Condo living in Atlanta, especially in a high-rise, comes with all kinds of pros and cons.
Limited visitor parking, waiting for the elevator and colorful, sometimes loud, neighbors are just a few.
But because of the slumping condo market of the past two years, buyers like Laura Balser and her husband, Matt Smith, don’t have to worry about any of that.
Balser and Smith live in the W Residences downtown, which is about 10 percent sold. In other words, 90 percent vacant.
Of the 74 units in the residential portion of the building, only seven or eight are lived in. In many ways that’s not a bad thing, the couple said.
Concierge service, private elevators, a pool and exercise facilities are just a few of the extras Smith and Balser enjoy -- with little company. Thanks to the W Hotel below the residences, all of the amenities are available to the handful of residents.
“We do see people at the pool, which we share with the hotel, so it feels like we have more neighbors than we do,” Balser said. “But it really is nice to have the kind of personal attention we have right now.
Smith recalled that their first home together, a loft on Ralph McGill Boulevard not far from the W, was almost perfect except for the lack of amenities, he said.
“Then one day she calls me and says, ‘Remember the one thing we said we wanted at home?’ And here we are.”
The couple closed on their $2.4 million split-level penthouse in February.
Wayne Douglas enjoys a similar experience in Vinings at the Aberdeen, where a half dozen or so of the building’s 55 units are occupied.
“I certainly didn’t expect there to be only five of us at this point,” he said. “But we don’t have it so bad. There’s no wait for the elevator and there’s plenty of visitor parking for our friends.”
Douglas and his wife, Ann, moved into their home in December. He said the emptiness of the building doesn’t diminish their living experience.
“We still have all of the benefits of the building,” he said. “Our lack of neighbors isn’t keeping us from enjoying our new home.”
In this market, developers find themselves having to maintain properties longer until homeowner associations can take over upkeep.
“We built that into our budget,” said Geoff Anderson, developer of The Aberdeen and president of Taz Anderson Realty Co. “But it is certainly to our advantage to make sure we honor promises made to those who live there, because they are our best agents when it comes to selling other units.”
Keeping buildings well-maintained and amenities open makes sense, said Jason Winburn, vice president of sales and marketing for Daniel Corp., the developer of 1010 Midtown, the condo portion of 12th & Midtown.
“That looks good to potential buyers and makes those living there feel like they are being taken care of,” he said.
Keeping in touch with the residents and letting them know what’s going on with the building also is a good move, he said.
1010 Midtown is a 425-unit building that’s about 26 percent sold, Winburn said.
“We hope sales will continue and the building will be more occupied in the coming months,” he said.
Anderson said he hopes to soon see The Aberdeen hit the 20 percent mark, as there are five pending contracts.
“We have special pricing on 12 units in the building and the market is responding to that,” he said. “We’ve got three contracts out of it in the past few weeks and we’re very excited about that.”
Douglas and his wife knew they wanted to buy a home at the Aberdeen before the building was complete. He said once the building was finished and they closed on their home, the market had turned but they had not.
“It wasn’t a hard sell to get us here, even with the market conditions,” he said. “Even at this point, with only five of us here after several months, we have no regrets.”
When Smith and Balser closed on their home, they knew neighbors would be far and few between, but that didn’t stop them.
“Sure we talked about it, but ultimately we decided our goal was long term,” Smith said. “We didn’t buy this to flip, or with the idea of moving out in five years.”
They keep an eye on market conditions, but don’t obsess over sale prices of units in the building.
“We’re not concerned with somebody getting a better deal, or getting our money back, at this point because we really are here for the long haul,” Balser said. “We plan to be here 15 to 20 years, and we hope by then the market will be in better shape.”
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