Uptown apartments open
at 5th, Poplar
304-unit complex will
also house full-service Harris Teeter
by
The most expensive unit -- the three-bedroom, $2,932-a-month penthouse -- is taken, but Fifth and Poplar Apartment Homes still has plenty of rooms with a view.
The $60 million, 304-unit project, launched in August 2001, opened its doors to residents June 9. It has signed 40 leases and admitted the first seven tenants.
John Gray, president of Spectrum Residential Properties Inc., said he's pleased with leasing progress on what has been one of the center city's largest and most-watched construction projects in recent years.
The 550,000-square-foot structure, which has two levels of underground parking, covers most of a block bounded by Fifth, Poplar, Pine and Sixth streets in Fourth Ward.
It peaks at eight stories at the corner of Fifth and Poplar and descends to two stories at Sixth and Pine, where Harris Teeter plans to open a supermarket in mid-August.
Gray, who accompanied me on a tour of the complex Thursday, said tenants favor units on the Poplar Street side, which overlooks serene Settlers Cemetery.
The apartments, ranging from studios to three bedrooms, target very defined markets: 25- to 35-year-old bankers and young professionals and 50- to 65-year-old empty nesters.
Rent in this luxury community isn't cheap -- $1,106 to $2,932 a month compared to the average Charlotte area quoted rate of $710 a month.
But amenities are numerous. Residents can take advantage of an activities center with a cyber cafe, a game room with a billiard table, a fitness center, pool and concierge services.
In addition, they will have an 18,000-square-foot, full-service grocery and three other businesses in the building: Postnet, Hangers Cleaners and Elegant Nails.
The Charlotte apartment rental market is suffering from a glut that has pushed the countywide vacancy rate to 12.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.
But The Charlotte Apartment Association says only 2 percent of Mecklenburg's apartments are in the center city, which has emerged in recent years as a place to live as well as work.
Lured by uptown's energy, nightlife, arts and convenience, new arrivals boosted the center city's population to 7,390 residents today from 5,523 in 1995.
And Charlotte Center City Partners predicts uptown will reach 8,600 residents by late 2003, when the last of nearly two dozen residential projects that fueled the late 1990s and early 2000s boom are completed.
Fifth and Poplar is a joint venture of Spectrum Investment Services, RVJ Investments LLC and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
It's Spectrum's largest project in its 22-year history.
LS3P Associates Ltd. was the project architect and R.J. Griffin & Co. was the general contractor.
Spectrum Properties Residential Inc. is the developer, manager and leasing agent. Dawn Krieg is the property manager at Fifth and Poplar.
Lynn Weis, a Fourth Ward resident and neighborhood historian, said the opening of the apartments brings the Fifth and Poplar area full circle.
At the turn of the 20th century it was mainly residential, but by the 1920s businesses -- including a cluster of auto dealerships -- began to dominate the block.
Now, after more than 80 years, Fifth and Poplar is returning to its residential roots.
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