Featured Story
Closer to Home
Wednesday, April 22, 2009Downtown Living, A Lifestyle Choice for All Ages
Lindsay Seabrook works on Madison’s far west side, while Robert Mullaly works in the city’s southeast corner, their jobs separated by more than 10 miles of busy Beltline traffic.
Photo courtesy of City of Madison-A. Nicolette
The pair also shares a condo at Das Kronenberg, the former Badger State Shoe Co. factory that has been beautifully restored into a downtown condominium development convenient to neither job location.
“We decided we’d rather live downtown, close to the places we like to play, rather than closer to work,” said Mullaly, 27, an engineer with GE Healthcare.
The couple’s sentiment is similar to that of many who populate the growing number of condos, apartments and long-established single-family homes on Madison’s central isthmus, especially those adjacent to the Capitol Square. Whether it’s a matter of proximity to work, to the social and performing arts scene, or part of the increasing public concern over carbon footprints, people in all age groups are finding their way back downtown in growing numbers.
“Moving downtown is a lifestyle decision, whereas suburban living is typically a family or shelter decision,” explained Chris Atkinson, a realtor and condo sales specialist with Bunbury & Associates. “It doesn’t take long to fall in love with Madison and, in particular, its downtown area.”
In the last decade, more Madisonians have consummated that love affair, choosing smaller, more expensive downtown condos over larger, often less-expensive single-family homes elsewhere in the city. Such a move is a conscious decision to trade residential square footage for increased social opportunities, and sales trends support the popularity of that premise. While business is not exactly booming due to the economic recession, downtown condo sales trends have been slow but steady, while real estate activity in other parts of Madison seems to be moving in reverse.
Vertical City
According to estimates, more than 1,100 units have been added to the central isthmus’ residential inventory in the past five years, a growth trend that has slowed but not entirely ceased. Lack of available real estate has caused developments to grow up rather than out, giving many high-rise residents bird’s-eye views of the city, sometimes at jaw-dropping prices.
The popular Concerts on the Square® is a summer tradition in Madison. Photo: City of Madison, A. Nicolette
According to statistics from the South Central Wisconsin Multiple Listing Service, the average downtown condo sales price in 2008 was $320,293 with 134 units sold. Last year’s price climbed 1.4 percent over 2007, an amount modest when measured against an aggregate 24 percent climb in the average 2003 condo price of $258,321. By comparison, home sales elsewhere in the city have declined, largely thanks to the struggling economy. Compared to what may at first appear to be only slight sales growth downtown, 2008 sales of single-family dwellings elsewhere in Madison declined 17 percent from 2007, and 2009 seems to be following similar patterns. Prices, say real estate experts, seem to have little to do with either trend.
“In 2008, we saw our first resale of a downtown condo at or above $1 million,” said Atkinson. “Condos priced at $1 million-plus sell quite well during new construction, but we hadn’t seen a resale at that price until last November. In 2009, downtown saw its first resale at or above $2 million, which is a great way to start the year.”
Proximity to activities is one factor that drives price, but so are condo features. Realtors are quick to defend the value of what generally are smaller residences than buyers may be leaving behind, in particular emptynesters who are cashing in their suburban lifestyle for greater elegance and convenience. Better floor plans, occasional historic ambience, stylish features and ultra-modern kitchens and baths help justify high-ticket downtown properties, and people appear willing to pay the price. Despite the fact that the current recession has done little to dampen prices, the overall market slowdown has opened a window for those in search of a Capitol dome view.
“Madison is different from other real estate markets in that house values continue to appreciate,” said Dan Peterson, spokesperson for developer The Alexander Co. “It may be a bad time for real estate elsewhere, but Madison has been excused from a lot of that suffering.”
Despite the city’s relative insulation from the economic downturn, downtown condo development has more or less stopped for the time being, Peterson said. Lack of developable land, along with the current economic conditions and other factors, could result in a building moratorium of up to five years.
“With construction prices destined to rise, now is a great time to buy a downtown condo,” Peterson said. “The current inventory could last for the next five years, but I believe it will be absorbed sooner rather than later.”
Chasing Lifestyle
Steps have been taken in the past to increase both the diversity and affordability of downtown residential real estate, but the nearby social opportunities put a higher price tag on smaller properties than elsewhere in the city. The 1,100-square-foot Das Kronenberg condo Mullaly and Seabrook occupy did not come cheap even five years ago. But according to the couple, the advantages of living downtown outweigh the drawbacks.
“It’s a unique place to live,” said Seabrook, 26, marketing officer for World Council of Credit Unions. “I can walk or bicycle anywhere, from Concerts on the Square® to the Farmer’s Market to the Overture Center to State Street.”
Atkinson, who practiced what he preaches by moving with his wife to a downtown condo in 2002, would agree. Even with two small children, the realtor believes his neighborhood just off the Capitol Square is a good place to raise his family.
“There are so many things a child can learn by walking and exploring downtown,” he said. “And living downtown also means we are spending that much less time with our kids in the car.”
Dave Stoler, the well-known Madison jazz pianist, takes a more practical view. In addition to enjoying downtown’s amenities, the lifelong musician appreciates the proximity to his weekly gigs playing at Restaurant Magnus and Samba Brazilian Grill’s Cabana Room. On most days Stoler, 46, can walk to work in less time than it would take him to drive and find a parking place. He rarely regrets the move he made six years ago from Madison’s Indian Hills neighborhood on the west side when an affordable condo in The Parkside Building just off the square opened up.
“The positive aspects of living downtown far outweigh the negative ones.”
– Dave Stoler, jazz pianist and downtown resident
“The positive aspects of living downtown far outweigh the negative ones,” Stoler said. “People ask me if I ever miss having a yard. When I walk out of my door in the morning I face the Capitol lawn. That’s my yard. What’s more, I don’t have to cut it.”
