Condo's Charm

2/24/2005 - the Dallas Morning News

For a growing number of North Texans, the "American Dream" no longer means a typical house in the suburbs. Instead, more and more buyers are opting for condominiums and townhouses. Developers are responding with dozens of new projects from Uptown to The Colony. John and Kristi Valencia are about to trade their North Dallas "rambler" for a trendy townhome in Uptown. "It's a big change for us - moving south," said Mr. Valencia, who works in McKinney. "We are going to be in walking distance from McKinney Avenue and will have Turtle Creek and the Katy Trail nearby." The Valencias, who are in their early 50's, have been in their home for about 13 years. But with the kids heading off to college, the couple decided they didn't need a big traditional house and yard. "We have a pool now and nobody is in it, but we keep paying for maintenance."Mr. Valencia said. "the timing is right for us to do this."

David and Renee Winter have already taken the plunge. Last fall, they sold their 6,000 square foot house in University Park and moved to an Uptown high-rise. "We'd lived there 18 years, and we were at the point where we needed to do some major remodeling to accommodate our lifestyle," Ms. Winter said. The Winters said they were attracted to the "inner-city urban lifestyle." Plus, they enjoy traveling, so a high-rise makes sense. "It's been great to walk away from the yard man and the pool man and everyone else," Ms. Winter said. "When it's time for a trip, I can just lock the door and go."

Along with young professionals, empty nesters like the winters and Valencias are driving the craze for condos and townhouses. And the boom is no longer confined to the center city. Brett Williams' company is planning a 15-story condo tower on Arapaho Road near the Dallas North Tollway. "There are a lot of people up here that have a million-dollar home and 6,200 square feet and don't want to go to Turtle Creek," Mr. Williams said. "They don't want to leave the neighborhood."

Developer Lucy Billingsley recently begain marketing her company's first townhouse and condo project in its Austin Ranch community in The Colony. When Ms. Billingsley decided to build 50 condos and townhouses on Windhaven Parkway, she began her marketing efforts with the apartment dwellers at Austin Ranch. "We put out one postcard and got tremendous response," Ms. Billingsley said. "We have 25 meetings lined up with potential buyers and we are scurrying to get our materials together."

Other developers are putting up townhouses and condos along the tollway in Plano's legacy Town Center and in Addison Circle. Jason Leeds recently began building a 36-unit townhouse complex near the corner of Inwood Road and Mockingbird Lane in North Dallas. Called Park Cities Townhomes, the two- and three-story units are replacing an aging apartment house and will start at about $273,000. "Of the five we've sold so far, only one is to an empty nester," Mr. Leeds said. "The balance are single professionals."

Companies' incentive: Researchers don't track condo and townhouse construction the way the do apartments and homes, but analysts say the wave of construction is growing. "A lot of builders are shifting to the townhome product to separate themselves from the pack," said Ted Wilson of Residential Strategies. "They are more likely to get a better margin with townhomes." Single-family home lots are usually surrounded by plenty of land. For condos and townhomes, it's harder to find construction sites with the proper zoning, but you also won't find a dozen competitors on every corner.

Even some of the biggest single-family home builders, including Ryland, Ashton Woods, Pulte and D.R. Horton, are turning to the condo and townhouse market, Mr. Wilson said. And apartment owners are taking advantage of the boom by turning their rental units into condos.

Post Properties, one of the biggest apartment landlords in Uptown, has begun converting some units there. And apartment owner Power Properties just finished its latest series of condo conversions - the one in North Dallas. The Paradiso Condominiums on Meadow Road started out as a 1960's apartment complex. Developer Braden Power gutted the project and created 45 condos around a resort-style courtyard and pool. "We are going as fast as we can to keep up with the sale," he said. "We sold five last weekend." The one-, two- and three-bedroom condos sell for between $130,000 and $240,000, and most Paradiso buyers are in their 20's and 30's. "It's first-time buyers that are professionals working in the downtown area," Mr. Power said. "They are buying more than a condo-they are buying a community." Mr. Power is already working on his next conversion, which is on Gaston Avenue in East Dallas.

Part of the trend

How great is the demand? "The demographics are improving," said analyst Mike Puls with Foley & Puls. "There is a national trend for urban living. "On a national level, 2004 was a 16-year high for condo and townhouse starts. It's happening in lots of places." In the Dallas area, "we've been behind the curve because of our weak economy, but that's getting better," he said.

Buyers who've made the switch say they have no regrets. John Williams and his wife recently moved from a 3 1/4 acre spread in southern Oklahoma to a 2,000 square foot Turtle Creek townhome. "We don't have anything against suburban areas, but there was an urban lifestyle we preferred," said Mr. Williams, who moved to Dallas for a new job. "We are five minutes from the Dallas Museum of Art and the symphony and within walking distance of all the restaurants we like," he said. "We can lock it up for two weeks and head to Mexico in the summer and not worry about anything."