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NEIGHBORHOOD
OF THE WEEK: Condo central
Midtown's 30309 corners a burgeoning city market
It's hip, it's hot and it's rapidly filling up
with young urbanites and former suburban empty-nesters. It's got shopping,
restaurants, theaters and sidewalks wide enough for dog walkers and joggers to
share. It's also one of the strongest real estate markets in the city.
And
if that weren't enough, many residents say, it has another distinct advantage:
30309 is not Buckhead.
Though
a sliver of the ZIP code spills into the southernmost section of Buckhead, the
bulk of this burgeoning area is better known as Midtown.
It
follows Peachtree Street south to Eighth Street and sprawls west to east from
Northside to Monroe drives. Its heart is the Peachtree corridor; its chief
amenities, the Woodruff Arts Center and Piedmont Park. It's also a very
pedestrian-friendly area with a feeling all its own.
"First
of all, people come here to Midtown because they want a more diverse group of
people," said real estate agent Allen Snow, who lives in Metropolis.
"Then
there's definitely more of a city feel. For instance, in the last year, I've
seen pedestrian traffic around here double, in areas where you never used to
see people on the streets. With the CVS Pharmacy, the restaurants, the stores
-- it feels like a real city. I walk across Peachtree to go to work, to at
least 10 restaurants nearby, to MARTA and to the park. It's a great
lifestyle."
Those
pedestrians are pouring out of the many new residences that have opened in the
area in the last few years. From newly constructed buildings such as the Dakota
to refurbished properties such as Wilburn House and the Palmer and Phelan
buildings, the bulk of those residences are condos that have helped make 30309 "Condo
Central" in many agents' books.
Just
about everywhere you look, 30309 has cornered the condo market, with flats,
lofts, penthouses and townhouses selling from the low $100,000s to more than a
million.
Midtown
is home to some of the city's earliest successful condos: Colony Square went up
in the 1960s, with single- and multistory units with terraces overlooking 14th
Street. And just a few blocks south is Metropolis, the 20-story twin towers of
glass and steel overlooking Peachtree. It's the combination of steady resales,
along with the growth of the new construction, that makes the area such a real
estate wonder.
The
numbers also tell the tale. An analysis of the 2002 real estate market
conducted by Smart Numbers and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution singled out
30309 on two important counts:
30309 made the top 20 list for areas with the highest numbers of
new home sales, showing a 35 percent increase over the previous year. In pure
volume, it's an impressive increase for an already built-out intown area. The
other areas on the list were in the far-out suburbs of Coweta, Douglas, Newton,
Paulding and Rockdale counties.
30309 also scored in the top 20 for metro areas with the greatest
increase of existing home sales. While the overall metro area posted 3 percent
decreases of existing home sales, 30309 was moving.
BYLINE: H.M. CAULEY
DATE:
July 13, 2003
PUBLICATION:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA)
Adams
Fairfield Realty
Chrissy Neumann
"Making You Feel At
Home"
www.castlesbychrissy.com
404.925.5335
fax - 770.565.4477