The Village at South Main. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Is the real estate market picking up? There are lots of ways to measure it, but the investors who bought the unfinished Village at South Main condo project in Davidson think they’re seeing evidence it is.

Investor Brad Bowman even goes so far as to say it feels “like the old days.”

Mr. Bowman’s company First Federal Properties led an investment group in buying the unfinished project out of foreclosure last summer. Original plans called for 39 units on a hilly site off South Main Street next to Merrill-Jennings Galleries. Only 12 of the units had been built, and they weren’t finished. So the investors finished the project and put the homes on the market.

Since August, they’ve sold 10 of the 12 units and they say they expect to sell the remaining units soon. “Things are actually going better than we expected,” Mr. Bowman said Monday.

The project has a couple of things going for it, he said. For one, it’s located within walking distance of downtown Davidson and South Main street shops and restaurants. And for another, prices for the units are well below what the previous owners were seeking – $170,000 to $200,000 instead of $280,000 to $320,000.

“Buyers recognize that this is a tremendous value,” he said. “They’re buying something that’s significantly under replacement cost.”

The Villages of South Main was first proposed nearly a decade ago by local developers Corinthian Development, and has been plagued by false starts, construction delays and ownership changes ever since. In 2009, a new group, Villages of South Main LLC, led by developer Brett Krueger, built the first block of condos. But the real estate market slump doomed the effort to revive the project, and the site became overgrown and unsellable.

In May 2011, Community One Bank of Asheboro foreclosed, saying it was owed about $4.1 million. Last August, Mr. Bowman’s group bought the loan for an undisclosed price and took over the project.

The original site plan called for another 27 units, on foundations already constructed on three separate lots on the property. What will happen to them still isn’t clear.

“We’re considering a variety of different options right now,” Mr. Bowman said.

He said the group hopes to have a clearer picture in the next month or so, after discussions with the Town of Davidson.

Mike Feehley and Lauren Enders of My Townhome Realty are handling sales of the condos. In a recent press release, Mr. Bowman said: “Mike and Lauren have done a superb job. None of us, not the investors nor me, thought the units would sell that quickly. It is gratifying to exceed (investors’) expectations and projected results.”

For more information, contact The Village at South Main at 704-765-4065.

RELATED COVERAGE

Aug. 24, 2011, “New owners to put S. Main condos back on the market”