Builders Placing Mandates On Living In Downtown Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. — Nearly 10 percent of the condominiums at the Dawson at Morgan in Downtown Raleigh are investment properties.

But that won't be the case when The Lafayette opens near the city's new convention center.

"It's a revitalization project as much as it's a real estate project," said downtown developer Greg Hatem.

Hatem said that when the 80 condominiums are sold, he will mandate the purchaser live in the unit. It is the first time he is requiring this in one of his many projects downtown.

"We are trying to create a community in these buildings, and what we don't want is people to buy these as speculators, investors, and we end up with a building that's full sold out but nobody lives there," Hatem said.

He said it is about creating a stable and predictable community. Someone who spends $1 million or more on a place to live will know who his or her neighbors are because the condos cannot be rented.

Something similar is happening on the other side of downtown.

At the West at North, once someone buys a unit, he or she cannot sell it for 18 months.

"It does stop a flipper from coming in, flipping them, taking his profit and going on to the next," said realtor Ann-Cabell Baum Andersen.

These methods are already used in bigger cities, such as Miami.

Andersen speculates every new project that comes online will now likely include similar clauses because of increasing property values in downtown.