Santer Communities

MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2006 | THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH | BUSINESS, 06F

CONSTRUCTION ZONE
AVENUE ONE TO OFFER NEAR-DOWNTOWN
LIVING AT LOWER PRICE

By Mike Pramik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Despite a strong supply of condominiums being built in and near Downtown, price is a roadblock for many would-be owners.

Developer Chip Santer said he designed his 24-unit Avenue One project in Harrison West for people who are seeking lower prices even if it means less space.

Santer took the bold step of making all the condos at Avenue One one-bedroom units. The flats range from 890 to 1,258 square feet and are priced from $179,900 to $289,900.

"The prices on condos in the Downtown and Victorian Village markets are extremely high," Santer said. "There are not a lot of opportunities in this price point, but there is a market need. Our team developed a handsome way to address it."

Avenue One is a three-story building that is going up on a grassy lot at 431 W. 1st Ave. It will feature a rooftop deck and a secured, 24-space parking garage on the first floor.

Santer said he modeled the design after profiles of urban residential districts in large U.S. cities. The building is near the former First Avenue School, which now contains offices.

"Our building really mirrors the scale of that building," Santer said. "We're using very similar brick and stone so that it really fits, really balances the larger site from Harrison to Thurber along W. 1st Avenue."

Santer is working toward a spring completion date.

HER adds to Web site

HER Real Living has opened a new-construction portal on its Internet site, which it thinks home buyers will use to monitor the inventory that certain builders have to offer.

HER is working with two dozen local builders, such as Dominion Homes, Rockford Homes and Silvestri Homes, to display the newly built houses, models and spec homes that each company has in several markets. Newly built houses often are lumped in with existing-home inventory and listed by geographical area on real-estate search sites, HER President Bill Evans said.

The builders that are present on the site are ones that HER Realtors have represented or that paid a fee to the real-estate company.

"The consumer doesn't say 'I want to look at a resale house,' " Evans said. "They want all that's available."

Battelle expansion complete

Battelle last week opened a $25 million laboratory at its Battelle Biomedical Research Center in West Jefferson.

The expansion added 54,000 square feet of lab and office space to the now 190,000-square-foot center. Battelle uses the research center in part to test vaccines and antidotes for government biological-defense programs.

Brick-a-brac

Look for Grossman's Bargain Outlet to open its seventh central Ohio location next month. The Stoughton, Mass., company recently leased 38,350 square feet of space at Raintree Shopping Center, 2433 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.
A Gold's Gym franchisee based in Lexington, Ky., has his eyes on central Ohio for expansion. Royce Pulliam, chief executive of Global Fitness Holdings, plans to open at least five of the health clubs in the area. He's looking at Hilliard, the New Albany area and Graceland Shopping Center for new clubs in 2007. In 2008, gyms are planned for Polaris and Powell. The clubs will range in size from 45,000 to 60,000 square feet and offer indoor swimming pools, elevated tracks and basketball, racquetball and squash courts.

Mike Pramik covers development for The Dispatch.
Contact him at mpramik@dispatch.com or by fax at 614-461-5107.