New article today about the Lifestyle Communities and Neighborhood Launch Condos from The Dispatch: Developments Downtown tout urban convenience, suburban feel.
Additional information and progress updates on each of these Downtown Projects can be found here:
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I had my doubts on both of these projects, but they’re both looking really great now that they’re in the ground.
I’m not sure I’d say either of them is quite as “suburban” as the Dispatch is trying to make it out, but I’m sure that can’t do anything but help sell them to anyone who might be on the fence.
When I think of suburban living, I picture:
1. Winding streets and dead-end cul-de-sacs in monolithic subdivisions.
2. Large swaths of unused (yet pristine mowed and watered) greenspace.
3. Retail and recreational destinations outside of a reasonable walking distance.
And to those points, these developments have none of the above. They’re quite urban. And nice. I agree with Kevin Wood calling them a “game changer” because 510 new units Downtown is a pretty hefty number for two developments. Even if they only house an average of 1.5 people per unit (mix of 1 & 2 bedroom) then that adds 765 new residents Downtown. Now we just need a few dozen more of these types of developments. What would it take to have Edwards & The LC do similar types of projects in other locations. I hear that the City of Columbus owns quite a bit of land in East Franklinton that would be pretty ripe for this type of private development.
PS: Good to hear the next phase of Neighborhood Launch is still coming this fall. Can’t wait to see that moving along! :D
Yeah these look great. Hope they sell.
Some progress photos from The Annex at RiverSouth taken this evening (pardon some of the lighting in some of them… was starting to get dark)…
Nice pics Walker, the development looks really nice. I’m looking for a new place to live and would probably get one of these if the cheapest 1 bedrooms came with a place to put my car.
I think they won’t have too much trouble filling them without me though.
Fanfreakintastic looking development.
“”Those two housing developments create more synergies than anything we’ve seen in Downtown,” said Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District”
Again, this is because these single developments are all right next to each other, creating an intact urban fabric that is rare Downtown. Like I’ve been saying, it was nice that developers were willing to convert existing buildings into condos, but quite a few are located in areas where there’s next to nothing going on. It’s better to focus on completely filling in one area vs. filling in a spot here and there in dead zones. Too bad Rebecca Ryan forgot to tell them that after collecting her consultation fee.
Nice, all we need now is a high rise development on top of the Columbia Gas Building garage to block all their views. :-) Seriously, that is a prime spot for a residential high rise.
Actually, our downtown has more of a suburban feel than a big city feel, with extra-wide streets, skyscrapers spread out from one another, clean streets, lots of Subways and other fast food joints, and police issuing jay walking tickets. I thought this couple summed it up quite nicely.
“My husband and I were a bit quieter, coming in from the suburbs, and what I liked is you have a front door and you have a back door, and a garage you can drive right into,” Chippas said. “It’s like they’ve taken suburban living and put it Downtown.”
@NerosNeptune – ”
Nice pics Walker, the development looks really nice. I’m looking for a new place to live and would probably get one of these if the cheapest 1 bedrooms came with a place to put my car.
I think they won’t have too much trouble filling them without me though.”
The one bedrooms actually do come with a parking spot, just not in the garage. There are 6 spots in the middle (which is secure) that you get to park in.
gk Says: lots of Subways and other fast food joints…
Lots of Subways, yes… other Fast Food? Not so much: Fast food dies slow death downtown
Downtown Columbus has it all: from the Drive-Thru District to the Gay Bar District. Try finding a juxtaposition like that in Manhattan.
Thanks for the clarification surber.. I will have to look in to these.. although there are only 6 spots? I don’t know how familiar you are with the project, are there only 6 non-garage getting apartments?
@NerosNeptune – “Thanks for the clarification surber.. I will have to look in to these.. although there are only 6 spots? I don’t know how familiar you are with the project, are there only 6 non-garage getting apartments?”
There are two condo buildings with 38 condos each. All of the two-bedroom condos have a 1 car attached garage. There are 6 one-bedroom condos in each of the buildings. There are 6 secure parking spaces for each building: 1 space for each of the one-bedroom condos.
The condos are on the West side of Front Street and the apartments are on the East side of Front Street. The parking spaces for condos and apartments are separate from each other.
This watercolor rendering shows the 6 parking spaces within the courtyard parking area of each of the two condo buildings. http://bit.ly/ArPWX
Everything looks better in watercolor!
Model
Square Feet
Beds
Baths
Garage
Starting At
Cambridge
1135
2
2
1 parking garage space
$1,600/mo
Georgetown
1030
2
2
1 parking garage space
$1,100/mo
Greenwich
725
1
1
1 parking garage space
$900/mo
Brooklyn
725
1
1
0
$700/mo
Fairmount
980
2
2
1 parking garage space
$1,500/mo
“Everything looks better in watercolor!”
That’s how I was sold on Ibiza, haha!
How many and what percentage of available units have sold?
According to the Dispatch article linked to up top, 15 of the 76 condos at The Annex “have been spoken for” with no mention of the 134 apartment units, and 37 out of the 47 Neighborhood Launch units “have been sold or have buyers”.
Not very encouraging numbers. Recession or not.
Do you know what are numbers normally like for condo developments that are still under construction? I haven’t noticed any specific averages to lay my expectations with, but I’d say that I’d be more worried if they had only sold 15 of 76 and they had been sitting empty for two years after completion.