Most units bought as second homes

Columbia’s downtown condo market is starting to define itself.

First, condos are selling, slowly but steadily.

Second, the strongest pre-construction sales are of moderately priced two-bedroom condos, from $175,000 to $350,000.

And third, the second-home market is leading the trend.

What’s not selling: one-bedroom condos that target young professionals.

The theory was those small condos would be home to the vaunted “creative class” of young professionals who are supposed to make Columbia’s future, knowledge-based economy tick.

But USC’s downtown research campus, Innovista, which is supposed to attract young researchers, has been slow to launch.

The university is still a major driver in the sales, however:

• Retirees like the collegiate vibe and activities, from sports to concerts

• Parents want to be near their kids attending school or buy units for their children

• Football fans buy cockominiums around Williams-Brice Stadium as party pads

“It’s kind of different from what we expected two years ago,” said Fred Delk, executive director of the Columbia Development Corp., the public-private agency that promotes investment in The Vista, downtown Columbia’s entertainment and arts district.

“But that’s creating an even better market,” he said.

Baby boomers, he said, “are spending a lot of money to decorate their new homes, for entertainment and in our restaurants and bars. All those credit cards are good for business.”

RESEARCH CAMPUS

Matt Kennell, president of the City Center Partnership that has Main Street as its anchor, agrees with those findings. He adds it’s too soon to worry about whether the research campus will deliver.

“It’s sort of a chicken and the egg thing,” he said. “As the research campus develops, their people will fill those spaces. But we need to have a fair amount of product to entice people to the research campus.”

In reaction to the slow one-bedroom sales, Adesso, a tower being built on South Main Street, is making some adjustments.

The partnership of the USC Development Foundation and Atlanta’s Holder Properties that is building Adesso, across from USC’s new alternative fuels research center, is redesigning the building to turn 10 one-bedroom units into five two-bedroom units. So far, the tower, home to some of downtown’s highest-priced units, has pre-sold 19 of its 115 units.

“The one-bedrooms have sold the least,” said Suzanne Bowers, the project manager. “And we’ve got no one on board who is affiliated with USC.”

City Center’s Kennell conducted an informal survey of downtown buyers by attending open houses over the holidays.

“It’s a surprising number of women over 50,” he said. “They like the security (of a building), the convenience, the downtown scene — the restaurants, the arts.”

One of them is Patty Reese, a 52-year-old business development specialist and accountant.

Reese and her partner, Sam Serio, a 54-year-old real estate entrepreneur, bought a live-work condo in the 1520 Main building, across from the Columbia Museum of Art, when their daughter decided to attend USC.

The couple decided to keep their house in rural Tryon, N.C., — “A slice of heaven,” she says — but move to Columbia.

Here, they can be near their daughter, Courtney, and practice their occupations in a growing city. Twice a month, they return to their country home.

On Main Street, “we can be in the thick of things during the day, but things kind of roll up and get quiet at night,” Reese said Wednesday, before heading out to catch the musical “Rent” at the Koger Center.

“It’s convenient to everything,” she said. “We can walk to the grocery, the Vista, the museum, the Koger Center.”

Said Serio: “People are very friendly here, and from a business perspective, I see a growing city with a lot of opportunities.”

SLOW AND STEADY

The condo market is capitalizing on the triad of Columbia’s economy: the military, state government and the university. There can be rough patches, but the joke goes that they are all government, and when has government ever gotten smaller?

The Columbia market “is not the highest of the highs or the lowest of the lows,” said Daniel Doyle, The Beach Co.’s project manager for CanalSide, a new 25-acre neighborhood to be built on the site of the old state prison along the Columbia Canal.

The Beach Co. has sold 19 of the 36 condos it has made available in two buildings and is marketing another building.“We’re selling two or three a week, ongoing — very steady,” Doyle said. “That’s why we like this market.”

In the military category, Jim and Judy Trout, who now live in a house at Lake Marion, have purchased a condo in Adesso.

Jim is a defense contractor based at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, close to Lake Marion. Judy is retired. They are downsizing, attracted to city living.

“We travel a lot, and that’s another reason for a condo,” she said. “The security is there. We can leave the condo for months and not have to worry. No lawn, no sprinkler system, no problems.”

State government workers also are looking for ease of use.

Lawmakers, lobbyists and attorneys spend a good part of the year in Columbia. Buying a condo to live in part time is a better value than paying for weeks of hotel rooms.

Former deputy state treasurer Trav Robertson of Anderson bought a condo in the old Schneider School development, GranDevine, on Devine Street. He now is making it his primary residence.

“The thing that sold me is it is exactly seven minutes from the State House,” he said. “If I want a piece of furniture, I walk across the street to Bohemian orStrobler. If I’m hungry, I walk to Za’s” pizzeria.

“The majority of lawmakers are wealthy or retired and have the ability to purchase a second home,” he said. “The market is there.”

THE BUILD OUT

Developers predict the boomer trend will continue and the market will broaden as condo buildings are completed.

Right now, most projects are still under construction. And developers say many people are hesitant to purchase a condo, especially for prices above $400,000, based solely on floorplans and models.

To help, the Houston-based Dinerstein Cos. has built a model in a warehouse near its The Gates at William-Brice development, being built on Shop Road. The model is complete down to plasma televisions and a faux balcony.

The Gates complex is the last to be completed around Williams-Brice and, at $187 to $205 per square foot, has the lowest price. The model demonstrates the quality of the construction and amenities, even though the price is lower, vice president Brian Dinerstein said.

“It has made a big difference,” he said. “A lot of people won’t buy off paper.”

Meanwhile, Main Street pioneers Tom and Jeff Prioreschi said they have had success selling their Capital Places units across the board — from a few one-bedrooms in their newly built 1520 Main building to a penthouse in Vsion, an office building at Marion and Lady street that is being converted.

They’re not worried about their one-bedrooms selling, they said.

“Young people will follow the empty nesters,” Jeff Prioreschi said. “And when you get over $400,000, you’re pricing yourself out of the meat of the market, so it’s a harder sell.

“I think as a market we’re just about where we want to be,” he said. “We’re fine.”

Source: www.thestate.com

This entry was posted on Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Condo, Real Estate. Tags: Adjustment Air Force Atlanta Category Columbia Columbia Canal Columbia Development Corp. Condo development Fred Delk Hotel Rooms Houston Lady Street Main Street Office Building Projects Real Estate restaurant South Main Street sports State Government The Beach Co. Travel Vine Street Williams-Brice Stadium . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.