Skybridge Condos: Up and Running

August 20, 2008
Lynnsy Logue The Real Estate Lady and Condo CanDo in Charlotte, NC

West Morehead is on the rise
Skybridge Terrace is up and running …

Project size: 144 condos in three buildings off the 1200 block of West Morehead Street.
Prices: Units range from 500 to 1,078 square feet and sell from the $120,000s to $280,000s.
Timeline: First of three buildings completed. Two others to be started as the market dictates.
Features: Elevators in each building secure parking and controlled access, private balconies on most units, 10-foot smooth ceilings, double-bowl stainless-steel sinks, granite bar tops in kitchens and hardwood flooring in living areas.
West Morehead Street has emerged over the past decade as a commercial revitalization district as aging warehouses have been converted to modern offices.
Now, residential revitalization is poised to be The Next Big Thing in development there.
The first building in Skybridge Terrace, a planned 144-unit condo project, has been completed on West Morehead at Calvert Street near Interstate 77, and the initial owners have begun to move into their units.
The $22 million project occupies 2.2 acres with a greenway connection that provides pedestrian access to uptown via Third Ward and the Bank of America Stadium area.
Farther out Morehead at the Wilkinson Boulevard intersection, American Investment Exchange plans a 40,000-square-foot office building on a 1.6-acre parcel that once housed the Plantation Grill.
Ogunrinde, a principal in Neighboring concepts with Darrel Williams and Luis Tochiki, said the firm has been active on West Morehead since it bought the triangle-shaped Carolina Moving and Storage warehouse in 1998 and converted it to office condos.
The commercial development under way in the corridor is setting the stage for future retail and residential development, he believes.
The increased density has the potential to attract shops and restaurants to serve office workers and residents.
And the area also could appeal to office tenants and condo owners seeking to enjoy center city amenities without paying center city prices.
The remaining Skybridge Terrace condos – 500 to 1,060 square feet – are priced, for example, from the $120,000s to the $280,000s.
Prices fall in the $250-a-square-foot range compared with $350 a square foot or more inside I-277.
The project eventually will have three buildings – 48,000 square feet each – connected by sky bridges to give owners uptown skyline and Wesley Heights tree canopy views.
Ogunrinde said the skyline side, with the largest and most expensive units, has been the most popular so far.
Buyers put contracts on all the units, he said, but some are struggling to arrange financing and close in the uncertain lending market.
Purchasers have been a mix of older professionals, young professionals and people seeking a second dwelling.
For more information on the West Morehead Stretch, refer to our podcast on Bryant Park and on the Charlotte Law School. And also remember that the city-county offices at the Hal Marshall Center on North Tryon are being re-located to Freedom Drive.
Lynnsy Logue The Real Estate Lady and Condo CanDo in Charlotte, NC