February 5, 2016

Rewind…I wrote on Thursday morning and hit the wrong key
and erased it as I jumped to grab my notebook
and head into the world. Later, I will get back… later.
The day was  about a fabulous truck
 that was so long it extended over the driveway
 in a fabulous townhome community
and nixed the choice of the fabulous couple.
And then there was the letter my mother
wrote in 1958 when I was in college about
how Fred’s mother befriended her, this newcomer from a
very small town in Virginia.
And then seeing Fred and his wife, sweethearts in high school,
 that evening, at a gathering of the class of ’57 MPHS
 and telling him about the letter
and thanking him, fifty-eight years later.
Opening the letter from Roads Scholar
updating information on my 77^th birthday gift
 to myself in July: “we will go to the Blue Lagoon
 in Iceland on Day 1.”
Then receiving a text at dinner at Shun Lee
with classmates, an offer presented for the home
I have listed off Rea Road.
And not lastly, gathering all the documents
 I now need for tomorrow’s meeting to try to sell
 the family crypts we held at Sharon Mausoleum
 now empty. We scattered their ashes on a hillside
next to the forest where we lived in Virginia.
Happier times for them.
What we know, it is the small pieces
 that make the whole and each is treasured.

February 3, 2016

My promise is to write every day.
But here it is, mid-morning and I am scrambling to do the basics
 before I head out. This also includes doing homework for Spanish II through
CPCC at the Myers Park High School campus in the evenings,
Wednesday 7-9 p.m. Today is Wednesday.
 I took longer doing the work because it drew me in.
Some of the attraction is another language,
 romantic one at that, and the different words play with the mind.
My mind drifts a bit with a small coupling like “media noches, es media noches.” The day the era ends, the media noches, the midnight,
 half day, half night, sliced- apart- yesterday-today,
 tomorrow and last week. The trace is gone. The grueling upheaval in Matthews on Fullwood
 torments my spirit. I keep driving through it, back and forth.

 And I can hear the chanting in deep cells
 in the crevices of my brain, memory.Footsteps heal to the smooth grade of erasure,
another corner lost to the future, the hour,
 the meaning of this, what is lost, what is found,
what becomes and what has gone.
 Traces of earth moving machines,
our whole history, dirt turns, gone the burrow,
 gone the blind, down the nest, crushed the eggs,
 smashed the snakes, gone the frogs,
 the turtles, the worms, the beetles, the seeds,
 the babes, the old, gone.
The largest, oldest trees, sprawling limbs and huge branches
 bore the leaves that sheltered cows and chickens,
supported clothes lines and fresh smelling laundry,
provided circles for children to play around, swings to fly,
lovers to kiss, and olden, wood to burn for winters night.
Gone. So much of our village gone.I am here to see it go, feel the change and maybe follow
 before my heart breaks
 or I clang my sword and hammer type
 to print to sing the song Media Noches.

 I asked her “how?”

She said it took her about ten years. When she knew of a want, a need or a love for something,
she would make it so.
 I packed.
We moved to the nursing home and settled in.
Soon John died. She followed within days.
Rita tended, and watched, planned and acted, spoke and listened, received and gave.
She made sending things on,
seeing other folks happy and pleased with her
offerings a part of going forward.
And you know after a while, it is or can be joyful.
You might come to love this path, feel and act younger, appreciate what you have and had even more, review memories, read old love letters and savor
 this very life by letting go. 

She gave me the gift of learning to let go with grace. She taught me care and appreciation for what we have, who is in our care. She showed me how to listen to another and how to behave as life brings its gift. Each passage is so,
each layers the other.

I try to figure out what to say to the Baby Boomers some twenty years younger than I, that this might be the time, to craft the language so they hear themselves say, “sending on, giving to, making sure”…being as thoughtful giving as in getting…we are stewards. Rita's gift…the surprise and wonder, unwrapping, opening, removing, trying on or trying out, using, using a lot, not using, forgetting, storing, finding, wonder, using, remembering that morning, deciding now, passing on. A prayer perhaps.

From the wise woman and fine neighbor and good friend,
my spirit guide, Rita Adams, thank you.

I listen. Smiling.

 Thinking to myself about Rita Adams,
 the wonderful neighbor who taught me
 that lesson before I even started.
 Rita was one of the wisdom teachers in my life. And hers were not lectures or long descriptions of how to or when to, they were simple guides.
 I could see Rita’s wisdom in the way she lived her life,
they way she cared for her husband,
her home, her garden, and sometimes me.And we did not see each other often
 and when we did, it was short, poignant, sweet, a gift.
I would leave fresh flowers on her doorstep
 ( from my flower stand on Morehead Street where
 I sold flowers every Friday and Saturday
for three years, rain snow or sleet…and sometimes
 had flowers left over) and she would
 leave cookies on my porch.

She called one day to ask if I would help her take
some things to the nursing home where she was moving
to be with John,
he suffered from Alzheimer’s and she cared for him at home until her eyesight failed immeasurably .When I walked in their home it was almost empty. Just a couple of chairs, a bed, a few dishes, two cups, two bowls…everything was gone.
The most important things were before me:
what I could not see.
 I asked her “how?”
( continued)

I promised myself I would write every day.

 It will have to be in the morning somehow.

 Here is why: Saturday was market day, breakfast with Mary, 

more market, home to get ready for an Open House, to tend 

my sweet companion, Eve, and off to real estate and it went

 on until I came home, fed the dog and crashed. 

Because, no sooner did I drive up to the elegant townhome
 I have on the market off Rea Road,

 you know the one with the fabulous and exotic gardens 

with fountains and palms, yes, that one, "they" came. 

They came and came and came. Like a gentle tide in

 the early morning, a yawning sea breaking day, a hungry child,

 they came, the Baby Boomers. 

They are out. They have been out, leaving camp, packing up,
and heading out to new territory. 

Some have settled in their Masters on Main and are travelling. 

Some have settled down and tending their health, nursing a spouse, 

becoming the nanny or meeting the oneness of being single again, 

of widowhood. Whatever. 

They are making themselves known. And some are precious. 

They wore me out yesterday. You see, they are, the wave that came my way,

 just starting to think about “scaling down”. I sense excitement and trepidation,

 here they are after 20-30-40+ years in a home

 they are about to leave.

 “What do we do with all the stuff?"

 They say that with eyes wide, hands spread

 out or down with palms open or clenched, 

both a smile and a grimace…the words echo,

 “All the stuff!”
(More tomorrow or later tonight so I stay on schedule.)

How I learned to embrace "letting go" from a woman far wiser
than I will ever be.

 Learning the languages of hope from our new citizens.

January 29, 2016

 
Como esta ustd?

At the last class of Spanish 1 at Myers Park High School where foreign language classes
are taught as an adjunct of CPCC,
right before the holidays, our fabulous instructor, Kelly, remarked that very often Spanish 2
classes were not well attended.
The class needed 10 students to make.
 I wanted to take Spanish 2 because I really
want to learn the language.  I believe it is important to be able to talk to folks who are ever in my life.
 I see the Latinos, hardworking, constant, polite, quiet, strong, steady, determined, children in hand,
comforting their elders or so it seems to me, they have grande corizon! Mucho trabajar!

 I want them to know I share their values
 and honor them. My new classmates come
 from all over the world. They come at different
degrees and angles and different
times for various reasons:
 to marry, to work, to go to school,
to be with family, to travel,
to seek, to build…to live it out, out loud!I was both surprised and delighted
 when our first Spanish 2 class this past Wednesday
 night (7-9p.m.) was almost a full house.
 And they are outstanding. The people are so alive and energetic. I am taken by their stories
( told in Spanish, remember, this is Spanish 2)
 their origins (one from Poland, another from
France and yet another from Saudi Arabia)
 their place in their lives. I felt like a
very young child and
 an ancient oracle.
Breathless.
Excited they were/are all in Charlotte with all
 of their gusto and desire and curiosity and transparency and vulnerabilities.
I fell in love with the body of students for what I know about a classroom: one's protective cape is often shed at the door.
A necessity I believe to open the gates of the
 learning center, the brain.
My spirit soared as I pledged to
myself to do the homework as soon as possible.And while I cringe and groan about the changes in our town and surrounding areas, I see Charlotte is drawing upon the world for her new citizens, her young leaders, her experienced teachers, her wise parents,
her  emerging heritages.I can embrace the
metamorphosis when I feel hope.
Hasta luego!
And a big thanks to CPCC and MPHS!

January 28, 2016

With this ring, I thee wed.

I promised myself I would write everyday. Everyday I would come to this magic place I love where round windows are portals to other worlds, where stone and glass floors remind me I am earth bound, allowed only to leave while I write and safe here away from a world that is turning and churning into red clay.
 Here my heart knows safe harbor.The noise of the machines are their own music as they hum and taste the richness of clay on their tongues and feast on memories of babies learning to walk, baseball games and black farmers on the edges of town cultivating their crops for their own and for the city folks. I  tuck my tears beneath my wings,  today they gush like mountain waterfalls over roads and barricades and a big white farm house that is no longer where it is supposed to be.For richer or poorer, I call Matthews my home, in sickness and in health, I find my way here. When I first came here, between Matthews and Charlotte,
mail could not be delivered to my small cottage
 much to my delight. I had to have a post office box.
 Matthews is morphing, the country town is changing.
The traffic is  overbearing even at  five in the morning, even at eleven at night.

Down the road before you get to farmer Groves’ front patch
and off down Brackenberry, one brick ranch was leveled in the
 middle of the night and markers
for three new ones are in place.
 Or down Ballantyne way  where I rode my bike, flew like the wind down to Marvin and over to South Carolina, rounded the bend one day and there for as far as the eye could see red clay and the smell of earth, of clay, of yesterday. “Go on ahead,” I whisper. “I am content to stay here, be wed here, always.”

How can it be? The month, January 2016, is slipping away.

Central Piedmont Community College-Elizabeth at Central-Dec. 1991   ©Logue

January 27, 2016

How can it happen?

 2015 drifts away, smaller and smaller.
What am I forgetting?
Am I forgetting that Park Road Shopping center at the intersection of Park Road and Woodlawn completed in
1955 is being ripped apart for newer and bigger and others? The red clay is turned and something brand new will rise.

 Am I missing the changes in SouthEnd where whole blocks are gone and Price’s Chicken Coop sits like
an outlander in home territory?

And where did it go, that church on the corner of Central and Hawthorne except to fade to our outcries after our long silences when we let it drift away and crumble?

I can say that I lived in Charlotte during the period where Mom and Pop shops flourished, when the airport was dubbed Douglas airport for the man who fought to bring the airlines here. Can you just imagine if it were not?

And we remember the woman who, from the basement of Central High School on Elizabeth, reached and stretched, called and wrote, stumped and spoke, knocked on doors, raised money and planted seeds for the University, north of town where the light rail will speed soon.
Do you know her name?

 Our lives are a cascade of old and new on many levels.The plan before me, the one being crafted in my every late night and early morning is just that, Charlotte’s old and Charlotte’s new, from our archives in my websites and blogs, looking back to the late 90’s and maybe before to a time when condominiums were the new kids in town, to a time when planners spoke of the giant steps being taken
and how they might impact us.

 I will speak to both old and new, seriously, older condominiums and newer condominiums, both choices with chances, among other concerns that give me pause, makes me wonder what are we doing,
what are we allowing in our once fair city?

And why?And maybe old and new from other parts of our country, the world. This is another beginning for me. And this is the old platform on Blogger  and the new one
is under construction on Square Space.
But I must hurry, I should not wait any longer,
 the tea party is well underway.
February is almost here.
I must hurry.

Dec. 31, 2015 Circle, The Year Ends and Begins, Like Me, Like You

I have spent the last year sifting and sorting every part of my life: preparing to immerse myself in all the throes of the digital world, the social media, the technology of real estate and the world, the sense of economies, large and small, the wonder of grasping the identification of generations, the erosion of our city by the gold miners who have always been here taking different shapes and names but always skimming and scheming and digging and leaving large gaping holes in which they sometimes make their getaway and leave us wondering what happened? And as I fall through the mist of tears and joy, as I read old love letters and cherish all the photos I have taken on all the streets and in the villages and of the trees and favorite places and people, I hold my hands to my heart in thankfulness. I will not land. And as I go from place to place on different levels, there are some places I want you to see both then and now, either or both, from the world where I have placed them. The Archives.Is this real estate? Nothing could be more of head and heart than this home called Charlotte, my beginning. I will start at the one such beginning for me. Matthews Market. In the heart of Matthews by Renfroe Hardware. The market is where I begin my week that starts every Saturday morning rain or snow or sleet  and the only thing that keeps me away is severe illness or being out of the country and even then I am at a market somewhere if only in my heart and soul. The market is the end and the beginning. The final fruit is brought for us to nourish our bodies and in this doing, my spirit, our spirits, are nourished. I firmly believe I am alive today, healthy today from all the ravages of chemo-therapy, radiation and surgery and resulting side effects of each by the food raised, planted, grown and tended by these gentle folk. Two days ago, camera in hand I went to the marketplace. Still amidst the bustle of Matthews. Still and yet, I can hear voices, the songs of market. Still, though I can see, the people I know scurrying from vendor to vendor, chat with the volunteers, see the farm children grow into adults, see the swales of new and old visitors and when it is finished, the stands and tables and simple signs and the billowing tents remain and the dirt and gravel grind beneath my boots and a tall tree stands over all reaching her boughs high and her roots deep. This is me.
 I am the tree and this is what I bring you.

The Mind at Rest Starts to Play Again

One door closes another opens

We know in the business of real estate, the days can be long, the nights stressful and there are just never enough hours in the day, or so it seems. There is the work at hand, goal setting for the next quarter, the holidays, classes, conferences and the major domo, change. The days are exhilarating, the pace is quick and strong, and the excitement of the evolving real estate industry keeps body and mind at a steady clip. Sometimes it is good to close the door and walk away.

The mind at rest starts to play again

 I did just that this weekend. I left computers and iPad, podcast microphone, notes for clients, and a how-to-start a blog instruction for classmates in process. Set up for Halloween for the neighborhood children and parents who walk along the trick or treat trail was my chief concern. For forty years I  set baskets of organic fruit at my gate and, often in costume, most recently a chicken, I look for the families to come, stop and chat, see their children as they grow from year to year, meet new neighbors and chat with old friends. I like the real people with their children, kids in their costumes, some moms and dads, too, and me in a chicken hat, all add balance to real estate’s moving and shaking, the digital world of data, more numbers and a plethora of predictions; a chance to think of nothing more than our home place.

September 26, 2015 From our archives!

Map: Uptown condo development

Posted: Saturday, Mar. 06, 2010

Charlotte's uptown vision is
delayed as condo sales sag

With condo demand flagging, plans for a center city fueled by a population boom will have to wait a little longer.

By Kerry Hall Singe
ksinge@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Monday, Mar. 08, 2010

COLUMNISTS »

Kerry Hall Singe

Kerry Hall Singe writes on business and development for The Charlotte Observer.

March 08, 2010

Aerial photograph of Charlotte's skyline, taken from the southeast. Experts predict many new uptown condominium units will be converted to rentals, and that others will come down in price. "Uptown is going to become more affordable," says Bill Miley, Metrostudy's Charlotte market manager. GARY O'BRIEN - gobrien@charlottebserver.com, FROM WCNC AIRSTAR 6

More Information

• Map: Uptown condo development
• Building by building: Update on condo construction
• Two views: A buyer, a renter
• Two residents' experiences

Two residents' experiences

The buyer

Rob Cummings moved to Fourth Ward with his wife, Lana, and two young children from south Charlotte in 2003, attracted by the idea of being able to walk to restaurants, parks and sporting events. In 2005, he put down a deposit on a unit at The Vue for his mother for when she retires.

An operating partner at a Charlotte-based private equity firm, Cummings said the quality of life has improved over the years. His son, Cole, recently celebrated his birthday at Strike City bowling alley and the family enjoys walking to the EpiCentre to eat pizza and ice cream.

Cummings, past president of the Friends of Fourth Ward neighborhood association, said he knows his house has lost value recently. But he also see signs of economic revival - such as a wine bar that opened recently on North Tryon Street where a drugstore once was.

"I feel that uptown was positioned to really explode. I still think it will," he said. "It will just take longer than expected."

The renter

Tim Jones, 26, a client service consultant at Wells Fargo & Co., said he thought briefly about buying when he was looking at moving from South End to uptown last year. He decided to rent, partly because he wasn't sure he could get the value he wanted if he purchased a condo.

He chose a one-bedroom at the Catalyst at South Church Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Jones enjoys his two-block walk to work, and the building's workout room and luxury clubhouse.

He plans to renew his lease and sees a "huge amount of growth potential" for his new neighborhood.

Plans were increasingly grand.
Luxury condos on top of boutique hotels. Penthouses with elevators for owners' cars. Predictions that more than 17,000 residents would live uptown today, about double the number at the start of the decade.
Developers announced at least 20 condo high-rises for the center city during the mid-2000s, earning Charlotte a national reputation as a darling among downtown economic developers.
Then the recession hit and, as with much of America, uptown's future swiftly changed.
Instead of 20 towers, eight have been built.
Of two roughly 50-story high rises, one made it out of the ground, but the Vue faces obstacles in a market dominated by first-time homebuyers and speculators looking to buy cheap.
Condos that once sold for around $400,000 are now on the market in the mid-$200s. Average closing prices have fallen to levels last seen in 2003, according to one analysis.
Uptown's population has stayed flat - estimated at about 11,000 residents, the same number cited by uptown boosters four years ago.
On the brighter side, falling prices will make uptown more affordable. And developers finished marquee projects - notably the EpiCentre entertainment complex and Wells Fargo Cultural Campus with three museums and a theater - that economic developers say will boost uptown's appeal. The NASCAR Hall of Fame opens in May.
The center city's housing market is also expected to rebound faster than the Charlotte area as a whole, some say. That's because Charlotte is among the fastest-growing metro areas, and many newcomers are young professionals, ideal candidates for uptown living.
A healthy downtown is important because it can help attract new companies to the region, said Michael Smith, president of Charlotte Center City Partners, an uptown booster. Companies often prefer cities that offer a variety of lifestyles for employees, he said.
"It's the living room for a community," he said of uptown. "When someone wants to know how healthy Charlotte is, they're going to come and look at the center city."
The vision for what uptown could become isn't dead, experts say. But the dreams have been pushed back five to 10 years, they estimate.
"It's not so much the financial crash has dashed the hopes of Charlotte's uptown for being a great neighborhood," said Peter Compton, a real estate economist with PPR, part of Bethesda, Md.-based CoStar Group. "It's delayed it."
Condo glut
David Furman, one of uptown's most bullish believers and active developers, remembers the early warning signs in 2008.
His 202-unit, $73 million condo high-rise, TradeMark, was about 95 percent sold when people started having trouble closing.
At the same time, buyers at another condo project, 184-unit Quarterside in First Ward, tried to get out of their contracts, he said. As sales dropped, his company aggressively marketed the building but didn't get any nibbles.
"I thought, 'We're screwed,'" he recalled.
He later converted Quarterside to rental units to cut his losses, one of three condo projects to do so last year. He says the 28-story TradeMark is "stable" and he is renting out some units that didn't sell until the market improves.
"It was booming beyond what was sustainable," he said of uptown's condo market, which grew rapidly in the mid-2000s before tapering off last year. "I still think there is a thirst for urbanism. Downtown is feeling the same pain as everywhere."
Optimism for the center city blossomed during the mid-2000s as Charlotte's economy flourished, thanks largely to Bank of America and Wachovia, which employed thousands of workers at their uptown headquarters.
Between 2004 and 2007, developers announced plans that would have created more than 3,000 condos in the 20 planned towers. Proposed investment topped $3.6 billion.
Developers were betting on bank employees and other finance-related workers to snap up the units. Upscale eateries also moved in to cater to the new residents, adding to uptown's allure. The banks were also racking up record profits at the time and announcing new building projects of their own.
By fall 2007, work had started on four towers - two of which have since been canceled.
One project that made it up, Catalyst, converted to rentals because condos weren't selling. Rents start at $1,100 a month. The other tower, The Vue, is expected to be completed in fall, and some residents might move in this summer.
By January 2008, however, developers were canceling plans, citing an uncertain economy.
Uptown's future took another hit as thousands of banking and finance workers lost their jobs amid the banking industry's meltdown. Wachovia was sold to San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co.
Currently, about 1,100 units are under construction and less than 50 are built but vacant in uptown, according to national industry tracker Metrostudy.
Compton, the economist, estimates uptown has a five-year supply of condos available.
Bill Miley, Metrostudy's Charlotte market manager, said a significant number of the units coming online will probably convert to rentals.
"Developers really jumped on the bandwagon because the towers that were the first ones finished sold out and did very well," Miley said. "Unfortunately, all the ones now under construction are going to have a hard time.
"Uptown is going to become more affordable," he said. "(Owners) will have to lower prices to get rid of inventory, make them rentals or give them back to the bank."
Sales prices have fallen
Real estate analyst Emma Littlejohn said uptown condos on average may have lost 20 percent to 25 percent of their value during the past two years.
Some have lost more. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at Fifth and Poplar Condominiums that sold for $427,500 in 2007, for example, is listed for sale at $285,000 - a one-third drop.
The good news, Littlejohn said, is she believes there is demand for both condos for sale and rentals.
"The housing will be occupied," she said. "People want to live downtown."
She also said Charlotte was lucky in that, unlike in cities such as Miami, the skyline isn't marred by unfinished projects.
Uptown has one eyesore - the rusting skeleton of the failed high-rise The Park at Third and Caldwell streets. But construction may resume as a new owner took over the project last fall and recently filed for rezoning for a hotel/condo combination.
"It's not like we got caught with 10 towers all the way up," Littlejohn said.
Uptown boosters, however, got a scare last fall when The Vue's general contractor stopped work because it hadn't been paid. The Chicago-based developer, MCL Cos., had fallen behind on its payments but renegotiated with its lenders. Work resumed more than a month later.
Dan McLean of MCL Cos. has said he believes sales will pick up once buyers can tour finished units, and he is counting on empty nesters and others looking for second homes to purchase units.
He has said about half of the 409-unit building at Fifth and Pine streets is pre-sold. He has said he won't convert to rentals.
Prices start at around $280,000, the same as when MCL took over about three years ago.
Closings for new and existing uptown homes hit a high of 533 in 2006 before they fell to 153 last year, according to an analysis of transactions through the Carolina Multiple Listing Service from 2003 through 2009 by the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. The listing doesn't include private sales and some new construction.
Average sales prices rose steadily from about $260,000 in 2003 to a high of nearly $350,000 five years later before falling back to around $260,000 last year, according to the association. The drop is largely due to sales at Fourth Ward Square, an apartment complex that converted to condos starting at around $100,000.
Newcomer Leeanne McManus bought one of those condos a year and a half ago after she moved to Charlotte from Portland, Ore., to be closer to family.
A wireless telecommunications project manager who works from home, McManus wanted to be within walking distance of restaurants, entertainment and the library.
"When this deal came along," she said, "I jumped on the opportunity to live uptown, without breaking the bank."
Growth could help
Charlotte Center City Partners estimated 17,750 residents would be living uptown and in nearby areas by now. That hasn't happened. Smith says 25,000 residents by 2020 is "incredibly achievable."
Charlotte's population is expected to grow faster than the nation's on average - about 2.4 percent a year during the next five years, according to CoStar Group, which studies real estate markets in the United States and abroad.
While that's less than past growth rates, it's higher than the 1 percent growth expected for the country as a whole, Compton said.
Compton said uptown is also likely to see new jobs first, compared to the rest of the Charlotte region. He sees employers moving into downtown because rents have fallen and new space is coming onto the market this year.
Recovery, Compton said, will be "long and drawn out." But uptown should fare better than the city as a whole because "it's a desirable location, the amenities are there, and it will become more affordable."
Veteran real estate appraiser Fitzhugh Stout agrees with Compton's assessment, saying uptown's commercial properties have probably lost 10 percent to 40 percent of their value from two years ago.
He expects to see some high-end restaurants close in the center city and be replaced by more moderately priced ones. He doesn't anticipate much retail moving in anytime soon.
Uptown's housing recovery could take five to 10 years, he said. While he's "very" upbeat about uptown, Stout said, "it may be a while before we see any significant appreciation."

Condominiums and townhomes within a three to four block area at Cotswold.

NEW:Introduction to The Book of Condos

Rosewood at Providence

STATS HTLA: From  1986   to  3762 Bedrooms: 1,2,3 Report 7/31/15 for 6 months: From 420K         to  1.5M Exterior: Hard coat stucco, stone Description: Elegant, period piece with turrets and balconies Amenities: Elevators, fitness center, business center,
concierge services, on site property manager, massage room, storage room, garage, 2 deeded parking spaces,
pool, tennis courts, 24 hr security 

Say what you will about Rosewood...I was there on opening night as this project was presented to the Charlotte real estate community and it was a dazzling presentation. I was struck that anyone would pay the millions paid for those nearly nine acres...but I live here.

To me the house and the people had history and I had grown up with roses on that corner and the rolling land behind where horses once grazed. I felt it was special and so must these investor/developers from Georgia. I thought it was bold and gorgeous and risky.
But I live here.
More importantly, I have a love affair with Charlotte and thought this would mark the beginning of our rise as a great city of the south...with more than just red brick homes, traditional architecture and safe designs.
In CondoCanDo's library of Charlotte Condominiums, I open the book written about Rosewood for that auspicious evening and to introduce the vision to us and to prospective home owners, and read:
"The Roses. For Charlotteans, this name calls to mind splashes of vivid color embellishing the well traveled crossroads at Providence and Sharon Amity. Here passerby have been fascinated, delighted, and intrigued by the roses. Planted in remembrance of a mother who lovingly coaxed plants from unyielding soil there, these roses adorned the gardens of a family estate where Oliver and Marie Rowe raised their children and entertained their friends. The legacy of this park like setting is coming alive in a community of fine condominium homes. Rosewood takes its name from a beloved past,elegantly presented and appointed for gracious living once again."

Tropicana
 Crosby Drive

Built 1964   HTLA: From 1053  to 1690 Bedrooms: 1,2,3  Report 7/31/15 for 6 months: From 65K  to  132,900 Exterior: Brick veneer   Description:Two story. Each level has flats, exterior hallways, separate entrances. Very much like a motel. Efficient units. 1 carport,1 parking space. Amenities: Pool, recreational area.

I discovered Tropicana as I built the first condo database in Charlotte in the mid- eighties. It popped up in the tax books as a square, a courtyard perhaps like  those at colleges or the beach and here on Crosby Drive, almost across the street from Rosewood, a most unusual condominium not unlike a motor lodge from the fifties...complete with pool.

Cotswold Homes

on Woodlark Lane, Andover Road and Chelmsford Road

Once apartments converted to condos, investors brought about a slow descent and the arrival of section 8 housing. In the 80's, a couple with a retired mother or mother-in-law, I forget, bought one for her. It was close to their home. She could walk to shopping, have a place to walk her small dog and the garden condominium was just the right size. Not too big and not too small, only one story. Her daughter took note of the condition of this community and set about to make it shine. Years and years, stories, and new rules and regulations, repairs and care for the aging trees, lighting and proper landscaping followed until it is now a prize and will only get better now that it has survived the Great Recession as well.

Gaynor Arms
on Gaynor Drive   


    The woman who built this in 1971, the first newly built condominium as as condominium was an amazing woman in anything she did and I knew her. I knew her  work. 
As she reached a retirement age she discovered there were  few or no suitable homes for her or her friends, so she designed and built Gaynor Arms, the very first new condominium built in Charlotte with the Unit File Number 1. Her name is Kathryn Smetana and there is story and picture early on of this incredible woman. I met her working at the paper and helped her with her advertising.

The Cotswolds

at Sloane Square
Built in 1999 by The Boulevard Company, the complex is a micro village with a private pool in the center and secure walkways around each section. Garages, some two, some one. Some are brick, some stucco, some mixed. They are on slabs and one might find Masters on Main as well. Walking distance to Cotswold Shopping Center.
Heated living space 1785 to 2187 and recently the range is $304,0000 to $386,100 with a premium for master on main

This block boasts condominiums, apartments,  a nursing home and a rather swanky retirement community, not yet opened. Randolph Road is an artery to the city and to health care facilities..

CondoCanDo's archives: Stories from 2005 regarding condominiuums

Sep. 07, 2005 Hot trends so far in 2005 DOUG SMITH The Next Big Thing Four of seven residential high-rises announced over the past 16 months are under way uptown, and two are almost ready to start taking contracts. To satisfy demand for homes closer to the center city, apartment complexes -- and possibly even a hotel -- are going condo. A 30-acre entertainment village is under way in the northwest corner of Fourth Ward. And the uptown development surge north of The Square is finally spreading -- to South Tryon Street, West Trade Street and Second Ward. Outside the core, development booms in southwest Mecklenburg as rim counties experience a surge in commercial and residential activity. Those are some of the trends spotlighted in The Next Big Thing column, which debuted Feb. 16. The idea was to look beyond the breaking news of the day and provide context for readers to understand a real estate trend and its potential implications. In the early weeks, we wondered whether the Charlotte region was large enough to have a Next Big Thing every week. Boy, are we convinced now. We've traveled from Mooresville to Lancaster County, from Matthews to Belmont talking with developers, planners, analysts and residents. As we research the issues through the end of the year, check our list of the top trends from the first six months of The Next Big Thing. The High-Rise Buzz One of the biggest surprises in urban development is the dramatic shift toward high-rise living. Seven residential towers have been announced uptown. Construction is under way on four -- 17-story Courtside, 28-story TradeMark, 13-story 230 South Tryon and 36-story Avenue. Developer Pete Verna said he expects to start work this month on The Park, 21 stories. The Vue Charlotte, a 50-story tower, is opening its sales center Monday at 101 N. Tryon St. in One Independence Center. And Avenue plans to open its sales office Saturday at 500 W. Fifth St., Suite 120. The developer of EpiCentre's proposed 53-story residential tower hasn't disclosed details. The center city appeals to empty-nesters and young professionals attracted by cultural amenities, entertainment and restaurants. Many people also are striving to live closer to their jobs in the center city -- a trend that could become more popular in the wake of the gasoline crunch. How intense is interest? Churchill Development Group LLC, developer of The Vue Charlotte, said more than 3,000 people have requested information about that project's 403 units by phone and e-mail. And 400 have made appointments to talk with a sales agent about purchasing. The Vue Fifth & Poplar RiverGate 230 South Tryon

Let's Chat About Elizabeth, the surrounds and a favorite condo...Laureldale

                                                        

Elizabeth is neighbor to many: Myers Park, Plaza Midwood, Eastover, Uptown and Home to CPCC,
 The Street Car and Presbyterian now Novant.

A quad in many ways with nuances, Laureldale

Charlotte has at the moment seven historic districts or neighborhoods: ( Dilworth, North Davidson (No Da), Plaza Midwood, Fourth Ward, Wesley Heights, Hempstead and Wilmore, the last two, the latest. Elizabeth has a National designation historically. I am not sure of the details but here is a Google Map. Elizabeth fringes Chantilly, Eastover, Myers Park, Plaza Midwood and maybe even Villa Heights. Monroe Road becomes E. 7th, Hawthorne becomes Queens Road or vice versa, Randolph Road becomes Fourth Street and Independence, 74, slices off a stretch.

I suppose I am drawn to the trees, old and
 limber, inviting and providing shade.

Condominiums fall into a wide range as well. Off 7^th on Clement there is a wonderful historic home that has been converted to condos, Alexander House. This occurrence runs throughout Charlotte especially in the older areas. Years ago one very progressive real estate broker converted several of the big mansions in Myers Park to condos. I always think of her as visionary. And part of me believes we will see that happen again as the population ages and the luster of the large old homes and new large homes become passé.

Favorites: In Myers Park fringe area: Boxwood by Brian Speas, the gentleman builder who builds a superior product always and generally in Myers Park, Eastover, Barclay Downs, Park Road and some infill around Freedom Park. An oldie, Queens Mark, also that same fringe area, the first new wave of lofts, Elizabeth Lofts, and one of my very favorite favorites, Elizabeth on the Park

Tucked off the beaten path yet touching it. Location!

The grounds keep Laureldale's charm intact.

overlooking Independence Park, and pictured here, Laureldale. Once apartments, the setting is between Randolph and Fifth, lovely brick buildings, a pretty quad, central laundry ( a telltale sign of  apartment conversion in that era) Alson Court across Randolph is in Eastover. Once apartments and converted, Alson is a grand old building with one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom units, a handful of garages, built like Fort Knox.

 Laureldale’s  neighbor, The Grove, is a handsome renovation of old apartments. Density reigns approaching Hawthorne as it crosses 74 with Hawthorne Bridge, Elizabeth Village et al. A wonderful conversion, The Rutzler, 1920, renovated in 2005 has a new apartment building as its neighbor, at Louise and Central.
                                              ********************
I have been thinking about how to illustrate the variety of condominiums in any given area. Maybe I will make a chart so we can look at their differences even though they all post a prime location. It is a game I play with myself, CondoCanDo!
The location is Randolph Road at Sharon Amity, Cotswold.

The Poplar in Fourth Ward, circa 1926 Something old, something new, something borrowed, something true.

A simple, elegant entrance, hardly
noticeable to a mere passerby.

A pocket garden of roses, of course.

The Poplar, 1926 in Fourth Ward
started as apartments. Hmmmm?

July 2015

Charlotte is on the rise. Towers uptown are on the rise. Apartment projects proliferate the corners on our main thoroughfares as we wait for the surge of the Millennial Generation. First the apartments, then the conversions, then the lines blur and maybe we stop to wonder what happened. Because we are no stranger to being the Belle of the Ball. We are
 a city of the New South and we are a city of folks who tear down the old for the
 promise of newer and better and greater.
 Until there is a whiff of maybe not...
So, to ease my wondering about the cadres of investors who boast the building of apartment buildings with not just twenty or thirty apartments but hundreds, I wander around in the Charlotte I know so well. Through the sparkle of new and tall and lean and open, I wind my way to Historic Fourth Ward to one of my most favorite condominiums, The Poplar.

Like a grand dame she reposes on the fringe, too taken with her rose garden, her lovely, petite roof top, garnering a nice pleasant view of the skyline, this  city of the New South, as she gazes down on historic homes and the narrow streets with large trees.
I was a student of The Poplar long ago in the 80's. Max The Wonder Dog and I were taking pictures uptown on a Sunday morning, a young couple stopped to speak to Max, a handsome tawny Briard. They saw our license tag, "RE LADY", and asked if I were a realtor? They were looking for a condo uptown. Max got credit for the sale. I made new friends and discovered the inside workings of The Poplar.
Poplar and Tenth in  Historic Fourth Ward

Every once in a while, I like to visit to see how much I remember and to make new discoveries like the elevators fore and aft. The second I step foot in the lobby I am whisked away to New York City. The Poplar has that kind of ambiance. Is it NYC or Europe?
Hardwood floors throughout, some condo homes large and spacious with fabulous light from the old glass carefully hung in metal casings, taller ceilings and an aura of having lived many lives, these spaces whose stories include lauded musicians and artists
and people of creative bent.

Fourth Ward and Uptown Condos:

Just for fun...we know the names of the biggest, newest, shiniest,
but have heart, there are others:
Tenth Avenue Townhomes,Brennan Court, Poplar Place,Settlers Alley, 400 North Church,409 West 8th Street, Sixth and Pine Townhouses, Barringer Square,
Chapel Watch,Churchill to name a few.

And this then begs the question? Older or newer?

Next , Condo CanDo® and I take a walk through Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is a Nationally recognized historic neighborhood.
As is Myers Park.

Laureldale in Elizabeth
How to tell if they were at one time, apartments?