ECI Purchases Apex Site to Develop 300-Unit Apartment Complex

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Georgia-based ECI Group Inc. plans to develop the Columns at Broadstone, a 300-unit multifamily apartment complex in Apex. The NewsObserver reports that the company paid $2.2 million for a 19-acre site just off U.S. 1, near its intersection with E. Williams Street. ECI Group acquired the land from Kite Realty, owner of Broadstone Station, the Walmart-anchored shopping center.

ECI’s CEO Seth Greenberg told the newspaper that the company is pursuing projects in areas that have good growth opportunities and that the Raleigh-Durham region fits this formula. Furthermore, the completion in December of the Western Wake Expressway may expand the customer base for apartments in southwestern Wake County.

According to county records, the proposed development includes 14 individual three-story buildings with 120 single-bedroom, 144 two-bedroom, and 36 three-bedroom units. Amenities include a 5,000 square-foot clubhouse, a community pool, outdoor grille and patio areas, a playground, passive and active green space, 28 garage units, a mall kiosk and a recycling center.

The community will offer rents ranging from $750 for a one-bedroom up to $1,200 for a three-bedroom. Construction is expected to break ground in the next few weeks, with completion scheduled for the beginning of next year.

In other news, China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd., a leading wind turbine manufacturer in China, opened a North American research and development center on the Centennial Campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh. The center will focus on offshore wind turbines research to further enhance energy output and lower the cost of electricity. Dr. Shu Ching Quek, president of Ming Yang Wind Power USA Inc., will lead operations at the new facility.

“We welcome Ming Yang Wind Power to North Carolina. As the first industrial large-scale wind turbine R&D facility in the state, we look forward to a successful partnership in harnessing North Carolina’s wind power potential,” Gov. Bev Perdue said in a recent statement.

Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons