Charlotte in the News

Charlotte is at the top of the charts when it comes to Real Estate. Unlike the majority of the markets in the nation, Charlotte has continued to see slow, but steady growth and an increase in home prices. Relocate-America.com made Charlotte #1 on their list: "Top 10 Best Places to Live in 2008".

A big reason for our growth is the banking industry and their tendency to hire recent college graduates. Bizjournals.com put together a great article with a list of "Best Metros for Young Adults".

New Year, New Job, New VUE

I have been fortunate enough to land a great position as a sales associate for The VUE in Charlotte, NC. This is a 51-story luxury high rise in Uptown Charlotte. Located in 4th ward, it is geared towards individuals who enjoy high-end living and want to be within walking distance of all the amenities that Uptown Charlotte has to offer.

The Vue’s Fourth Ward location is within walking distance of a multitude of fine-dining restaurants, a fantastic array of nightlife, performing arts theatres, Bobcats Basketball arena, the Bank of America Panther’s Stadium, and the proposed minor league baseball stadium. Best of all, if you work uptown, you can walk there as well.

The VUE offers Studios, 1 bedroom Lofts, 2 bedroom Flats, 3 bedroom Flats, and Penthouse Units. The square footage range is 571 to 3,000+ and prices range from $319,900-$2,189,900.

Everything standard in The VUE is considered an upgrade in most other condo developments. Ceiling heights range from 9 feet to 18+ feet. Living areas will have your choice of hardwood floors and your choice of luxury carpeting in the bedrooms. 6-12” of poured concrete between each unit and acoustical treatment between floors will make you feel as if you’re the only one home in the whole building. At The VUE it won’t be necessary to buy any appliances as we have supplied them all for you: GE Profile Stainless Steel in standard units and Thermadore stainless steel appliances in premium corner and penthouse units. Your choice of granite countertop and designer wood cabinetry finishes out the magnificent kitchen. Your bathroom will also have the granite and cabinet selections you have made and you’ll get to compliment your selection with your choice of marble/ceramic tile floors. Some units will feature the infinity bathtub, some the soaking tub and others will offer the bathtub and shower combo.

The building itself offers many amenities. For peace of mind, The VUE features secure residential parking with biometric fingerprint access, a beautifully decorated lobby with a 24-hour doorman and concierge service, and a pet park on the outdoor amenities deck so you don’t have to go to street level. If entertaining is more important to you, the VUE offers a state of the art media room for entertaining guests or simply enjoying the movie experience without leaving your building, a wine vault for your most prized bottles, and Club VUE which will have plasma screens, pool tables, dart boards, an unmanned bar, and common seating. Looking to maintain your physique? The VUE caters to you as well by offering a 4,000 square foot health club with state of the art equipment and a yoga room, as well as the outdoor amenities deck with 25-yard heated swimming pool and tennis/basketball courts.

For more information on The Vue (www.vuecharlotte.com), please do not hesitate to call or email me. (980)254-1454/lew1230@gmail.com

Uptown Magazine Article

Uptown, Charlotte's premier magazine for UPTOWN and the surrounding neighborhoods, has a great article this month reviewing some of the new condo developments.

It covers Uptown: 210 Trade, The Lofts @ Warehouse:3, 1st Row Warehouse, Courtside, 701 North Church, Fifth & Poplar, The Avenue, Frederick Place, Citadin, Garden District Row, The Garrison at Graham, SkyBridge Terrace, Lela Court Townhomes, Walnut Hill, The Park, The Quad at Quarterside, The Row at Quarterside, The Ledge at Quarterside, TradeMark, Celadon, The Metropolitan , The Trust , Uptown Village , The Vue Charlotte, and Bloc 90 .

SouthEnd: 1315 East, 3030 South,The Arlington, Southborough, Royal Court, The Block at Church Street, Park Avenue Plaza, Preston Flats, The Tremont.

NoDa or The Arts District: 28th Row, NoDa 18, Steel Gardens, The Renaissance, Royal Truss, 35th and McDowell.

Midwood: Seigle Point, Central 27 , The Vyne, SteelHaus, Plaza Vu, Cedar Gables.

Elizabeth: Elizabeth Court, Laurel Ridge, Ordermore 8, Woodstone of Elizabeth (no website), Avondale Square (no website).

I have visited the majority of these developments in past blogs, so be sure to check the archive for more information on these and also visit www.uptownclt.com.

I believe that one of the above developments needs more attention here because of the preservation component. Royal Truss is going to be an awesome development located in the existing Royal Manufacturing Building. What stands out most in this building is the curved, wood-slat ceiling that ranges from 9 feet to 20 feet, but the roll up doors are an exciting feature as well. There will be a total of 24 units ranging from 1025 sq. ft. to 1098 sq. ft. and prices ranging from $225,000-$232,500.

Eating Little Debbies Naked

Bloc90 (www.bloc90.com) is a new Tuscan Development condo complex at 15th Street and North Davidson Street. It's going where the big purple Urban Storage is currently and tonight is the Grand Opening Event. Little Debbies come into play because they will be serving these at this evening's event and the Naked is in reference to one of their biggest selling points -- Naked Flats. Tuscan will be offering five 650 sq. ft. condos completely unfinished: no cabinets, fixtures, or floorings. In addition to these five 650 sq. ft. units offered at $100k will be 25 742 sq. ft. one-bedroom units and 60 1050 sq. ft. two-bedroom units ($150,000-$220,000)with a projected move in date of spring 2008. Bloc90 will offer skyline views, a large deck between the two buildings, exposed ductwork, and a location super close to uptown.

Tuscan is known for their Opt12 and Duncan Gardens developments which are also in the Optimist Park area of town.


The Townhomes at Seigle Point (www.seiglepoint.com) are going FAST! This site at 10th Street and Seigle used to be low-income housing, but was demolished last year to make way for condos, townhomes, and apartments. A big part of this development was making sure that residents of the old Piedmont Courts would have a fair opportunity to purchase one of the residential units by allocating some affordable townhomes and condos. Fifty 3 bedroom units are approximately 1,195 sq. ft. and will range from $140,000 to $200,000s. Move in is estimated for early 2008.

Wesley Heights: Sky's the Limit, make that SkyLine's the Limit

Nestled in behind I-277, amongst mature trees and beautiful homes is a neighborhood called Wesley Heights. This tree lined neighborhood is home to classic bungalow style homes, a view you can't beat, and an even better location with quick access to I-277, I-77 and Uptown.

Walnut Hill – www.walnuthillcondos.com A 40 unit development consisting of 2 & 3 bedroom/ 2-3.5 bathroom Towhomes & Flats ranging from approx. 980 sq. ft to 1,500 sq. ft. Prices start in the low $200,000. Units offer attached garages and upgrades including granite countertops, surround sound,

Celadon – www.celadongreenway.com People love trees because they offer shade and privacy so the green surrounding these beauties makes this project stand out from others. The other plus is that these are the first condos in Charlotte to offer real “green” features such as light-reflective roof technology, and energy efficient appliances. This development will have 24 one, two and three bedroom units between 900 and 2,000+ sq. ft. and will run from the mid-$200k to mid-$400k. The modern-minimalist is cutting edge design for Charlotte, the kitchens will be Italian gourmet and can we say “om” for the master suites?

Summit Greenway – www.summitgreenway.com 12 townhouse-like condos, with prices from $179k to $259k. 1 car garages, approved by the historic commission, and the most incredible skyline views are just a few of the perks in this development.

Condo Update

SOUTHEND and UPTOWN
The Boulevard Company has three developments underway, two of which will be on the South Boulevard/Light Rail corridor and the third in 3rd Ward Uptown. These are going to be a bit different from other recent developments in that they are going to be no more than three stories tall.

The 3rd Ward development will be between Sycamore Street and North Irwin Avenue. It will consist of about 50 residential units, some offices and possible retail.

The South Boulevard developments will be at the corner of South Church and West Bland and one at the corner of South Church and West Summit. There could be up to 140 townhomes built at the Bland location and the Summit location will have a mix use including residential, retail, showrooms, offices, and restaurants.

In uptown there could be a new condo development built on the parking deck beside the Westin hotel. The development will add more levels of parking and 90 condo units averaging around $1,000,000.

NoDa
Watch out NoDa, big changes are about to occur! Gateway Homes has planned a 620-unit development at 400 E. 33rd Street. The first phase will have around 400 units, half of which will be condos and the other half apartments. The building will be four stories and there will be a pool and fitness center. Unit square footage will range from 800-2,000. The second phase will have a 10 story tower and depending on demand will be condos or apartments or a mix of both.

COTSWOLD
Rosewood, a 134 units development is changing the face of Cotswold. Units range from $500,000 to $1,088,000 and over half of the units have already sold! What makes the development stand out from the rest is the façade, which was modeled after the Biltmore Estate architecture. Rosewood is located at the corner of Sharon Amity and Providence Road. The units have 10 foot ceilings and the development offers concierge and laundry service a putting green and gourmet coffee bar. Residents can expect to move in by June of this year.

**BREAKING NEWS**

I must have been a very good girl this year because Santa has granted my wish. Better late than never. IKEA might be coming to town. For those of you who are unfamiliar with IKEA, please visit their site at www.ikea.com. IKEA is an international affordable, trendy, disposable furniture store where everything is flatboxed which makes for easy moving. It is a destination store and normally a day trip with a Swedish Restaurant for when you get hungry. For years now, people in the south have been traveling north with rented Uhauls to DC where the closest IKEA was, but in 2005 IKEA opened a store in Atlanta which cut the Uhaul mileage in half. The proposed location of the new IKEA is at the intersection of I-85 and City Blvd. Fingers crossed that this will happen. I will keep you posted.