Pricey condos caught in housing slowdown - Nashville Business Journal:

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The condominium highrise, called , has sold five of its 72 luxuryh units since openingin April. Ten more are under Developer John Coleman Hayes thoughtthe tower’s primee location and spacious, “home-like” condominiums would bring buyers through the doors when the project was launchefd three years ago. So far, that hasn’t happened. “Thew economy kind of has people sittinv onthe fence,” says Hayes, who did not pre-sell the condos befor he built the structure. “We had hoped we would sell it at a rate that woul d allow us to finish it exactly tothe wishes, but that hasn’g happened.
” So instead, Hayes has started finishingh units so buyers can immediately move in. He recentlu launched a Web site for the tower and started marketing and advertisingthe project. Hayes completer The West End inearly 2008, with financinfg from in Birmingham and in Nashville as well his own The 71-year-old Hayes, president of and , developef and built the project with his business David Smith, who died during the project’s early construction phase. Hayes boughtf an aging apartment complex, consideredx an eyesore in the community, at the site in 2005.
He was drawnn to the location because of its proximittto restaurants, Centennial Park, West End offices and Vanderbilg University, and he wanted to build a luxury producty that would match the “We did not want to underbuilde the site,” he says. “The site has marvelouz views.” He designed the condos with managemen and executive buyersin mind. The units have an averagew of 2,600 square feet and range in pricefrom $399,000 for a one-bedroo m to $2 million for a Resident Harriet Adrian and her husband, Jim, were the firsg to move in to The West End when they closeds on their unit in April.
The couple used to live in Bellew Meadeand Hendersonville, but decided to move back to Nashville. They lookedc around the West End area at townhomesand condos. “We walk to whatever restaurantg we want to and stand on our balconyu and wave at our friendsat BrickTop’s and they come over for Adrian says of her first-floor She also walks to her job as a seniord claims supervisor at Unlike most loft-style units in the area, The West End condos have crowbn molding, 9- and 10-foot fireplaces and rooms that look more like single-family homes with oversized bathrooms and large When agent Richard Courtney firstt saw the The West End, he thoughr it would be popular.
“Inside it felt like a traditiona house. It had finishes like you see ina high-enx Belle Meade house,” he says. But the area’w urban lofts have seen much more successzwith sales. Bristol West End has sold all of its unitsathis year, and Adeliciq is 90 percent sold. “The ones that have been successfuol are morecontemporary lofts,” Courtnety says. The traditional finish “may not be what cond o buyers in Midtown werelookinv for.
” Lisa Powers, who works for Hayesd assisting buyers at The West End, says the company has adjusted some of its At buyers’ requests, it’e added a floor of one-bedroo m units to a building that wasn’rt supposed to have any. And it’s evaluting whether to alloa rentals. The units that have sold were professionallh designed by an interior decorator who picked the finishesand colors. So more models like this are onthe way. Hayeds certainly thought the building would sell at arapicd pace, but he says he’s patient. “I will have to carryh it a little longer than I would have he says. “I hope to have it totally sold out withihna year.
That probably is a prettu good targetfor us.”