New Eagle & Phenix phase gets under way

The W.C. Bradley Co. is launching the second major phase of redevelopment of Eagle & Phenix Mills, spending an initial $6.5 million on 44 apartments in the large five-story structure closest to the 13th Street Bridge.

Work should begin immediately, with crews cleaning up the brick and flooring, installing new windows and shoring up footings in what is referred to as Mill No. 2. The apartments should be ready for lease late next summer, said Mat Swift, president of W.C. Bradley’s real estate division.

“We think it will go pretty fast,” he said of the construction work. “As a matter of fact, the sooner the better because right now the demand for apartments is strong, and I hope that it won’t slack off over the next year.”

The new phase follows the renovation of Mill No. 3 into 88 condominiums and is part of a 10-year, $50 million rehab of the former mid-1800s-era textile mill on Front Avenue. Columbus-based W.C. Bradley bought the 16-acre property from the now-defunct Pillowtex Corp. in 2004.

So far 56 of the 88 condos have been purchased. The original asking prices ranged from $169,000 for one-bedroom units to $500,000-plus for three bedrooms with a view of the Chattahoochee River.

Swift conceded the economic downturn over the last three years has prompted the company to trim prices 3 to 4 percent. But not as much as the 40 to 50 percent as in other areas of the nation where the housing markets are worse.

“We don’t have to do that here,” he said. “We’ve got enough demand and enough people excited about it that they feel value in paying what we’re asking.”

The urban setting in a burgeoning downtown, or Uptown as the district’s proponents call it, has been a major attraction, Swift said. The Eagle & Phenix has drawn both local people and those from other areas of the country, he said.

Columbus resident Jason Gamache, who owns the automotive tire, customization and accessory company PTAP, said he didn’t really have to be sold on living downtown. Although he owns a 6,200-square-foot house in north Columbus, he and fiancee, Alayne Simmons, bought an 890-square-foot condo four months ago and enjoy the Eagle & Phenix “hotel or resort-like” lifestyle. His first venture into the district was 12 years ago, when he bought a loft that needed renovation. He recalls there being fewer than a dozen residents then.

“I’ve been an Eagle & Phenix stalker since before they started the project,” Gamache joked. “I think Uptown’s such a beautiful area. It’s so unique. And there’s such a diverse group of people that hang out downtown. I eat downtown, I shop downtown. I just love it downtown.”

Al and Sandy Perdue of Panama City, Fla., also decided now was the time to buy into the area. The retired Air Force couple felt the 8-hour drive to their second home in Franklin, N.C., was too long. So a friend urged them to look in Columbus, and they purchased a 664-square-foot condo about two weeks ago.

“We wanted a place that we could get away from our business here,” said Al Perdue. The couple has owned Quilting on the Bay in Panama City for nearly a decade. “We love Columbus, we’ve been coming up here overnight probably for the last three years.”

Like Gamache, who enjoys bicycling the RiverWalk, the Perdues also enjoy the outdoors, including kayaking. They also plan to keep the condo long term so they and their three sons can use it. The family also has bought a lot in the Piedmont subdivision near Pine Mountain, Ga., to build their dream home at some point.

“It’s no different than any of the larger cities you’d see,” Al Perdue said of the loft condos. “They’re very popular.”

Swift said the new apartments that will be available next year will include 30 two-bedroom units and 14 with a single bedroom. That’s on top of 14 more apartments that were created out of the former Eagle & Phenix administration building.

The plan is to turn the apartments into condos in about five years, Swift said. The company doesn’t have any debt on the buildings, so that has helped it weather the recession and keep from using deep discounts to draw buyers.

“Back in the pre-recession days I had 150 people on a waiting list for those units,” he said. “But with the recession and people not being able to sell their homes for what they thought they could get, it slowed down. We’re pleased that we’re still seeing good prospects come through. We’re probably going to have 10 or 12 sales this year.”

For downtown merchants, the prospect of the Eagle & Phenix bringing more people into the area is tonic for sluggish economic times.

“Business is slow, I think, for everybody down here with the recession. Money’s hard to come by,” said Brother Rosenberg, owner of Brother’s General Store on Broadway. “The more people we have living downtown, the more business we’re going to get.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New Eagle & Phenix phase gets under way."