Are the Inner-City condos and loft are too expensive? (Midtown: 2009, rentals)

[cdm2003]

I have paid attention to the innercity condo and loft boost that nashville is going through, and the most inexpensive condos range from 1200-1500 monthly for only about 600-800 sq ft. Isn't that a little steep? With the economy in its current position, I can't imagine those condos selling out. Hopefully they'll decrease

[ariesjow]

Many of the newer condos in the core are not selling. In fact, several of the new projects have fallen into receivership and have few to zero buyers. Most of these units were overpriced for the Nashville market from the beginning. It is my hope that the current economic climate will force developers to lower the prices on these units and perhaps create more rental units that are practical to more Nashvillians.

My partner and I pay $1,000/per month for completely renovated 2br/2ba off White Bridge. So we find it very hard to justify spending upward of what we already pay for half the space we have just to live a little closer to the core where the amenities are not quite there yet. The focus right now in Nashville needs to be not only making urban living affordable for everyone who desires it but also providing more amenities in the core to make these areas more attractive to people who might otherwise only consider a suburb or an exurb. There was some rumors of an urban Target near downtown not too long ago but obviously that hasn't come to fruition.

[tabbva]

I don't think you can compare White Bridge with Downtown Nashville. From what I have seen, many of the new condos have been aimed at the executives in the music and entertainment buisness in Nashville, especially the higher priced ones near Music Row.

Those that are closer to Downtown than Music Row seem to be more competitvely priced. Yes, alot more than Whitebridge, but the people that are looking at buying a downtown condo usually aren't the same people that want to live in White Bridge.

[GoGreenNashville]

I am curious if you are referring to rentals or if this is your estimation on what a mortgage would cost you to get or if this is rental rates you are encountering? Rental wise, if it's some of the high rise condos, the boost in rental can be attributed to some of the amenities offered such as roof top pools, concierge, work out facility, and parking. All of these things are costs the owner is incurring and it's being passed on. In addition, the higher the unit and better the finish, typically the higher the premium.
There is certainly a large supply of condo development downtown in a variety of price points. Obviously, some developers with large inventories are making deals which is undermining values for the current owners. Some developers that did not close any units have gone in to receivership although the two that I know of are on the fringes of downtown. If you are looking to buy, there are deals to be had but you need to think of it as a longer term(like 5 year) investment. The theory is that as the inventory get's absorbed and construction has now ground to a hault, it will take some years to get it back up and going again. It's during that period that there could indeed be some solid demand.

[ariesjow]

Originally Posted by tabbva

I don't think you can compare White Bridge with Downtown Nashville. From what I have seen, many of the new condos have been aimed at the executives in the music and entertainment buisness in Nashville, especially the higher priced ones near Music Row.

Those that are closer to Downtown than Music Row seem to be more competitvely priced. Yes, alot more than Whitebridge, but the people that are looking at buying a downtown condo usually aren't the same people that want to live in White Bridge.

I didn't make my point very clear. I should have said that we live close enough to the core and other amenities that it's very difficult to justify paying more for less in 2009's urban Nashville. Places like ICON are aimed generally at young professionals like myself and not just to those in the entertainment industry.

We remain very interesting in moving either downtown or Midtown but the price points are simply unreasonable to us and many other Nashvillians as well. We'd happily justify shelling out a couple of more hundred bucks a month to live in the Gulch. However, we're not going to do it if it means losing half our already small space to live in an area that's still a few years away from being a truly viable neighborhood. In the rush to go toe-to-toe with other metros bringing residents to their cores, developer simply took for granted that they were building too many small, high-priced units in a market that has traditionally been very cold to the idea of urban living.