The site of what was supposed to be an upscale, 21-story condo tower in the Lindbergh Road area has a new owner that plans apartments instead.
Phoenix-based Alliance Residential has bought the almost 3.5 acres that its previous owner envisioned as Skyline at Lindbergh, a 220-unit of one- to three-bedroom condos priced from the $190,000s to more than $1 million.
Alliance, which paid $3 million for the property, plans to build about 230 to 250 luxury apartments in a five-story building wrapped around a structured parking deck, said David Walmsley, who brokered the deal with Rob Jordan for Atlanta-based Jordan Company.
The project's start date will depend on available bank financing, Walmsley said, adding that work will begin "in the near short-term. It's not a hold for 5 years thing."
The original developers, MCL Cos. of Chicago and George S. Morgan of Atlanta, could not get construction financing and stopped the project in May 2008. By that time they had already spent $7.4 million putting together six parcels for the site.
BBVA Compass Bank of Birmingham foreclosed on the property and put it up for sale.
The purchase includes the partially built parking deck and the foundation of the condomium project, which Alliance plans to salvage, Walmsley said. When Jordan Company marketed the property last spring, many of the prospective buyers planned to tear down the existing structures and sit on the land until values recovered.
"They were looking at it as a land investment, but Alliance estimated there is $2 million of infrastructure that could be used," Walmsley said.
Alan Wexler, chief executive officer of Databank, which researches properties, said apartment construction is starting to pick up.
"It's not going to be a wave," he said. "But it's more than we saw a few years ago."
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