THE CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL
Friday, April 6, 2007
Section: Structures - Real Estate - Construction
Page: 30
LAURA WILLIAMS-TRACY, Freelance Writer

CONDO PROJECT BRIGHTENS UP CENTRAL AVE. CORRIDOR

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To take the public's pulse on the color selection for a new Plaza Midwood condominium building, Tuscan Development held an impromptu focus group at a nearby Starbucks.

Developer Ray "Rip" Farris bought a cup of joe for anyone willing to give an opinion on several color selections. The winner was an ochre yellow and greenish-gray combination.

Central 27, a midrise condo building on Central Avenue, is among the first of a cluster of condo projects headed for the area just east of uptown.

"That corridor is one of two places in Charlotte where the arts happen organically," Farris says of the Plaza-Central business district, with its funky clothing stores, tattoo parlors and the Fuel Pizza shop. "It's where there are a lot of small businesses and a lot of creative energy."

The four-level building was the first approved by the city with the area's new pedestrian-oriented zoning, which governs development standards on such factors as height, setbacks and parking.

Tuscan Development is known for projects such as The Watermark, a four-story steel frame and glass office building in Midtown reminiscent of work by German architect Werner Sobek; Lela Court, an infill project in Wesley Heights; and nearby Kensington Court on Pecan Avenue.

For the last 30 years, the turn-of-the-century house next to the Plaza Midwood Branch Library had been the Abra Costume Shop. That building was demolished in early 2006 and construction began on the four-level building. There's parking on the first level and three floors of 27 condos. The one- and two-bedroom units sell for $150,000 to $295,000. So far, 15 units have sold.

"We thought this area was ready for something forward looking," says architect Jimmy Dudley, a principal with Tobin Dudley. "We felt the Plaza Midwood district might respond to something more modern."

Development of Central 27 has spurred the redevelopment of an abandoned dry cleaning business next door. It's now being remodeled as an organic restaurant, slated to open in May.

Developers borrowed heavily from two projects, one in Seattle and another in Aspen, Colo., to include garage-like eight-foot-by-eight-foot balcony doors that roll up to invite in the ambiance of the street. The feature led readers of Uptown Magazine to vote Central 27 the most unique development among intown neighborhoods.

Of course, wide open spaces meant extra security considerations. Instead of walkup units, Central 27 includes elevators with a security system. The building is concrete at the parking deck and wood frame on the upper three levels.

The decision to incorporate parking on the ground level came only after developers tried unsuccessfully to put retail development on the building's street level, says Dudley. A requirement that car access to the building come through the middle of the site diminished access to a front entry, effectively killing plans for stores, he says.

Designers were also challenged to create interest on the sides of the building, which extend to the property line. Dudley says he solved that problem by using setbacks to create natural light in the hallways and hard-coat stucco with a variety of tones in the panels. Corrugated-looking metal panels also give the building texture.

"I really like the sculptural quality of the building and the mixture of materials," Dudley says. "It is unique and not like any cookie-cutter multifamily project in Charlotte."
Central 27

Developer: Tuscan Development and MarkPiercePoole Properties

General Contractor: Cox and Schepp Inc.

Structural Engineer: ICES

Architect: Tobin Dudley

Construction cost: $4.7 million

Start date: January 2006

End date: April 2007

Laura Williams-Tracy is a Charlotte-based freelance writer who can be reached at laura@lwtcommunications.bz.