|
ENDERLY PARK AND URBAN RENEWAL PROPERTIES...
AN AFFORDABLE REAL ESTATE OPTION FOR
FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS AND INVESTORS IN CHARLOTTE, NC ?
Even with the current local real estate market softening in Charlotte, NC, homes in close proximity to Uptown Charlotte are in general, ...pricey. Urban renewal neighborhoods such as Wesley Heights, NoDa, Wilmore, Cherry, and even Belmont and Villa Heights are now priced beyond the affordability of many first time homebuyers. Prices in these areas can range on average in the mid- $100s to upwards of $500k or more. Demand for urban living is as strong as ever, yet fewer buyers can afford... even with ample amounts of sweat equity. So, what are the next neighborhoods to benefit from the demand of qualified buyers who have not given up on the dream of buying an older home, close to Uptown Charlotte, with money to spend and sweat equity to give? ... perhaps one such neighborhood is Enderly Park! In fact, you can see signs of this now with remodelling activity growing and below $100k prices beginning the push the $100k mark and now above! The neighborhood is blessed with quality construction (many with brick veneer exteriors, hardwood floors, & traditional charm), excellent proximity to Uptown Charlotte, and is adjacent to extremely popular (but now less affordable) Wesley Heights. Shopping, restaurants, and an "urban" feel can create strong potential demand for Enderly Park. Walking to The "World Famous" Open Kitchen, one of Charlotte's oldest (since 1952) and popular Italian restaurants is within reach. As described in the Charlotte Observer article below, the neighborhood benefits from having been planned by a "pedigree" landscape architect, John Nolan of Myers Park (neighborhood) fame. Whether a first time homebuyer seeking to use the 2009 $8000 tax credit or saavy investor, you should check out the article below and click on any link herein to see what's available to buy NOW in Enderly Park.
CALL (704) 602-9900 or eMail us with any questions, needs, or interest you may have in touring Enderly Park! While viewing these available properties, make sure to sign up for a "SAVED SEARCH" to be emailed as often as DAILY when new Enderly Park listings are available. Thank you!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This article was printed in the Charlotte Observer on Tuesday, May 26, 2009...
Enderly Park area has a distinguished pedigree
Posted: Tuesday, May. 26, 2009
Dannye Romine Powell
Dannye Romine Powell writes on life in Charlotte and the Carolinas for the Local section of The Charlotte Observer.
E-mail Dannye.
704.358.5230
Residents of West Charlotte's Enderly Park, listen up.
I greet you this cool May morning with a nugget of astonishing and long-buried news.
There's good reason for the graceful curves of some of your streets. There's good reason for that rolling park in your neighborhood, with the creek running through it.
And the handsome stone gates at the corner of Effingham and Tuckaseegee roads - those were no accident either.
Thanks to Jane Johnson of the Main Library's Carolina Room, we now know that your neighborhood was laid out by the acclaimed city planner and landscape architect John Nolen of Cambridge, Mass.
Yes, the very one who, in 1911, was able to imagine the elegantly curved streets of Myers Park from the dusty swath of an 1,100-acre cotton farm.
Johnson's discovery happened as many good things do - while looking for something else.
She was poring over microfilmed plats of the old farm land of sisters Julia and Violet Alexander, whose palatial home, Enderly Plantation, eventually served as headquarters for Camp Greene, the World War I Army base.
Suddenly, Johnson's eye fell on the name "John Nolen."
Could it be?
Johnson called Tom Hanchett, historian at the Levine Museum of the New South.
She read him the small print from the subdivision plat for Enderly Park:
"August, 1925. Layout plan by John Nolen, Landscape Architect, Cambridge, Mass. Subdivision and Plat by Wilbur W. Smith, Civil Engineer, Charlotte, N.C."
Hanchett was in the car, headed out Freedom Drive to Enderly Park.
Besides the stone gates - strikingly similar to the stone work at Queens Road and Fourth Street and at either end of Hermitage Court - Hanchett noticed two more Nolen trademarks: curving streets and a park with a creek trickling through.
"We take curving suburban streets for granted now," Hanchett says. "But Nolen introduced us to that idea."
So why is Nolen's design of Enderly Park just coming to light?
Hanchett says that interest in these early 20th century city planners is fairly recent. But in the last 20 years or so, this whole new branch of city planning has rediscovered Nolen in particular.
"He's now one of the foundations of this whole new urbanism," he says.
And the Alexander sisters - how did they happen to hire Nolen?
Hanchett says that in 1917 civic leaders had asked Nolen to come up with a plan for the entire city - a plan that included connecting greenways and a loop road similar to Queens Road West.
Leaders nixed the proposal, but Julia Alexander, Charlotte's first female lawyer, argued long and hard for it.
Hanchett figures that eight years later when she was ready to develop her own property, she knew exactly the man for the job.
Kudos to Jane Johnson for her sharp eye and to the Alexander sisters for their farsighted wisdom.
And Enderly Park residents, you now have something new and spectacular to pass along to your grandchildren.
Reach Dannye at 704-358-5230; dpowell@charlotteobserver.com
|
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment