Cities across the country are witnessing a renaissance of downtown living, and, in every center-city ZIP code, some of the most sought-after addresses tower above the urban landscape. The buildings often include on-site amenities such as concierge service, restaurants, pools and spas. Some are combined with luxury hotels, and some cater to the very well-heeled.
The Lure of luxury
Denver developers plan to begin construction this year on a 50-story downtown skyscraper that will house a five-star Four Seasons hotel and the most expensive condos in city history. It will be one of the city's tallest buildings.
In downtown Milwaukee, construction is underway on two luxury condo projects, the 33-story Kilbourn Tower, with units reportedly selling for $700,000-$2.8 million, and the 34-story University Club Tower, with most units over $1.5 million. They will be Wisconsin's tallest residential buildings.
Portland, Maine, has its own downtown condo boom, including the proposed 12-story Waterview, which will have 94 units priced from $250,000 to $475,000 when it opens in 2007.
Just 16 years ago, Seattle voters banned skyscrapers over 45 stories. Now, Mayor Greg Nickels is calling for new high-rise residential buildings, part of an effort to double the downtown residential population over the next 20 years.
Miami, no stranger to downtown high-rises, is seeing explosive growth in the market, with 70 projects either built, under construction or planned. If all the projects materialize, about 55,000 condominium units would be built in the city over the next 10 years.
Las Vegas is in the middle of an unprecedented surge in high-rise condos, with 1,000 people a month plunking down deposits on units. About 20,000 units in 122 buildings have been approved, and nine buildings are under construction. "We're undergoing the Manhattan-ization of Las Vegas," real estate consultant Stephen Bottfeld says.
Even quintessentially suburban places are cashing in on the trend. In Orange County, Calif., south of Los Angeles, more than 6,500 high-rise condos are under construction or on the drawing board. And on Long Island — one of America's first suburbs — Charles Wang, founder of Computer Associates and owner of the New York Islanders hockey franchise, wants to build a 60-story hotel/condo project that would be Nassau County's tallest skyscraper.
Many projects around the nation aren't "high-rise" by Manhattan or Chicago standards, but they often dwarf local norms.
Dallas is no exception. With high-rise living available from points downtown and to the north, there is no shortage of options. New construction and building renovations are providing large amounts of possibilities for people wanting to buy or lease above the ground floor and be near the economic centers of the Metroplex.
Boomers feed the demand
Real estate and land-use analysts say many factors are driving the nation's high-rise condo-mania:
A major demographic shift. Baby boomers are inheriting wealth at the same time that they're becoming empty nesters. "We're retiring earlier, and we want to be able to lock and leave," Bottfeld says. "For people in their 50s to their 70s, their most precious commodity is time."
People don't want to spend time mowing lawns, sitting in rush-hour traffic or getting in their cars to pick up the dry-cleaning. If they live in a downtown high-rise, there's no grass to cut, they often can walk to work and cultural events, and many high-rises have on-site concierge service to take care of life's every little need.
Real estate as an investment. Many high-rise condo buyers are young professionals of both sexes and single women who purchase them as homes — and as their primary investment vehicles.
An emphasis in some cities on "smart growth." These principles, which promote the protection of open space by concentrating development close to jobs and services and connecting it with mass transit, fit perfectly with high-rise living.
A livable city needs downtown residential development. Manhattan is a great example of this sentiment. High-rise living is here to stay. |