News

Jul 03
0

Crossroads Westside Finds Success in Tight Quarters, Grand Opening this Week

By | Uncategorized 
By Kevin Collison 
CityScene KC

It may be a site only a developer could love, but the 221-unit Crossroads Westside project is finding success attracting tenants with 40 percent of its apartments already leased before its formal opening.

“We are the connection between two great neighborhoods, the Crossroads and the Westside,” developer Jim Thomas of Indianapolis-based Cityscape Residential said at the grand opening event Tuesday.

“I challenged Helix for a bolder vision of what could be here,” Thomas said.

Wedged between the Broadway and Interstate 35 viaducts, and designed to avoid blocking nearby billboards, the latest project by Cityscape Residential was a test for the architects at Helix Architecture + Design.

“We’re super excited about it,” said Ryan Adams of Cityscape. “We’ve been working on it five years.  “It’s a tough site, not only with the viaducts but three billboards. We needed to work around the view corridors.”  And yes, those units facing the onrushing traffic of I-35 are extra soundproofed. You can judge for yourself how well that worked by checking this video shot from the living room of a freeway-facing, two-bedroom unit that rents for $2,100.

At the grand opening event, Mayor Sly James said he shared the questions many people had about locating an apartment building by a busy interstate.  “I kept driving by and say, I don’t know if I want to live in that apartment,” James said. “What if a car flew in there?

“What’s interesting is, the way the building was built. We’re becoming quite urban. These are things you’d see in Boston and Chicago.”  The mayor observed how the Crossroads was rooted in artists who began moving there years ago for its inexpensive space for studios and galleries.  “People saw value and it was reclaimed with arts and culture,” he said. “As a result of those early pioneers, we have a lot of synergy here.”

The five-story Crossroads Westside development wraps around a two-level garage with 300 spaces. It was built on the four-acre site of the old Jones Store warehouse, and the debris from its demolition was crushed and used for fill at the location.

The $40 million development at 601 Avenida Cesar E. Chavez includes all the amenities you’d expect including a courtyard with large swimming pool, game room, bicycle lockers, fitness center, conference rooms, coffee bar and lounge.

There’s also a private dog park and dog spa.

What’s extra is the colorful and whimsical interior design throughout, much of it done by Dimensional Innovations. Cutout cows dance across the lounge wall, mirrors disguised as giant sunglasses are in the restrooms and the game room pops with color.

“Our theme is the Crossroads,” Adams said. “We wanted to be part of the Crossroads community and blend in.”

Cityscape also has developed two larger apartment projects in Quality Hill, the Apex and the Summit, and is considering other apartment deals downtown.

A 700 square-foot one-bedroom unit at Crossroads Westside goes from $1,200 per month, and two-bedrooms go for $2,100- to $2,500 per month. All units have balconies or some other outdoor space.

Leasing began in January and the developers say there has been no challenge finding renters for units facing the highway, observing they are among the faster being leased.

“The first units leased are on the south side along the interstate and you’ll find they’re quiet,” Thomas said.

May 04
0

First Look: Axis on Lexington taking shape as tenants begin moving in

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Axis Model Photo (629x473)

Jan 31, 2017

Marty Finley, Reporter – Louisville Business First

Indianapolis-based apartment developer Cityscape Residential has finished 15 units at the 300-unit Axis on Lexington apartment complex on Lexington Road, across from Headliner’s Music Hall and Distillery Commons.

And the company expects another 30 units to come online in the coming days as it aims for completion of the $46 million development by late July.

Kelli Lawrence, a partner with Cityscape Residential, invited us into the complex for a tour on Tuesday afternoons. She showed us the completed leasing office, which leads into an amenities space with a business center and Internet cafe. The space also has a lounge area with self-serve Starbucks coffee and an interactive arcade and gaming area with flat-screen televisions mounted on the walls.

The complex also has a fitness center with free weights, yoga equipment and cardio machines, and it has a dog spa and dog park.

We also toured two finished apartment units, including the two-bedroom model unit, which was decked out in brightly colored furniture. It has large bedrooms and bathrooms and a spacious kitchen with quartz countertops, tall cabinets, a pantry closet and high-end stainless steel appliances. The kitchen and living room areas have an open floor plan with wood-like plank flooring, and the bedrooms have carpeting.

Lawrence said Axis on Lexington is about 10 percent leased with interest coming from across the country, particularly those who have relocated to Louisville from larger metropolitan areas or coastal cities.

The complex is spread across three five-story buildings with underground parking and has studio, one- and two-bedroom units. Base rents start around $899 for the studio units and go to more than $1,600 for two-bedroom units. Cityscape officials said some of the larger apartments on the upper floors, which have tall windows providing views of downtown Louisville, will climb to nearly $1,800 per month.

As more units start to come online, Lawrence said, crews should start completing 10 units per week into the summer. Each building will have internal courtyards with grilling cabanas and other amenities, she said.

Prior to Axis on Lexington, Cityscape Residential completed the 312-unit Apex on Preston, and another large Louisville apartment project on Simcoe Lane is tied up in court on a zoning appeal. Lawrence said Tuesday that company officials hope to start construction on the Simcoe Lane project before the end of the year.

Our tour of Axis also came a day after Cityscape filed plans to construct a 370-unit apartment complex on Tucker Station Road in east Louisville near the Xscape Theatres movie theater and the Main Event entertainment complex in Blankenbaker Station Business Park, off Interstate 64.

As I reported yesterday, the complex would be spread across 22 two- and three-story buildings, and Lawrence anticipates the project costing more than $50 million. The plan submitted to the city calls for a one-story clubhouse, a large pool and multiple open recreational spaces with dog parks.

Rental rates have not been established for that as-yet-unnamed project, but Lawrence wants to break ground on the site sometime in 2017.

Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.

May 04
0

Axis Apartments Continue to Climb on Lexington Raod

By | Uncategorized

Broken Sidewalk Axis

Broken Sidewalk by Branden Klayko – August 9, 2016

Construction of the $45 million Axis Apartments on Lexington Road is moving steadily along since we last stopped by in April. Last week, we stopped by the Irish Hill site across from Headliner’s Music Hall to snap a few photos of the site.

“Considering all the rain we’ve had we’re doing pretty well with the schedule,” Brian Evans, an associate at developer Cityscape Residential, told Broken Sidewalk. “It’s been a difficult year to build.”

The Axis Apartments on Lexington Road. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

Still, the five-story, 300-unit project is moving right along. “We are putting the roof trusses on the first building now,” Evans said. He said the building to the north, off Lexington Road, will be next to top out—it’s already up to the fourth floor. Workers began framing the walls of the western building along Lexington just this morning. The elevator column has stood for some time like a concrete block obelisk on the site.

We will be delivering units in [the first] building in the middle of January,” Evans said. He noted that the clubhouse and leasing office in that building is scheduled to open by November 1 and that pre-leasing will begin in mid-October. Units range from $800 to $1,700 per month. “We’re projected to be complete with the project in the middle of July,” he added.

Rendering of the Axis Apartments on Lexington Road. (Courtesy Cityscape Residential)

Watching the construction site, you’ll notice some red-colored framing going up around the perimeter. “That’s fire treated lumber,” Evans explained. He said it’s typical to see on a five-story, type 3 construction building. “Once you get up to five stories, you’ve got some special fire treating you’ve got to do.”

Walking along Lexington, you can begin to get a sense of the mass of the structure defining the street edge as an urban place. Distillery Commons has long provided that edge to the south, but the north side has never had the same street wall.

And once the Axis’s 300 units begin filling with tenants next summer, Evans believes we could see additional development take shape in the area. “We’re hopeful it will spur some further redevelopment in the corridor,” he said.

Construction of the $45 million Axis Apartments on Lexington Road is moving steadily along since we last stopped by in April. Last week, we stopped by the Irish Hill site across from Headliner’s Music Hall to snap a few photos of the site.

“Considering all the rain we’ve had we’re doing pretty well with the schedule,” Brian Evans, an associate at developer Cityscape Residential, told Broken Sidewalk. “It’s been a difficult year to build.”

The Axis Apartments on Lexington Road. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

Still, the five-story, 300-unit project is moving right along. “We are putting the roof trusses on the first building now,” Evans said. He said the building to the north, off Lexington Road, will be next to top out—it’s already up to the fourth floor. Workers began framing the walls of the western building along Lexington just this morning. The elevator column has stood for some time like a concrete block obelisk on the site.

We will be delivering units in [the first] building in the middle of January,” Evans said. He noted that the clubhouse and leasing office in that building is scheduled to open by November 1 and that pre-leasing will begin in mid-October. Units range from $800 to $1,700 per month. “We’re projected to be complete with the project in the middle of July,” he added.

Rendering of the Axis Apartments on Lexington Road. (Courtesy Cityscape Residential)

Watching the construction site, you’ll notice some red-colored framing going up around the perimeter. “That’s fire treated lumber,” Evans explained. He said it’s typical to see on a five-story, type 3 construction building. “Once you get up to five stories, you’ve got some special fire treating you’ve got to do.”

Walking along Lexington, you can begin to get a sense of the mass of the structure defining the street edge as an urban place. Distillery Commons has long provided that edge to the south, but the north side has never had the same street wall.

And once the Axis’s 300 units begin filling with tenants next summer, Evans believes we could see additional development take shape in the area. “We’re hopeful it will spur some further redevelopment in the corridor,” he said.

Aug 04
0

Cityscape Residential’s Jim Thomas on the mixed-use district

By | Uncategorized

Jim Thomas has a plan to bring suburban living to the urban core. Currently, he’s got more than 600 apartment units underway in the downtown area.
Rendering courtesy of Cityscape Residential.

BY AUTUMN MORNINGSKY, Managing Editor
Metro Wire Media Kansas City

Jim Thomas is betting that Kansas City’s apartment market will thrive for the next twenty years.

Thomas, partner at Cityscape Residential, is developing more than 600 new apartment units in the downtown Kansas City area. And with three projects underway, his recourse loans show how much he believes in his product.

Some are beginning to raise an eyebrow at the onslaught of new apartments going vertical in the Kansas City metro. Will the absorption rate keep pace with new construction? Will younger professionals and empty nesters continue to trade in their yards and spacious homes for a maintenance-free lock and leave lifestyle?

But Thomas has caught a glimpse of the future. While he calls Kansas City his hometown, he’s been a resident of Indianapolis since the beginning of his real estate career 25 years ago.

“One of the benefits of commuting from Indianapolis is that we’re about 15 years ahead of Kansas City,” Thomas told the KC Downtowners last week. “I built my first version of Crossroads Westside in Indianapolis in 1989. It was 275 units wrapping a 475-car parking garage on the downtown canal of Indianapolis, and it was like gold. It was too early for a project like this, so the city subsidized it. Today, it’s stable, but that tells you how long we’ve been trying this in Indianapolis — 25 years.”

Jim Thomas unveiled details of his latest projects at last week’s meeting with the KC Downtowners.

Thomas has set out to bring luxury apartments to downtown in the form of three projects: the 138-unit Apex on Quality Hill, which sits at 10th and Jefferson between Case Park and HNTB; Summit on Quality Hill at 12th and Pennsylvania; and Crossroads Westside, another 275-unit project neighboring La Bodega on Southwest Boulevard.

Thomas says he doesn’t want his residents to compromise.

“One of the advantages of doing large, institutional tier community is we’re going to have common area amenities that a lot of smaller, urban, 40-unit offerings don’t allow,” he said. “This size allows us to add some of the things you’d do in a suburb. It’s for a certain niche of downtown resident who wants private parking and a swimming pool and an elevator up to their door.”

Crossroads Westside is a new 275-unit apartment project going up on Southwest Boulevard. Thomas hopes he can attract a first-floor retailer that will give the project some “Crossroads street cred.” Rendering courtesy of Cityscape Residential.

Additional amenities include a grilling station, extensive fitness areas, club/social room, business center, pet spa and washing station, and bicycle storage and repair. Apartment features include high ceilings, expansive windows, gigabit internet service, granite countertops, wood floors, and full-size decks and patios. Rents will range from $1.60 to $1.65 per square foot.

The projects each include first-floor retail space. A new tenant will soon take half of his 4,500 square feet commercial space at Summit. But he’s searching for an especially unique retailer for the Crossroads Westside project. And he’s not doing it for the rent, but rather something he calls “Crossroads street cred.”

“Four thousand square feet of retail is a tick on the dog,” he said. “It’s more important that it’s cool, moreso than it is to get $18 per square foot in rent versus $12 per square foot. I’ve been talking to Suzy Aron to figure out what arts group can keep the area active and get people to turn down Southwest Boulevard on First Fridays and really knit us into that community.”

All of Cityscape’s apartments under construction will feature modern, urban interiors.

Cityscape’s Summit at Quality Hill includes this parcel at 12th and Washington, where the community’s leasing community
will be located alongside street-level retail. A tenant for that space will soon be announced.

But at the end of the day, Thomas would prefer to do away with the retail portion altogether and opt for a purely residential product. Instead of the popular mixed-use project, he prefers the “mixed use district.”

“I am a huge fan of mixed-use districts, but I don’t necessarily believe that individual projects have to be mixed use. It makes it a thousand times harder to finance something that is residential over retail of that magnitude,” he said. “You can greatly simplify it and thus greatly improve your odds if you set one [project] beside another. Maybe they share parking; There are lots of ways to still get that benefit, grow our district, and grow the urban core. But it doesn’t need to be so complicated.”

Jun 27
0

Three projects are part of a surge in downtown KC apartments

By | Uncategorized

Summit on Quality Hill

View of part of the Summit on Quality Hill project, centered at 12th and Washington, looking south from across 12th Street. Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com.

Cityscape Residential is adding a total of 390 units on Quality Hill

Biggest project at northwest corner of downtown is a striking skyline addition

Former Jones Store warehouse in the Crossroads is razed for more apartments

A stretch of bright green walls, looming above the bluffs of Kansas City’s downtown, radiates to passing drivers on Interstate 35 below that there is a lot — really a lot — of apartment construction in the central business district.Those green walls are a temporary layer before exterior treatment is applied to five new apartment buildings clustered at 12th and Washington streets. When clad, the Summit on Quality Hill apartments will add earthier tones to their 5.25-acre development.

But while their color will be quieted, there appears to be little muffling of the residential march toward the city’s core.

Cityscape Residential, the Indianapolis-based company developing the 252-unit Summit on Quality Hill complex, also is behind a nearby project, Apex on Quality Hill, which is adding 138 apartment units at 10th and Jefferson streets.

The company’s belief in downtown’s surging residential market is echoed in the Crossroads Arts District, where its 221-unit Crossroads West is planned for the site that formerly housed the Jones Store warehouse, which was razed recently, just off Southwest Boulevard.

Cityscape’s 611 new units represent about a third of the approximately 2,100 apartment units currently under construction in and near downtown. And that’s not counting another 1,500 or so units that have been announced but not yet started.

Is it too much? Will supply exceed demand? Only time will tell. But planning experts think the developers — many of them attracted to Kansas City from out of town — have good odds for success.

“Downtown occupancy is at 97 percent right now,” said Tommy Wilson, who keeps track of such numbers at the Downtown Council. “One Light is 100 percent leased. So is the Argyle building,” a newly renovated former office building on 12th Street.

One Light, the glassy 25-story tower that opened six months ago at 50 E. 13th St. and quickly filled its 315 luxury units, sold out its priciest units — costing more than $3,000 a month — first. It made a big splash in a central business district that hadn’t had any new apartment construction for decades.

Two Light, a second tower by the Cordish Co., is being built now at Grand Boulevard and Truman Road and is targeted for a Spring 2018 opening.

Meanwhile, other new apartment construction is underway in the River Market north of downtown, in Columbus Park just to the northeast, and in the Crossroads, Union Hill and Hospital Hill areas to the south.

Most of the built-from-ground-up units followed residential conversions of former office, warehouse and school buildings throughout the central business district. That conversion trend isn’t over yet. Apartments recently were announced for two more old office buildings on Broadway.

Wilson, at the Downtown Council, said the greater downtown area’s residential population, estimated at about 24,000 now, could rise to nearly 29,000 with the announced apartments. Five years out, the best guess indicates that nearly 33,000 people will call the core home.

Dec 18
0

Bourbonism, ‘pent-up demand’ draw Indy developer to Louisville

By | Media Coverage, Uncategorized

Indianapolis-based apartment developer Cityscape Residential has filed plans for its third apartment complex in Louisville.

“There’s a lot of great momentum for Louisville,” Kelli Lawrence, a partner with Cityscape, told Insider Louisville.

The city has received national attention for its bourbonism campaign, Lawrence said, and the downtown revitalization, development of new parks and positive employment numbers make Louisville attractive to Millennials — a key demographic for Cityscape.

She also noted that Louisville has developed more slowly than Indianapolis, which has caused the current “pent-up demand” for multifamily residences.

Cityscape’s latest project is a 251-unit apartment complex located on 4.5 acres of land between the Republic Bank and Springhurst Tennis Court on Simcoe Lane, near The Summit. The proposed building is five stories with a four-story parking garage in the center.

Read More

Dec 09
0

Springhurst area to get 261-apartment complex

By | Uncategorized

A 2014 rendering from CityScape Residential shows part of the proposed Axis Apartments at 1373 Lexington Road. (Photo: Metro Planning & Design Services )

Indianapolis-based Cityscape Residential has filed plans for its third large Louisville-area apartment development, a proposed 261-unit project on Simcoe Lane near the Gene Snyder Freeway and Brownsboro Road.

Cityscape earlier this week obtained initial building permits for construction on its $40 million, 300-unit Axis Apartments at Lexington Road and Payne Street in the Irish Hill neighborhood.

Read More

Jan 21
0

Louisville’s First Class A Property by Cityscape Residential, Apex on Preston Apartments, Now Open for Leasing

By | Uncategorized

Multifamily real estate development and construction firm Cityscape Residential announces that its high-end apartment community, Apex on Preston, has opened its leasing office and is accepting rental applications.  This marks Cityscape’s first property within the state of Kentucky.

Located in the heart of Louisville’s south end employment and retail corridor, Apex on Preston includes 312 units and is the first of its kind in the submarket to offer high-end living with top-of-the-line interior finishes and resort-style communal amenities.

The Apex on Preston property is situated on 15 acres and offers walkable distance to both Commerce Crossings Business Park and adjacent retail and restaurant developments.

“Unmatched,” said Kathy McIntyre, community manager for Apex on Preston.  “These apartment homes and amenities are a must-see.”

Residents can enjoy one, two or three bedroom units with interior finishes such as stainless steel appliances, granite counters and vanities, washers and dryers in each unit, designer lighting and plumbing fixtures, wine refrigeration storage, spa garden tubs, wood-like flooring, multi-tone carpet and crown molding.  Shared community amenities include a resort-style pool with a grilling cabana, commercial quality fitness center with state-of-the-art cardio and weight equipment, business center, club room and resident lounge, and professional management.

“Employment and retail corridors are where the energy is at in today’s residential real estate market,” said Kelli Lawrence, partner of Cityscape Residential.  “We want to provide individuals the opportunity to live the lifestyle they want in our apartments while living close to the activities and amenities that are important to them.  Our team strongly feels that Louisville is a vibrant city and will continue to flourish over the next several years, which is why we’re investing tens of millions of dollars to provide desirable living options for the community.”

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Cityscape designs and develops aware-winning luxury multifamily rental communities throughout the Midwest.  By incorporating design elements that echo each neighborhood’s distinct architectural style, the firm brings a unique and mindful design aesthetic to each of its communities.  With its signature blend of high-end finishes and unparalleled design, Cityscape develops luxury apartments that are attractive to institutional investors and renters alike.