Camelback Corridor May 10, 2008

Covering: Optima Biltmore High Rise, Biltmore Jewel Condominiums (new to tour), Fairway Lodges (new to tour) and Christensen Court (aka George). Plus we spent considerable time discussing the current state of real estate in general and also specifically what's going on with the high rise and loft condo market with an emphsis on short sales and the foreclosure process.

We had approximately twenty people join us for this tour and frankly at first I was really disappointed. After all, the last tour drew almost fifty urban enthusiasts. But after my fragile ego recovered I realized that I really preferred touring with a smaller group. This tour seemed much more intimate allowing me to talk to individual tour attendees rather than a large group as a whole. We got around the communities easier, we boarded the bus quicker, and in general things were more relaxed. I might actually limit sizes of future tours intentionally.

We stopped first at Optima Biltmore High Rise and Linda Chipman treated us right. She spent a lot of time with us showing the common areas (roof top pool, observation decks, barbecue area, lounge, fitness center, locker rooms etc...) in great detail and then treated us to tours of five different condos ranging from a small one bedroom to two of the gorgeous penthouses. Optima Biltmore is located at 4808 N. 24th Street which is just one high rise building south of 24th Street and Camelback and a casual walk from Ritz Carlton, Ruth's Chris, Morton's Steak House, 2 x Starbuck's, Cheasecake Factory, Cold Stone Creamery, and my two favs Houston's and Merc Bar. The big news at Optima Biltmore right now is the low rent available. We have been putting a ton of people into leases there. For more information or help with a lease visit www.WeKnowUrban.com/Rentals.

Our second stop was Biltmore Jewel Condominiums. This building was sold in 2005 and completed in early 2006. Biltmore Jewel does NOT fit the typical definition of a WKU community (meaning it's not modern, not "loft like" and not a high rise) but because it is located around the corner from one of our most dense parts of town we included it in the tour as a lower cost option. We next headed to the heart of the Biltmore Area, in fact smack dab at the top of the Biltmore Circle overlooking the driving range at The Adobe Golf Course and visited Fairway Lodges. Fairway Lodges are another "high" end product of a more traditional nature. The exterior has an elegant almost urban styling to it but the interior finishes are very traditional and unelaborate. The club house however is top notch and the location is tough to beat.

Our final stop was to Christensen Court (otherwise known as George). This eight unit community was built by Ryan Spiekerman of Helix Development and named after George Christensen an architect and ASU professor who used to live on the site. These loft style homes are very modern, very hip, very well built and awesome. Oddly, it turns out the other than me only one other person was crazy about them and she is an interior designer. For many of the other tour attendees the styling was a bit too much...as are the prices! Anyway, these definitely fit into the WKU definition of urban and cool.

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As always we owe a huge THANK YOU to Mike Williard, an amateur photographer and very special friend of WeKnowUrban who shot these great photos.

Please visit our "Urban Tour" page to learn about our next High Rise and Loft Condo Tour.

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