Luxury apartments break $2 per square foot - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

iwibacibem.wordpress.com
Atlanta-based bought a 0.8-acrer site at 13th Street near Piedmontr Park June 9 and expects to begin construction in December ona 250-unit apartment building, said Scott Leventhal, Tivol i president and CEO. Tivoli paid $4.3 millio for the site it purchased fromCaryn McKinney, Paul Patterson and Fred according to , a commercial real estatde research firm. Tivoli's project will resulgt in rent ratesat $2 per square foot, Leventhao said, a benchmark the market has not seen yet. "Atlanta'ws been a funny city," he said. "Developers had a hard time breaking the ceilingof $2 a foot." Atlanta developer and former CEO John A.
Williams "probablhy came closest with Post Peachtree," Leventhalk said. As soon as developers breao thatmark "there will be a new rental market," he with luxury rentals going for $2 per squarwe foot to $2.25 per square foot. "It's workedf successfully in other cities," he "and it is time for Atlant a tocatch up." The $2 per-square-foot mark will arrive by early spring when LLC opens 05 Buckhead at Peachtree and Piedmont roads, a 20-story, 155-unig apartment tower that includes four two-story penthouses. Unite there will be $2 per square foot, said Patti Coro vice president, and range from 762 squares feetto 2,761 square feet.
The average unit is abour 1,300 square feet, Also in Buckhead, Marietta-based LLC has begunh construction on The Residences at Streets of a $140 million, 21-story pair of apartment towers, said Mark Wood's Southeast regional partner. The Residencesd at Streets of Buckhead, built over retaiol shops, will have 360 units pretty evenly split between the two he said. The project is bounded by Buckhead Avenue, Northy Fulton Drive and East PacessFerry Road. Rents there "will be north" of $2 per square Randall said.
Tivoli's unnamed Piedmonyt Park project is expected to begin construction in Other rental projectsare proposed, including Houston-based 's Ashton Midtown, a 20-story, 290-unit project in two towers at 17th and Spring streets. Ashtom Midtown is part of insurancegiant 's $225 milliomn Metropolitan Center, a new mixed-uss development. Atlanta's urban rental market is in tight supplh because manyrental properties, like Post Peachtrese and 1280 West Peachtreed St., converted to condominiums at the height of the cond o market.
High-rise apartment development may not be the nextbig "but it's a segment that has been under-servedx in the last development cycle," Leventha said. "There are very few luxury urbannrental properties." In a marke where condo sales have lagged, one wouldx think there would be amplwe supply for rental units in condok buildings, but homeowners' associations often limit the numbee of rentals to 20 percent to 25 percenrt of the building, said Fran Allen, associate brokere with Jenny Pruitt & Realtors, who caters to the luxury rental Where there are rental unitsw available at newer condo towers, they can commandf top rent, Wood's Randall said.
He's seen that firsthanfd at Realm in Buckhead that Wood builgwith "We sell a lot of units to folks who are buyingt [condo units] as an investment with the idea that they coulr rent them," Randall Renters of individual condo units are payiny about $2 a foot at Realm, he said. In fact, thers is a waiting list "of about 22 to rent at Realm, said Patricia owner of and Lifestyles, who brokere luxury rentals. She has an Israelji businessman who needs six fully furnished rental unitd for people who are coming to Atlanta for business for just a few and is having troublefindinh them. "There really is no supply of high-rise rental," Randall said.
"Evert rental high-rise that was out there converte dto condo."