Jun. 08, 2008
More upscale homes to rise on Park South
Ardsley Court condo project has dual lure of SouthPark and convenient commute.

Doug Smith

Over the past five years, half a dozen residential infill projects have sprung up on Park South Drive, a roughly mile-long street connecting Fairview Road with Park Road in south Charlotte.

The latest to be announced is Ardsley Court, a 1.4-acre development of 15 two-story townhomes and stacked flats at Park South Drive and Park Road.

The residences would be across Park South from The Cypress, a continuing care retirement community built on the site of the former Sharon Golf Course.

One of the earliest infill projects – Bradbury Hall at SouthPark townhomes – was developed at Park South and Stokes Avenue on Peace Moravian Church's old site after three other residential proposals died in the face of neighborhood opposition.

One of the street's most upscale projects is The Conservatory, Simonini Builders' luxury single-family homes selling for up to nearly $1 million at Park South and Sulkirk Road.

For developers, the magnet for residential construction on Park South Drive is SouthPark mall's stores, restaurants and services, but street access is a key, too. Homeowners have almost a straight shot to uptown or Ballantyne via Park Road.

“The whole Park Road area has become very popular because it is such an easy commute and so well connected,” said multi-family housing analyst Emma Littlejohn of The Littlejohn Group.

The quality of the new residential development along Park South has boosted property values in nearby neighborhoods, she said.

In the SouthPark area, smaller projects targeting people living near the mall have been more successful than the mammoth condo developments announced closer to the Sharon-and-Fairview roads hub.

LNR Property Corp., for example, had planned 685 condos as part of an urban village on 10 acres across from the mall. But citing the slowing residential sales market, it recently shelved development plans and listed the property for sale.

Ardsley Court's developers deliberately designed something smaller and more compact with an eye toward creating a tight-knit community around an interior courtyard with access to residents' private garages.

Downsizing empty nesters likely will be attracted to Classic Georgian style brick-and-fiber-cement-siding residences ranging from 1,625 to 1,987 square feet and selling for $364,000 to $449,000.

To ensure that happens, project manager Jeff Avery of Park South Estates LLC said the developers plan to begin site work in August without waiting to reach a pre-sales quota.

Park Sterling Bank is financing the $6.5 million project.

Avery expects a model unit to be completed by March, in time for the 2009 spring sales season.

Building permits and sales have declined in the region during the national housing downturn. But, Avery said, he's encouraged that Charlotte's home prices remain relatively stable.

Real estate brokers say one of the major issues affecting the local market is the inability of buyers to sell the houses in other cities to relocate to Charlotte.