City Summit isn’t complete, but it’s getting very close. The project has also taken a turn, noted by an intrepid reader who mentioned the shift in a recent comment: The LawlerWood project, built by Merit Construction and designed by Design Innovation Architects, has shifted from apartments for rent to condos for sale. I met with Joe Petre and Ben Petre for a look around the inside and a conversation about the changes.
As shown on the website linked above, the homes are now being offered for sale. Posted just over a week ago, contracts are being drawn up with the first one set to be signed this week. That comes as not all the homes are currently listed on the MLS and tours of prospective buyers have not yet been possible due to construction. All units are currently available, though not all are actively listed. The website includes floorplans.
City Summit, on completion, will include 89 homes, with three studio condos, 52 one bedroom units, and 34 two bedrooms. The studio condos start at just under $300,000. The one-bedroom homes range from the upper $300,000s to the low $400,000 range. The two-bedroom homes start just below $600,000 and range into the mid $700,000 range on the top floor. Floor space tops out at just over 1,100 square feet. It all translates to roughly the mid-$600 range per square foot, which is less than some homes are currently bringing downtown. All homes will be available for move-in in two months.
Joe said the shift from apartments to condos came about simply because of market conditions. He said they noted the large numbers of rental properties coming on the market at one time, particularly in the UT area and just over the river in South Knoxville. While there were also numerous apartments shifting to condos (White Lily, Sterchi, Emporium, Medical Arts) and new condos being built at Lone Tree Pass, those homes were being purchased rapidly despite rising prices. Feeling a stronger market at this moment for condos, they shifted. “Basically the market dictated which way we went.”
The change also changed the dynamic on the investment in a way that helps the city: With the new financial model, the PILOT would not be necessary, and would need to be returned. Joe said, “I’m not sure anyone (in Knoxville) has ever gotten a project to fruition and then said we’re not taking the tax assistance. We did need it when the project was going to be apartments, to make it work . . . These things cannot get done at certain times and places without a TIF or PILOT, but when the market and circumstances changed, it was time to let it go.” This means all new homes will pay full city and county taxes at the sale price from the beginning—property valued at many millions of dollars…