Urban Living: Downtown Condos on the Rise

Walls of glass, with cityscape views. Sleek spaces, clean and airy. Urban energy, right outside your door—this is the new downtown living that’s exploding on the scene in the heart of the Triangle’s city centers. It wasn’t that long ago that downtown, after business hours, meant deserted streets, lined with neglected has-been buildings no one would choose to call home. How things have changed in the past five years! With more than twenty metropolitan condos built, under construction or on the drawing board in Raleigh alone, urban living is once again flourishing in the Triangle.

“I grew up in Raleigh,” says David Reynolds of the Reynolds Companies, developer of the Quorum Center at Harrington and Jones Streets, “In the ‘60s and ‘70s, I think Raleigh just lost its identity. A city needs a sense of place, and a vital downtown is so important to that. I knew it was inevitable that people would begin pushing back from the suburbs and return to downtown.”

Indeed, Reynolds was on the cutting edge of Raleigh’s urban Renaissance, opening Second Empire restaurant in the 1990s, long before anyone had ever heard of Glenwood South.

Now this neighborhood is a hive of activity, day and night, with restaurants, clubs, coffee shops, salons, galleries, boutiques and even a gourmet cupcake patisserie. And, with such an abundance of amenities, it would only follow that more and more people would want to live closer to the places where they work and play.

“I think those early developers were such creative people,” says Melissa Simpson of York Simpson Underwood, broker for one of downtowns’ first new residential projects, the Cotton Mill. “In the 1990s, Roland Gammon had the foresight to see what other developers just didn’t see yet. And people were lined up outside the office waiting to get reservations. They sold like hotcakes!”

Simpson credits an influx of city-savvy newcomers, accustomed to the unique lifestyle that urban living offers, with spurring the recent explosion of new residential offerings in the downtown vicinity. “These were young professionals who came from living in vibrant urban settings, and they missed it,” says Simpson. “This was one thing that was really lacking in the Triangle, and they demanded it, and now it’s one more great reason to move here.”

Simpson, along with Jewell Parker, was also the broker for the Paramount. This plush 10-story condo on the corner of Boylan Avenue and Peace Street also sold out before its completion in 2006. Developed by Mark Andrews and Andrew and Michael Sandman, the Paramount features 81 condos, ranging in size from 740 to 3,000 square feet. “I consider the Paramount to be the flagship of this new wave of downtown condos,” says Simpson. “And with the rooftop pool and its location — convenient to Glenwood South as well as Cameron Village and Five Points — it’s just got it all.”

And Rick Jacobs would concur. This former North Raleighian, and owner of Raleigh Decorative Hardware and Plumbing, who supplied fixtures for the Paramount, traded a 6,500-square-foot home on 12 1/2 acres for a 1,500-square-foot condo at the Paramount and he couldn’t be happier. Jacobs has two sons, Parker, 12 and Eric 15, and he was concerned about how they would like living in a downtown setting. Jacobs laughs, “Eric said. ‘Dad, living in between Mellow Mushroom, Starbucks and McDonalds — I’m all about that!’”

Jacobs says that he now spends time with his boys exploring downtown, visiting the Capitol, museums, and restaurants such as Coopers Barbeque — spending time that he would have spent mowing the lawn and cleaning gutters at his former suburban locale. The Jacobs are also enjoying the social side of downtown living. “It’s great to sit outside, and there’s always something going on—your neighbor jogs by or someone’s out walking their dog.” He says that in the summertime, the Paramount’s rooftop pool  is the social center for its residents.

And as far as the downsizing goes, Jacobs was happy to simplify. “I went by that rule, if you haven’t touched it in five months, get rid of it.” Jacobs managed to bring his love for the beach into this urban setting, “planting” a few palm trees into his streamlined décor.

With the success of the Paramount, developer Andy Sandman has even bigger ideas for downtown, with a new highrise planned for the cornerof Glenwood Avenue and Hillsborough Street. Tentatively called One Glenwood, this new building will feature ground-floor retail space and some 200 residential units.

Modern Sensibility

Just down the street from the Paramount, at Harrington and Jones Streets, near Powerhouse Square, Quorum Center is a new 15-story building with office, banking  and conference space on its lower floors and 44 residences on its top seven floors. Developer of the Quorum Center, David Reynolds of the Reynolds Companies, saw this as a prime location to enjoy the offerings of the thriving Glenwood South district as well as the newly reopened Fayetteville Street. “With Glenwood South to the West and Fayetteville Street to the East, I see these two corridors just growing together,” says Reynolds. “And Quorum Center is right in the middle.”

Being right in the middle of things was just the adventure that one Raleigh couple was looking for. This busy duo, owners of a commercial contracting company, had raised a family in a traditional Raleigh inside-the-beltline home. Their kids had left the nest and they saw this as a sky’s-the-limit opportunity to do something totally different. With their super-busy work schedule, the couple decided a downtown condo, with minimal maintenance worries, close to work, restaurants and shopping was just the ticket.

Designer Melissa Andron of Realm Design Studio helped these homeowners start from ground zero. Leaving behind 18 years of eclectic, traditional décor, she crafted for them a new, streamlined, sophisticated ambience to suit their new metropolitan lifestyle. “I find that many of my downtown clients are very forward thinkers,” says Andron. “They tend to embrace change and newness and an aesthetic quality of simplicity.”

Indeed, this Quorum Center residence, with stunning city views from its sweeping terrace, is a model of sleek cosmopolitan sensibility. The soaring ceilings and walls of glass give the residence huge volume, while deeply grained African Oak floors, with a satin finish serve to ground the space and imbue warmth. Andron, who is committed to sustainability in all of her design work, notes that this particular wood, while exotic, is actually harvested using sustainable practices and finished with a non-toxic oil rub.

Much of the furniture for this condo was custom made especially for the space by local carpenter, Evan Lightner. The master bedroom presented a particular challenge. In order to accommodate a king-sized bed in this long narrow room, Lightner crafted a Macasser Ebony frame, with night stand nooks and touch-activated lights built in. The custom bench at the foot of the bed gives the room a punch of color, with its scarlet cushion, but its real purpose is to serve as a step stool for the homeowners eight-year-old chocolate Lab.

“She was actually one of our biggest concerns, when we were considering the move to a condo,” says the homeowner. But, in fact, these condo-dwellers report spending more quality time with their beloved pet in their new urban location than in their old traditional home. At the end of a long work day, they now spend time walking the dog, whereas in their old home, they would have just opened the back door to let her out into the fenced yard.

One of the other interesting design challenges that Andron has found with many of her urban clients is a focus on the nighttime ambience of the space. “So many of these clients work such extreme hours,” she says, “that they really mainly see their condo at night, and rarely in daylight.”

So lighting becomes an even more critical design element. Special touches in this condo, like the luminous Three-Form backsplash behind the range, embedded with grasses and backlit, and the spectacular Italian La Murrina chandelier over the dining room table are at their best at night. An art niche, framing a painting by local artist Matt McConnell, glows at night with a warm red backlight.

For these homeowners, living downtown has proved to be everything they had hoped for. They thrive on the energy and  the convenience of  not only being able to walk out their door to restaurants and shopping, but also the luxury of walking out their door to spend a weekend at the beach without worrying about maintenance or security.

And, like the Paramount, Quorum Center’s developers already have a new downtown project in the works. “One thing I think downtown Raleigh is in need of is a  fine upscale hotel,” says David Reynolds. “And not a chain or flag — there’s certainly value in those — but what I think we lack is a hotel that understands our unique dynamic and culture.” The Hillsborough (a working name) is planned for the corner of Hillsborough and Dawson Streets. This 25-story building, still in the design phase, will house just such a boutique hotel, along with retail space at ground level and residences above.

Bull City Chic

Moving downtown isn’t just a Raleigh phenomenon. Durham too is enjoying its own urban revitalization. The award-winning American Tobacco Campus, with its myriad offerings of restaurants, offices, boutiques, galleries and the soon-to-open modernist new Durham Performing Arts Center — not to mention the nearby Durham Bulls Athletic Park — has become a draw for a whole new generation of urbanites, wanting to live right in the heart of things.

And Greenfire Development is indeed in the heart of the Bull City. “We are committed to downtown Durham,” says Greenfire’s Anna Branly. “For 10 years, our offices have been right here. We live and work in downtown Durham.”

Greenfire has developed a number of commercial properties downtown, and now is branching out into residential space, with its rental property, Baldwin Lofts, and the newly completed Durham Kress. This painstakingly renovated 1933 Art Deco gem is now home to commercial and residential space.

Once the bustling S.H. Kress five and dime store, this architectural treasure had sadly fallen into disrepair. After years of patch-up renovations and vacancy, Greenfire rescued this historic structure, breathing new life with a complete overhaul of the buildings’ interior, while carefully preserving the uniqueness of the Kress’ Art Deco exteriors. “We recognized that people wanted the charm of this old building,” says Branly, “but they also wanted all of the modern conveniences.”

One of the biggest challenges of this renovation proved to be one of its greatest assets. While the thick concrete floors were incredibly difficult to work with, when it came to re-plumbing and wiring, they serve as excellent sound dampers, offering exceptional privacy to the building’s residents.

Anne Moscrip, of Prudential Carolinas Realty, has acted as broker for the sale of  Durham Kress’ 14 residences (11 of which have already sold). “This is such a unique space,” she says. “Greenfire did a wonderful job of maintaining the integrity of the building, while building spaces with 12-foot ceilings and gourmet kitchens and sophisticated bamboo floors.”

Though the interiors are all new, the huge windows are historically accurate, and living spaces were given a touch of industrial chic, with a hint of exposed pipe. Moscrip decorated a Durham Kress home in a modern atmosphere, with Asian touches, featuring paintings from local artists, Jonathan Schneider and Darius J. Quarles.

Amanda Smith is testament to the melting pot that is urban living in the Triangle. Along with the young professionals, new empty nesters and families flocking to this lifestyle, retirees too are singing its praises. After 30 years, Smith is trading the big West Indies style home on 25 acres that she shared with her late husband, longtime Duke professor of political science, James David Barber,  for a condo at Durham Kress. “I love this house, but it deserves to be full of people,” says Smith. “At the Kress, I’m two blocks from my church, the library, the courthouse, the theater, and the ballpark.”

Convenience, freedom from maintenance, city lights and vibrant energy — these are just a few of the attractions that have folks in the Triangle signing up for the urban lifestyle experience, and Triangle developers are bringing more and more metropolitan living choices everyday.

Kelly McCall Branson is a freelance writer

Photographs by Ray Strawbridge