The Search
Seeking more space, condo dwellers Raj Patel and Sarah Park considered moving into a single-family home or another condo.
Patel, 41, a hotelier, and Park, 31, who works in human resources for Novelis, owned a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath condo in Buckhead Grand.
“We cast a really wide net,” Park said. “I wanted to live in a home. Raj likes living in a condo. We played both sides of that fence.”
Their choices included these three properties in Buckhead and Midtown.
No. 1
New on Peachtree
A three-bedroom, three-bath condo in The Brookwood, an 18-story Georgian-style building on Peachtree Road, had the appeal of being new construction. The features, such as EnergyStar Viking appliances and marble countertops in the bathrooms, reflected the elegance of Buckhead. “The amenities were amazing. You could tell they put a lot of effort and thought into it,” Park said. The townhome, which had a balcony, was listed for $580,900.
No. 2
Bare bones in Buckhead
The three-bedroom, three-and-a half bath condo in The Astoria was not finished, with concrete floors and only the kitchen complete. It offered an opportunity to customize the condo, but it would take time. The new building also was on Peachtree Road, near Piedmont Hospital, but Park said the location seemed indiscreet. “You wouldn’t really know it was there until you looked for it. I really liked that part of it,” she said. Another unexpected feature was a creek in the back, which they could see from the floor-to-ceiling windows and balcony. The unit was listed for $820,000.
No. 3
Near Piedmont Park
The three-bedroom, three-bath contemporary condo in Aqua Midtown was walking distance to the park, which the couple and their French bulldog, Tiberius Maximus, thought they would enjoy. But they had to consider another aspect of the location: It was on 10th Street in Atlanta, giving it more of a city setting, and it was near a busy intersection. A nice touch was the private access elevator, Park said. The unit, built in 2007, was listed at $825,000.
The Choice
No. 2. From the moment they saw the Astoria condo, Park said they loved it, but they wanted to keep looking before they committed to the building. “We looked at a lot of other homes and a lot of other condos. We ended up coming back to this unit, months later,” she said. It had condo features they wanted, but also elements that gave the feel of a single-family home, even simply being able to open the windows to see views of Buckhead, Midtown, downtown and the creek below.
Working with Kevin Grieco of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty, they closed in December, and moved in as construction began to finish the unit.
“We weren’t expecting to move into a perfect place. We knew there would be some renovation involved,” Park said. “We knew when we moved in, we would have to do some customization to create an environment that fit us.”
