Northwood Ravin Breaks Ground on 400-Unit Apartment Property in Huntersville, NC

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Responding to the continued call for multi-family accommodations in metropolitan Charlotte, N.C., Northwood Ravin L.L.C. has broken ground on the Apartments at Holly Crest, a 400-unit luxury rental community in Huntersville, N.C.

Holly Crest, consisting of a bevy of two-, three- and four-story structures, will rise from a 24-acre parcel in the Lake Norman area of suburban Charlotte, where demand for premier product is particularly strong. “Despite [Lake Norman] being an up and coming and affluent community, this immediate area hasn’t had new apartments built since 2003, so the existing product is nice, but over a decade old, so we know we can produce a different product that provides a new level of technology and amenities that will provide another option within the marketplace,” David Ravin, president of Northwood Ravin, told Commercial Property Executive.

Certainly, amenities are key in a market where there has been an explosion in apartment construction. Per a first quarter report by commercial real estate services firm NAI Earle Furman, the apartment development pipeline in Charlotte is the largest in the nation, based on percentage of inventory. Northwood Ravin has designed Holly Crest to accommodate renters’ distinctive and perhaps rarely fulfilled desires. After all, it’s not every day that one can look through a digital peephole that photographs the person on the other side of the door.

“When we evaluate a new project, our development team will look at what’s already existing in the submarket, look at the target market and come up with no less than 5 unique features that will allow our communities to stand out by offering something new and appealing,” Ravin said. “In Holly Crest’s case, it was the central plaza, dog spa, nest thermostats, private business center offices, cold plunge bath and sauna, and 10’ ceiling heights.” The property’s 15,000 square feet of amenity space exceeds traditional offerings in such sizeable complexes by roughly 12,000 square feet, according to Northwood Ravin.

Holly Crest will also be heavily green. It will offer such features as iPhone compatible programmable thermostats, low-E windows and energy-efficient lighting. “We are passionate not only about how to develop apartments that have the lowest impact on the environment through energy saving features or drought-resistant landscaping, but really creating an environment that is healthy for our residents,” Ravin added.

With site work–spearheaded by Northwood Ravin’s in-house construction arm–underway, Holly Crest is on schedule to welcome its first residents in spring 2015.