Glenmary Condos (Memphis, Midtown: rentals, crime, appliances)

[Pearlbob]

The old Woodmont Towers on North Parkway were turned into condos: glenmarycondos.com

Question: WHY on earth are these so cheap?! A 3BR condo for $170k (via Crye Leike's website)? And they have been completely renovated with granite counters, stainless appliances, things like that. There is a pool, laundry, free parking.... ?? I don't get it.

And it's a great area of town. Evergreen National Historic district. Granted, I wouldn't want a house right on N Parkway due to the traffic, however in a highrise condo, that wouldn't matter. Crime would be nonexistent as well, since you're in a high rise.

These just seem like such a steal. Is there something that I'm not getting?

[strumpeace]

The market has more than it can bear right now. Just down the street, near N Parkway and McLean, there are three buildings side-by-side that have been coverted to condos. They are very nice and sell for $230k. In the six months they've been on the market, exactly one has been sold.

Market saturation, I think.

[Pearlbob]

I've noticed those, didn't know if they were done or not. They do look nice though, more "historic" at least.

Seems like the Glenmary condos would be an investors dream.

[strumpeace]

There's also that Park something-or-another building on Poplar. It's six or eight stories, across from Overton Park. It was recently converted to condos, too. I noticed they were auctioning the units last week, which was strange to me because typically, an auction is sort of a last resort.

I was very excited about the prospect of condos in Midtown, but now I'm wondering if it's going to work or not. I wonder if people moving to Midtown are just looking for rentals and single-family homes to buy. Perhaps the condo market is limited to downtown and East Memphis?

It will be interesting to see what happens with these buildings over the next year or so.

[Pearlbob]

I think the condo market will be pretty big in midtown. The downtown condo boom has busted, mainly because they built so many, so cheaply, yet charge high prices. The typical 20-something year old who likes nightlife cannot afford $200k for a tiny one bedroom condo. A nice next option is midtown, which is a 5 minute drive to downtown and has it's own bars and restaurants. A 2 bedroom condo for $150k in midtown is a much nicer option to a 20-something year old who wants to buy, but can't afford a downtown price tag.

[defiepilex]

I'm moving right behind those $270K condos in a week from yesterday. I'm so excited to be back in midtown!