By Associated Press
Tuscaloosa AL – A developer has shelved plans for 2300 Bryant, one of downtown Tuscaloosa's highly touted condominium projects.
After more than a year of trying to meet pre-sale requirements, The Builders Group of West Alabama placed the condo site on the corner of Paul W. Bryant Drive and 10th Avenue up for sale last week.
Company President Brock Corder said the market just hasn't proved ready for the project.
"We determined that our project is probably about three to five years early to market based on the comments we heard from interested buyers," Corder told The Tuscaloosa News.
Corder said his firm is evaluating several purchase proposals for the property. The names of potential buyers were not disclosed. Corder said he hopes the next owner will be able to put it to more immediate use.
Announced in April 2006, 2300 Bryant was to be a five-floor, 57-unit upscale complex blending retail, office and residential space into a single building. But despite the promising concept, only five units were pre-sold as of July 22. The condo units were priced from $275,000 to $559,500.
Bill Evans, interim director of the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama, said that generally 50 percent to 80 percent of condo units must be pre-sold, or have contractual reservations, before a bank will issue a loan for construction.
Pre-sales depend entirely on demand, Evans said, and so far demand seems to be clustered in the area immediately surrounding the UA campus.
"The further you get from the university, demand diminishes apparently," Evans said.
That may change in coming years as efforts to revitalize the downtown area and the adjacent riverfront leave the conceptual stage. Proposed public works projects include a four-floor parking deck and transportation center, a new federal courthouse and park.