Residents seeking out downtown Fredericksburg
The former furniture warehouse on Frederick Street has now been removed for the condominium project.
A local developer sees a “pent-up demand” for modern, maintenance-free residences in and near downtown Fredericksburg.
“We think there’s a tremendous demand for that,” JON Properties President Mike Adams said Tuesday morning at a Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast event at the downtown Courtyard by Marriott.
JON Properties’ recent downtown projects have included the Park View condominiums on William Street, the National Bank Building renovation and new townhouses on George Street, and the single-family homes on Charles Street.
Adams said most of his recent customers have been empty-nesters seeking to move from high-end, suburban homes into downtown residences that offer “lock-and-go” amenities, open floor plans and maintenance-free lifestyles. While many of the units JON Properties has sold of late at Park View and on George Street have gone for $1 million-plus, he said there is even more demand for residences selling for under $500,000.
That market demand is what Adams is seeking to respond to with his most-recent project — The Lofts at Frederick Street — on which he is partnering with local builder and contractor Jon Van Zandt. That development is planned along Frederick and Charles streets a block from the train station.
A rendering of The Lofts at Frederick Street.
The first step is to shore up the former coffee warehouse on Frederick Street, which has fallen into significant disrepair. Adams said the 6,600-square-foot structure will at first serve as a sales and construction office for the project, and later will be available for rent as commercial space.
The next phase will be the construction of a 17-unit condominium building off Frederick Street that will be built on a footprint that until recently included a former furniture warehouse structure. That building was recently removed, and its 100-year-old heart-pine floors were salvaged for re-use in the project.
Adams said the construction of the Lofts — which will be composed primarily of one- and two-bedroom units but will also include several three-bedroom units — will get under way next year and be finished by 2020. The final phase of the project will be construction of four townhouses along Charles Street.
As for what comes next after The Lofts at Frederick Street — other than a vacation — Adams said he has his eye on some smaller, “bite-sized” infill projects downtown.