotte is thriving with jobs and amenities, and young professionals are seeking  that live-play-work lifestyle while baby boomers are selling their suburban homes and moving back into town. 

"National experts say urban markets like Charlotte can support up to 2 percent of the market deciding they want urban living," says Smith. "In Charlotte, that's upward of 30,000 people." And with the current population of center city at just under 12,000, there's still a lot of unmet demand." 

Bankers, Boomers Walk to Work

Center city Charlotte is abuzz with business, the arts, dining, entertainment, pro sports and urban parks.  "Downtown Charlotte is cool, there's a lot going on," says Buck Montague with Helen Adams Realty.  "People want to be downtown; it's affordable and it's fun."

Those attracted to the dynamics of center city Charlotte include young professionals at one end of the spectrum and empty nesters at the other end. "There's the young, hip crowd between the ages of 25 and 37," says Dan Cottingham of Cottingham-Chalk & Associates. "A lot of them are targeted by the financial services industry. The banks are bringing them in and paying them good salaries."

These buyers are seeking units ranging in price from $175,000 to $400,000. "They are coming either from other financial districts or straight from school or graduate school," says Cottingham.

The urban lifestyle also is a huge magnet for the baby boomers and empty nesters, who don't want to do yard work or sit in traffic at the end of the workday, according to Cottingham. Condo units attracting this crowd are priced from $400,000 to $1 million and higher. 

"There's also the really  successful group in the financial services industry that Charlotte might be their second or third city," says Cottingham.  "They think Charlotte is really a cool city. … We're hearing from people from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, very positive comments on our urban core. They love the proximity to the airport, and they like watching uptown crank up."

'Sold' Signs Dominate

The fast-growing urban area offers plenty of housing options: affordable lofts and studios, luxury town homes, modern high-rises and million-dollar penthouses. Prices range from $175,000 to $1million-plus.

Popular addresses include Fifth & Poplar, Avenue, Trademark, 210 Trade, 230 South Tryon, The VUE Charlotte and Citaden. High-end, ultra-luxury properties include The Trust and One Charlotte.

"A lot more projects are in the proposal stages because the demand is  there," says Smith, who notes that developers are introducing 500 to 1,000 new units each year. Center City Partners reports 662 units will be introduced in 2008, 979 in 2009 and 831 in 2010. 

For those interested in an active-urban lifestyle, center city has a lot to offer. "It is high energy," says Smith, who cites the area's 100-plus restaurants, some 50 bars and clubs, and 48 galleries and cultural venues. In addition, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the re-opening of the Carolina Theatre are highly anticipated, and there is tremendous demand for more retail and green space in uptown. "We likely will have a great urban park in each of the four wards," says Smith.

The downturn in the real estate market "is not affecting center city as much," says Cottingham. "There is not the oversupply of product to look at here." Montague agrees. "For new construction, the newspapers keep talking about all these thousands of condominiums that are coming online, but the fact is most of those are under contract," he says. "Most of the projects have sold most, if not all, of their units." 

At 210 Trade, Allen Tate Co. opened its sales office to "a line around the corner, and they took deposits on more than 70 percent of the units the first weekend," Smith says. Tony Skillbeck, president of Novare Group, says that at Avenue only two condos remain available in the 386-unit project, which was priced from the $180,000s to the upper $400,000s. Several penthouses, however, were priced higher. "We sold  close to 80 percent of the units in a 12-week period," adds Skillbeck. "We were sold out, but two units came back to us ..." The 36-story tower is in Charlotte's Fourth Ward.

Similarly, Rob McCrorey of The VUE Charlotte says that when the 51-story, 403-unit luxury condo tower broke ground in October,  it was already 60 percent sold. The VUE's units are in the mid-$300,000’s to more than $1 million, and tenants can expect a mid-2010 move-in date.

"We're very, very high on Charlotte," Tony Skillbeck stresses. "The city will continue to grow in the demographic of interest to Novare, the 25- to 45-year-olds who enjoy walking to work and all the dining and entertainment."

He notes that he and his wife have discussed moving to the center city. "To have the Blumenthal (Performing Arts Center) at your fingertips, and to decide  at 6:30 p.m. you want to eat out and at seven be sitting down at a nearby restaurant is really, really good."

Construction has begun on Novare's second  project in the city: Catalyst will be a 27-story, 486-unit tower in Third Ward at the corner of Church Street and Martin Luther King Jr.  Boulevard. Novare has pledged $1 million for the development of the planned fi ve-acre West Park adjacent to Catalyst.  Skillbeck's confi dence in the strength of the market is clear. "We'll start to sell units in early February," he says. "By the time we start selling, we'll be about five or six stories up."

While a core group of Realtors® focus on center city Charlotte, the large condo towers attract agents and their buyers from all over the region, says Montague. "Most of the big projects work hard to reach out and embrace Realtors®. … Agents should not be afraid to come downtown. There are good values and investment opportunities here." 

Reprinted from REALTOR® Reflections with permission of the CHARLOTTE REGIONAL REALTOR® ASSOCIATION. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.