The Colony, an apartment development in a popular area of Charlotte, North Carolina, opened in December after starting construction during the beginning of the pandemic.
The project might not have gotten built at all if construction had started any later, according to developer Synco Properties' CEO Timothy Hose.
The Charlotte-based developer secured construction contracts before the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates. Construction costs have soared since the project began.
"Our costs per unit are at least $100,000 less than it would cost to build this structure today," Hose said.
The project earned a 2023 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
The luxury development will eventually include another 650 apartment units, 300,000 square feet of retail, 250,000 square feet of office and a hotel with up to 225 rooms. Synco plans to own and operate the development on a long-term basis.
The newly opened apartment phase includes 55 units designated as affordable.
About the project: The Colony is a five-story apartment complex with 340 units located in the Barclay Downs area of Charlotte, about six miles south of the city center.
What the judges said: Creative financing "minimized the cost and achieved the [project's] affordable housing goal," said Yongqiang Chu, director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
They made it happen: Tim Hose, CEO of Synco Properties.
