hdouglas

Speaking as a young professional that lives downtown, (24 F in comm. RE finance), I believe there are four legit places you'd want to look at. It really depends whether or not you want to buy or lease... 1. West End Cottages- this is where I live currently, and you can't beat the location. I don't know where the prices are now, but I'm assuming they're in the low to mid $200k to buy. There are several units available to both buy AND lease now, and I believe one of the leasable units has a purchase option. The tenant mix is mid 20's to 30's, although there's not much of a community vibe...i.e. I don't see my neighbors everyday, but we I do we're friendly...it's definitely worth checking into. 2. Pendleton Place- much younger mix, and the units are cheaper...very nice though. The less expensive price is because of the location, which is very close to Downtown but in a less desirable area (near Spiro's Petes). Younger crowd, very communal. 3. The Brio- won a development award in 2006; upper 100's in terms of price. I don't know if they lease or not. Built for young professionals looking to own their first home, and being built right off of Church St. there's no doubt these will appreciate in value as well. 4. Wachovia Place- right off Main St., available for lease. Cannot beat the location- you can walk everywhere 5. McBee Station- I don't know the profile here, but they're close to downtown as well and newly available for lease. Hope this helps!

I work in the NBSC building, and to my knowledge Hughes Leasing has no intention of adding a retail component to this building. I know a new southern fusion food restaurant is opening at McBee Station (former Rick Erwin chef and a restauranteur from NYC), and a deli is also coming in soon, so that might attract more food traffic and thus more retail interest. Maybe that will prompt the city to look at revitalizing the sidewalks to be more pedestrian-friendly.