Hyde Park apartments to be reborn as condos

In a move aimed at taking advantage of low interest rates and market trends, a California investor is converting three streets of East Hyde Park flats into condominiums.

GH Capital bought 35 buildings, the former Chestnut Hill Apartments, earlier this year for $10.7 million. The company plans to invest an estimated $8 million to transform the buildings into a new village.

"We felt there was a demand for high-quality condominiums in the Hyde Park market," said GH Principal Gregory Perlman.

Called Hyde Park Place Condominiums, the units -- a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans -- start at $150,000 and go up to $377,000. One of the larger floor plans stretches 2,200 square feet. Plans call for up to 118 condos off Erie Avenue on Ashworth Drive, Beecham Lane and Willowlea Court.

Phyllis Jones of HHB Partners has sold 31 of the units since July. Condo demand is high in Hyde Park, she said, noting 73 separate condo sales last year.

The prices make the condos attractive to young professionals who want the Hyde Park address but might not be able to afford Hyde Park homes, which average about $350,000, Jones said.

"There's just not a whole lot out there like this," Jones said. "Hyde Park Place will give buyers the opportunity to own a Hyde Park-style home at affordable prices."

With interest rates at all-time lows, home and condominium sales have surged as renters now can afford to buy their homestead.

The result in Cincinnati's apartment market has been flat rent levels when compared with 2001, a stall in new construction and high vacancy rates -- 12.5 percent at the end of 2002.

Developers looking to adapt to market conditions are building condos rather than apartments and in some markets choosing to convert for-rent apartments into for-sale condos, said Dave Lockard, an apartment specialist with CB Richard Ellis.

Perlman said low interest rates coupled with the Hyde Park location made this project "an ideal conversion opportunity."

The Encino, Calif., developer is on the lookout for more opportunities in Ohio, which Perlman said is GH Capital's primary market for new acquisitions.

"We like the Ohio market," he said. "It has proven to be one of the most stable in the country."

Crews with Coldwater Construction Co. are working on Hyde Park Place and have a to-do list that includes everything from repainting the building's exterior to installing new heating and air conditioning systems. Amenities include a pool and clubhouse that will contain a banquet room with a fitness center.

Coldwater's principal Dennis Cronin said each unit is receiving electrical, kitchen and bathroom overhauls.

"Being a condominium is totally different than being an apartment," Cronin said.

To give the project curbside appeal, Perlman also is pushing for new sidewalks, lampposts and streetscaping.

The continued popularity of condos largely depends on which way interest rates swing.

"If rates move up rapidly and dramatically, it could stall the for-sale condo market and move people back into rentng," Lockard said.