High end townhomes slated for luxury market in Downtown Durham
Last week the announcement came from Lou Goetz of Park City Developments with new pricing beginning at $675,000 for the proposed Brownstone townhouses between Brightleaf Square and Duke’s East Campus. The plan calls for thirteen residences clustered on property that was once part of the old McPherson Hospital grounds. The units are designed along traditional lines to fit nicely into the Trinity Park neighborhood.
The classy project was originally introduced at higher prices that apparently were just a little too rich for the prevailing economy. The developers wisely gauged demand before beginning construction.
I predict there will be much more interest at the lower price levels. Here are the reasons why.
1. Although pricing at the high end is less sensitive than other segments, this is still something of a pioneering move and will be unique in Durham. The new pricing will considerably broaden the potential market for these properties.
2. The economy is improving and the Brownstones are a bike ride, if not walking distance, from what may be one of the biggest economy boosters in Durham in many years, the $700 million expansion at the Duke Medical Center.
3. Convenience. Not only is the location convenient to Duke but it is within easy walking distance to Brightleaf, the American Tobacco Campus, Ninth Street and all the glories of Durham’s revived Downtown. You can’t forget that Downtown provides easy access to the Durham Freeway (15 minutes to the airport) and I-85.
4. Sooner or later, we hope sooner, more affluent urbanites are bound to come out of the closet…so to speak. The Brownstones provide an alternative for those who really aren’t interested in personally overseeing external maintenance or a social life centered around a country club. Within several blocks there are most of Durham’s best restaurants and many of the things that make Durham unique and such an interesting place to live.
5. There is a great team pulling everything together from Park City through to builder, the sales agent, the architect to the landscape designers. Somewhere in the team there is also a marketer. The website is excellent and it not only promotes the homes themselves but the environment they will exist in…not something seen too often in the Durham market. They are also marketing to agents, as evident from the classy announcement I received from Lou Goetz.
This project is good for Durham, good for Downtown, good for Durham’s luxury home market and even good for Duke because it provides an alternative for the physicians, researchers and businesses that will be attracted by the continued expansion of the medical center. We should all cheer this bold effort.
Check out The Brownstones of Durham for more information.
Get updates of Durham Luxury Real Estate sent to your feed reader by clicking here or to your email by clicking here.
