RALEIGH, NC - Conservation-minded consumers who continue to throw green toward green products, such as organic food, Earth-friendly detergent and hybrid cars, can now add rent to the list. Crescent Multifamily Development Group of Charlotte is planning a 324-unit apartment community at University Marketplace on Shannon Road that promises to include "upscale-living amenities that also save energy." It's part of the company's new Circle brand. Crescent is building similar communities in Florida and Charlotte, it plans more in Tennessee and Texas, and it is eyeing Washington.
Crescent expects 1,300 Circle units to be under construction in two weeks, and it hopes to fill them by offering amenities such as: Community vegetable gardens with rainwater collection stations and compost bins. Preferred parking for hybrids, car-poolers and scooters. Bike racks that encourage alternative transportation.
The Durham project, to open by summer 2010, will include Poppies Gourmet Farmers Market, which aims to be the state's first grocery store to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. The apartments also will seek LEED certification. Dozens of Triangle projects have sought the distinction, which developers attain by incorporating features such as systems that save water and electricity and reduce the need for heating and air conditioning.
The program got early attention from nonprofit groups, governments and universities and companies that own, rather than rent, their space. Such institutions are often willing to assume additional design costs associated with green design to save money on energy costs in the long run. Time Warner Cable, for example, said last week that it would seek LEED certification for a planned regional headquarters it will own in Morrisville.
But increasingly, developers who operate real estate as an investment are going green, even though they can pass on energy costs to tenants. Duke Realty said it would seek LEED certification at Regency Creek I, which it is building in Cary, betting that there are enough office tenants who want Earth-friendly environs.
The same goes for condos at Greenbridge in Chapel Hill, planned hotel rooms in Raleigh and Durham and now Circle. "It certainly is the wave of the future," said Jere Buch, executive director of multifamily management at Drucker & Falk of Raleigh. "Some people are going to be more energy-conscious and think that they want to do their part by renting at a location that is LEED certified.
Source: NewsObserver.com