Kingsley Lane featued in Business Review

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Kingsley Lane condo project tailored to Ann Arbor buyer

Sales for downtown Ann Arbor's latest condominium development launch May 20 when the model for Kingsley Lane opens to the public.
That's when buyers will get a chance to own units in a project designed to make the most of Ann Arbor's walkability.

To prove it, the developers have made on-site parking an option, and plan to give buyers a bike, walking shoes and a two-year pass to a public parking structure (Business Review, Dec. 1-7, 2005).
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Those sizes, said co-developer Peter Allen, fill a void in the downtown condo market.

To accomplish the mix, Allen and Berg will build a nine-story tower connected to a smaller building that has a lower level with residential condos also zoned for office and retail uses. A historic building that Berg has owned for decades has been incorporated into the design and it houses the model.

Market-rate starts at about $220,000 for the smallest units, climbing to $500,000-plus for larger styles and penthouses.

Thanks to the developers working out ways to keep workforce housing on-site, six are priced at $81,200 and come with restrictions that keep them permanently affordable for people who meet income guidelines.

The model shows much of the flexibility of the units. It looks like a modern urban loft, with bamboo floors, stone counters, a moveable kitchen island and options that highlight the flexibility of the space. Among them: Opaque, recessed glass panels that can add the privacy of a traditional room or slide back into the wall as needed.

The open, flexible spaces will be a huge selling point, said listing agent Lisa Stelter of the Charles Reinhart Co.

"You can individualize them," Stelter said of the condos, through options like building a Murphy bed into the wall.

Even making parking an option should be an asset to the development, the developers said. Twenty-six below-grade spaces will be built under the two buildings, and buyers of the larger units will get the option on the spaces.

People who work in town and use alternative transportation will be a natural target group for the units without parking.

But to convince others that a vehicle doesn't need to dominate a housing decision, Allen has put stickers on sidewalks around town that outline just how walkable Kingsley Lane can be. A recent trip to the site showed how it's faster to walk the 220 steps to Kerrytown than to drive and park.

Ann Arbor can obsess about parking downtown, but that isn't necessary, Allen said.

"Think about apartments around town," Allen said. "You have some with uncovered parking, some with carports and some with garages, and they're all useful."

Susan Pollay, director of the Downtown Development Authority, said that downtown residents seem less concerned with parking issues than others involved in city development issues.

Pollay said that's a sign that selling condos without on-site parking could work. She added that the range of unit sizes at Kingsley Lane also brings a necessary component to the downtown housing mix. "It really provides something that's not in the marketplace right now," Pollay said.

The project will end up valued at about $19 million, Allen said, representing sale prices of about $320 per square foot for the 50,000 square foot development.

Eight reservations have been active over the last two years during the project's reorganization. New sales require a 10-percent deposit, with the target of half of the units sold by July.

Occupancy should take place by the end of 2007.

JC Beal Construction of Ann Arbor will build the condos, which were designed by a team from Marc Rueter Associates Architects: Marc Rueter, Jim Scrivens, Karen Kortesoja and Geoff Harker. Marketing is by The Kirkwood Group.

Paula Gardner can be contacted at (734) 302-1715 or pgardner@mbizreview.com.

posted by kingsleylane @ 1:41 PM