Article in Columbia Star
Apartments readying for summer occupancy
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team of aspyre at assembly
station appears to have the right product for the right time.
The assemblage of real estate was probably first considered suitable for a condominium compound, but world financial forces soon redirected the logical land- use from owner- occupied condominiums to rental apartments.
There's still a stringent application and approval process screening every prospective lessee, but rental applications are a whole lot more manageable than mortgage applications in the current banking climate.
Developer of Adesso condominiums up the hill at the corner of Blossom and Main, Holder Properties sensibly shifted to the apartments strategy down at the corner of Whaley and Assembly, aiming for the student market, mostly.
Holder Properties is the development firm behind Main Street's Meridian, home of Nelson Mullins, the state's largest law firm. The Meridian holds 337,228 square feet and took an investment of $72 million to complete. Also on Main Street and also developed by Holder Properties is the headquarters building for First Citizens Bank, 164,830 square feet and $61 million. Across Main from First Citizens is another 200,000 square feet of Holder development, Main & Gervais, home of The McNair Law Firm, Edens & Avant, and NBSC. Main & Gervais is an investment of $56 million.
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aspyre at assembly station
is not a cheap housing proposition. With just about every imaginable amenity, each of the 400 units must carry the upfront construction cost and the continuing maintenance overhead of those amenities. Hence, upon completion, a studio apartment rents for $825 a month, while the top- end three- bedroom unit goes for $2,145, which is $715 per bedroom.
For a short while until
completion, the aspyre
will shave a few dollars off the monthly rates, but by the end of the summer, the rental prices hold.
Aside from the amenities, what stands out at the aspyre is the scale of operation, the 400 units at the corner of Whaley and Assembly, replete with its own secured, hidden parking garage for 700 cars. There's a visitor parking lot outside the apartment building, but the residents get the covered and protected parking embedded by the building.
The parking garage treatment comes from Paris and elsewhere. The aesthetic rule of thumb is the best looking parking garage is the parking garage you can't see. You can't see the parking garages in Paris. At least the uninitiated visitor can't see where they are. The parking garages are hidden underground, or they are wrapped by occupied floor areas such as apartments or offices.
The aspyre at assembly
station follows the Paris idea. The architect for
aspyre is the Preston Partnership in Atlanta. More than 65% of their portfolio of work is outside Atlanta.
The construction contractor is LeCraw Construction, a 1955- founded firm also based in Atlanta. LeCraw is a big- time apartment developer/ owner. In the Southeast, including Charleston and focusing on Atlanta, LeCraw owns and manages about 6,000 rental units. LeCraw has its own in- house construction firm, and that's who is
building aspyre.
The old saying about real estate decision- making influences still applies three times: location, location, location. The USC shuttle service stops regularly within one block of aspyre.
The minor league ball park is a few blocks south on Assembly, and the new USC baseball park is a few blocks away off Huger. Publix Grocery is less than 10 blocks to the north on Gervais, and there's another Publix on Rosewood, across the street from the neighborhood food bou- tique, the Rosewood Market.
Aspyre is in the middle of everything already, but with its 400 housing units and 700- car garage, expect a dramatic shift in the immediate area to more amenities, more food, more everything. Even 701 Whaley and its tenant, the 701 Center for Contemporary Art, is sending over the welcome wagon.
http://www.thecolumbiastar.com/news/2009/0220/business/044.html
