Condo Fever
Downtown Greensboro has gone condo crazy.
The latest condominium project was unveiled Monday with gold banners hanging from the long building that takes up a chunk of the north side of West Market Street's 200 block, across from the old Guilford Courty Courthouse.
The building used to be a series of store fronts that included the Greensboro Drug Co., where the courthouse crowd took coffee breaks.
During the 1980s, the building was purchased and renovated for the Tuggle Duggins & Meschan law firm. The firm plans to move by the end of the year to parts of two floors in the 20-story Jefferson-Pilot Building, soon to be the Lincoln National Building.
Bobbie Maynard, an agent for Allen Tate Realtors, marketing agent for the project, says the exact layout hasn't been decided yet. But the building will probably include 21 to 24 condo units.
The offerings will include one- and two-bedroom units and tri-plexes, which are units that will occupy the two floors facing West Market and the basement.
Maynard estimates prices will range from $130,000 to $280,000.
Noting the proximity of the Elon University Law School, which will move into the old public library building now being renovated at Greene Street and West Friendly Avenue, "I think these will be a great opportunity for law students and professors," Maynard says.
This would be the fifth major condo project downtown and Maynard thinks the market is there.
"I'm doing Southside, and I have one luxury unit left," she said. "I'm doing 411 West Washington Street and all 33 units are under contract."
Other big projects include Governors Court at North Church Street and East Friendly Avenue that opened more than two years, and Smothers Lofts, recently completed at South Elm Street and Smother's Place near the South Elm rail crossing.
Another project is under way on the northern fringe of the downtown across from First Presbyterian Church on North Elm Street.
Pre-sales are to begin soon on the first condominium building in Bellemeade Village, on the site of the old North State Chevrolet property where Battleground Avenue and Eugene and Smith streets come together. The village is slated to include condos, apartments, retail and office space.
There's also talk of the Old Wachovia Building and the Southeastern Building, both in the heart of downtown, being converted into combination residential, office and retail space.
The West Market Street condos will done by Ryan Jackson LLC, which is currently doing a project called Villas at Hamilton Lakes.