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My spouse and I will be relocating to Winston-Salem in the fall. I wanted to get recommendations for the complexes in the downtown area. We want to rent to start with. We are used to living in a very urban environment, so we'd prefer something that is close - walkable distance - to restaurants and good bars. Good food (and craft beer) is very important to us. :-) So is having a good kitchen - we both love to cook, so we need space and good appliances. We both like a modern industrial feel though a good price and good location are more important to us. I've looked at a few properties I've found online, but I'd love to know what people would personally recommend. We're both young professionals, and we have no kids. We do not have any pets currently, but would love to get a dog once we're in NC.
If you have any recommendations in downtown Greensboro, I'll take those too. I have a job lined up in WS, but the spouse is still job hunting so we need to be flexible. We aren't moving until late summer, so I assume we have time? How quickly do apartments fill in this area? How soon should we be looking for, say, an August 1 or August 15 move-in date? We plan on going down there to check things out in person over the summer if possible, but I'd like to know what buildings to focus on, or whether there are others of which I am unaware.
I think City View apartments in downtown G'boro may have some of what you have in mind, from what I have seen in photos. The complex is on the southside with a view of downtown.
The downtown area has many loft units above various retail stores, but I don't have any info.
Some other places you may want to look into in addition to City View:
Smothers Place
McGee Lofts
Greensborough Court
Governor's Court
Arbor House
Some of these mentioned are condos and may or may not offer leases.
There are a number of options in downtown Winston-Salem that have a very urban feel and that are in close proximity to all of the amenities of downtown. If you look at the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnerships website, they have a pretty complete listing of residences and other downtown amenities: The Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership
Some of the places downtown include:
The Gallery Lofts
Winston Factory Lofts
The Nissen Building
The Hilltop House
Piedmont Leaf Lofts
other downtown condo buildings also often have rentals but you need to check craigslist or sites to Trulia.com to find them.
Yes, I have looked at that website and others detailing the buildings downtown. I was not sure, however, whether that list was complete or accurate. For example, the Piedmont Leaf Lofts website linked on the page does not work, nor do a couple of the others. I do like the look of the Factory Lofts in particular, but I would love to hear people's experiences in these buildings. Given how inexpensive some of the housing options are that are available for purchase, what makes those of you living in the rentals choose them? Convenience and location or ? Are you happy with the service in this buildings? Do the amenities make it worth the higher price tag for you? The other question is how soon does one need to apply for those buildings? I'd prefer to see the places in person before applying, but I do not know how soon we should start seriously looking at the building options. I am used to a rental market with frequent turnover and no need to apply more than a month in advance, but obviously that is not the same everywhere.
Does anyone live in West End? It looks walkable to downtown, but you could still have the neighborhood feeling.
Some of the Winston Salem downtown has higher crime than the surrounding areas. I would cross reference areas you are interested in with Spotcrime by address and street. I live in the county, in an area south of Winston Salem with almost no significant crime, but on my street when you hit the edge of town and where the bus line runs the crime rate increases dramatically.
Last edited by citi girl; 03-14-2013 at 09:17 PM..
NCer, I live in Charlotte now, but keep up with what is going on in Winston-Salem about as much as alot of residents there. I have lived in the West End, and it sounds like a good match for the amenities you're looking for, such as walking distance to restaurants, bars, the Foothills Brewery, as well as the BB&T Ballpark, and Hanes Park. Most of the rental in this neighborhood is going to lean more toward turn-of-the-century type residential architecture, as opposed to the lofts that are more prevalent adjacent to the Arts District and the Research park downtown.
There are the Nissen Apartments in the middle of the downtown area, in a restored 18-storey building with rooftop pool and views for miles toward the mountains to the north.
The new West End village along Broad Street offers modern condos, but I don't know if any are rented, unless there would be a rent-by-owner type situation. These are literally between downtown and the West End neighborhood proper. There is retail, restaurants, pubs, and more along West Fourth St, and Burke Street from the village as well as the West End, that is walkable from both areas.
I have lived at Piedmont Leaf and currently live at West End Village. Literally opposite sides of downtown Winston. The East side of downtown is up and coming, but not quite there. We currently rent our PLL condo and I know of at least two listed for rent now. Unit 510 is listed on Craigslist and would be a great unit if the rent is in your budget. The building has on-site gym/sauna, community grill/patio and secure parking for at least one vehicle.
AS for West End Village, there are actually two buildings there. I am not sure, but I don't think there are any rentals currently on the market, but I know of one two bed/two bath for sale in the 4th & Broad building. It is a three story unit and is listed with Prudential Realty. Been on the market for a few months. Not sure if it will be on the rental market again or not.
In a perfect world (for me anyway) if I could move my PLL condo to the WEV location, I would be elated. The WEV is simply more centrally located to the places I like to be:
DASH Stadium
Foothills Brewery
Burke St Retail/Restaurants/Bars
Restaurants in West End area (although there are many others within a few blocks of WEV)
Easy access to I-40 (but this NOT be the case once reconstruction starts in 2016 I think it is)
As others have said, there are lot's of options in DTWS. Factory lofts seems very popular, but I personally think their rent structure is high and if you want secure parking, storage etc they nickle/dime you to death, or at least they used to. Gallery Lofts is another good choice and Nissen has been hugely popular for years (rooftop pool, fantastic location).
I have not been inside Hilltop House, but belive the apartments to be very small, but very cheap rent. Not sure about amenities here.
As for crime, I can only say that I rarely feel uncomfortable walking anywhere I go. I am not normally out and about after midnight or so and there are certainly some areas that I would avoid but this can be said of any downtown.
Good luck in your search, and I hope you choose Winston Salem. I grew up in Greensboro but have not lived there for over 30 years. Can't help you much there I am afraid.
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