Charlotte’s Country Club Heights is an in-town neighborhood full of character and charming homes built primarily in the 1950s and 1960s.

The neighborhood is convenient to Uptown as well as NoDa and Plaza Midwood, two of the city’s hippest areas of town. Country Club Heights is roughly bordered by Eastway Drive, Central Avenue, Hilliard Drive and Charlotte Country Club to the west.

A mature tree canopy, great homes and a friendly environment are just a few reasons to choose Country Club Heights as your home base.

Located in the heart of the neighborhood is Shamrock Park with its playground, gazebo, tennis court and picnic areas. The neighborhood also has a community garden located along Dunlavin Way.

Country Club Heights has a collection of mid-century brick ranches as well as split-level homes and some newer homes being built. Some of the community’s residents have lived there for decades and some are just moving in and lovingly restoring homes and breathing new life with a touch of modernism into these mid-century homes.

As is to be expected with homes built in the mid-1900s, homes are on the smaller side – less than 2,000 square feet in most cases and many less than 1,000 square feet. Lot sizes are great for an in-town location; they range from just under two-tenths of an acre to nearly half an acre.

Homes in Country Club Heights sell well and a total of 28 homes sold in the last 12 months for an average sales price of $246,615 and nearly $175 per square foot. Sales prices ranged from $126,500 to $335,000 and averaged 98% of list price.

Currently, there are 6 homes listed for sale as of Feb. 13, including one pre-construction modern home. List prices are from $199,000 to $379,900.

Children living in Country Club Heights attend Shamrock Gardens Elementary, Eastway Middle and Garinger High schools.

A rendering of finished NoDa Street Market. D3 Studios

A brewery, Thai restaurant and coffee house/pub are among the newest tenants added to the roster for the $2.45 million project under way in North Davidson.

The market parcel, which will span the two buildings located at 3701 and 3629 N. Davidson Street, is about 1.25 acres.

The entire project will encompass approximately 23,000 square feet of “industrial chic” space with original brick walls and barrel vaulted ceilings, according to a Charlotte Business Journal report.

The North Davidson street site prior to its transformation.

Divine Barrel Brewery is taking over the more than 8,000 square feet of space currently occupied by Charlotte Roller Girls, who will be relocating.

Thai restaurant DeeJai will open its third location in the Queen City at 3629 N. Davidson St. The restaurant currently has locations in South End and Eastover.

Crown Station, which formerly was located in Elizabeth, will re-emerge in NoDa Street Market and offer its coffee house/pub vibe with live music.

NoDa Street Market is being developed by Charlotte’s Bird Dog Group Inc. and designed by D3 Studio.

There is no timetable for project completion as of Dec. 4.

Eastwood Park, which is mostly 1950s brick and partial brick ranches, is located between The Plaza and Eastway Drive at East Sugar Creek Road and is adjacent to Garinger High School.

It is less than 5 minutes to Uptown, NoDa and Plaza Midwood. I-77, I-277 and I-85 access is also only minutes from the neighborhood. Eastwood Park is also ideally situated to take advantage of the expanded LYNX light rail blue line at Sugar Creek station.

Popular shops, restaurants and parks are just outside your door, as well as proximity to beautiful Charlotte Country Club.

As the price of land in and around Uptown continues to rise, people are seeking affordable options for land close to Center City. Homes in Eastwood Park are great investments as rentals or primary residences.

A 1952 ranch in Eastwood Park

Though many of the homes in the neighborhood sell in the $100,000s, a renovated, 1,654-square-foot home sold for more than $300,000 in August 2016.

Many of the homes are smaller in size, averaging around 1,000 square feet on lots of approximately one-quarter to one-third of an acre.

In the last 12 months, a total of 8 homes sold in the Eastwood Park neighborhood for an average sales price of $160,475 and $141 per square foot. Sales averaged 98.8% of list price. A renovated home sold for 106% of list price.

Currently, there is only 1 home listed for sale in Eastwood Park. It is a 1952-built ranch that is in foreclosure. It is under contract and has a list price of $100,000.

Students living in Eastwood Park currently attend Shamrock Gardens Elementary School, Eastway Middle School and Garinger High School.

For more than a year, Hart’s has been whipping up tasty floats and sodas from its vintage VW Bus and popping up at food truck rallies and private events. Now, Kara and Greg Urquhart, the duo behind Hart’s have leased a space to plant roots in North Davidson.

The 908 E. 35th St. location, at the intersection of Whiting Avenue, is 700 square feet and fulfills the couple’s original dream of having a permanent location for them to support other local food sources in creating their own culinary concoctions. Hart’s inked a 3-year lease for the space.

The Urquhart’s, who use vanilla ice cream from Waxhaw Creamery in their floats, hope to support several more local businesses in their new location by offering coffee, baked goods and more ice cream flavors.

The trendy NoDa area of Charlotte caters to the eclectic and local with artists, local restaurants and, more recently, an uprising of local breweries. For Charlotteans with children, Hart’s will give them a destination in the neighborhood.

Not just a day-trip destination, NoDa has some fantastic real estate! Currently, there are 12 properties for sale in NoDa,  both renovated and unrenovated older homes.

Sites of proposed townhomes

Thirty-five new townhomes will share the block with Heist Brewery after the Charlotte City Council approved on Monday the Saussy Burbank plan.

The Charlotte-based builder submitted a rezoning petition with the city in April for 30 townhomes that will face North Brevard and East 33rd streets, flanking the block’s existing structures.

The final plan for the approximately 2,200-square-foot residences calls for 35 homes that will be one block from 36th Street LYNX light rail station when it opens, adding to the development surge toward mass transit-oriented development in the Queen City.

Prices for the new 3-bedroom townhomes are expected to be in the upper $300,000 range. Each residence will have 2-car garages as well as some recessed on-street parking spaces along North Brevard and 33rd streets.

The two parcels that cover more than 9 acres is adjacent to Heist Bewery and within walking distance to the heart of the Arts District, Cabo Fish Taco and Johnston YMCA.

The mixed-use project in the arts district is adjacent to the 36th Street LYNX light rail station between 35th and 36th streets. The site is currently used as warehouse space.

The plans filed by Eller Capital Partners of Raleigh calls for 200 apartments units and at least 5,000 square feet of non-residential space, not including resident amenities, such as a fitness center.

An artist rendering of one of the two buildings Faison plans for its Elizabeth apartment project as filed with rezoning petition.

The developer has also committed at least $20,000 for building artwork.

Also on the agenda for Charlotte City Council Monday night was the controversial Elizabeth apartment project that would raze popular Elizabeth bar and restaurant Jackalope Jacks, which is adjacent to the Savvy & Co. office.

Elizabeth-area neighbors had previously fought against the proposed apartment project from development firm Faison for increasing area density in the area of East 7th Street and North Caswell Road.

City Council approved Monday a much-revised version of Faison’s year-old proposal, which initially called for 200 apartments and then was reduced to 123 units.

The council OK’d up to 100 apartments at the corner of East Seventh Street and North Caswell Road on the 1.7-acre parcel of land in Elizabeth.

There was also prior concern about the exterior appearance of the proposed single 60-foot building, to which some council members objected.

The final plan is for 100 apartment and 30,000 square feet of non-residential space in two buildings with a two-level parking area in the back.

The Drakeford Co.’s rezoning request included site elevation plans, including these partial elevation drawings of the proposed townhomes.

Two pieces of land are up for rezoning plans for construction of two townhome communities along Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood and 36th Street in NoDa.

The Drakeford Company plans on 16 three-story townhomes at the northwest corner of Central and Chatham avenues in Plaza Midwood that would start in the $300,000s. The half-acre plot of land is currently occupied by the building that houses Pass Time Billiards.

The site on East 36th Street is 1.35 acres and would house 36 townhomes on the land that is now Twin Oaks apartments.

Bobby Drakeford, head of Drakeford Co., told the Charlotte Observer that he sees a market for more residential space in Plaza Midwood and NoDa at a lower price point and can offer that by building townhomes.

In both NoDa and Plaza Midwood, prices are approaching and exceeding a half a million dollars for single-family residential properties in and around the areas where Drakeford plans to build its townhomes.

Currently, there are 37 residential properties for sale in Midwood, which is only 3 months of inventory given demand for that area. NoDa has slightly more inventory, with 22 properties for sale, which amounts to about 4.5 months inventory. The average price for a Midwood home is just under $420,000, as of April 12.

The Charlotte-based Drakeford Co. specializes in urban, infill residential real estate sites. The company is responsible for Plaza-Vu in Plaza Midwood, as well as several Wesley Chapel projects.

Colorful NoDa during an art gallery crawl

Oscar Wilde said “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” There may be no place in Charlotte where that phrase is truer than NoDa.

Whether you refer to it as NoDa, North Davidson, North Charlotte or The Arts District does not matter,  but just do not call this diverse neighborhood boring!

Bordered roughly by North Sugar Creek Road, The Plaza, Matheson Avenue and North Tryon Street, NoDa packs a lot of life and culture into a small area of the city. Thirty years ago nobody wanted to spend time in what had become a dilapidated area of town.

Formerly a thriving textile mill area, NoDa has undergone a transformation bringing artists and galleries first followed by restaurants, small boutique shops and breweries. The neighborhood is home to 5 breweries and tap rooms: Heist Brewery, NoDa Brewing Co., Birdsong Brewing Co., Free Range Brewing and Salud Nanobrewery. Its well-known gallery and brewery crawls draw people from all parts of the city and beyond.

The area is a great walking neighborhood. Cabo Fish Taco, Smelly Cat Coffee House and Amelie’s French Bakery are all popular week night or weekend destinations. The Johnston YMCA is located in the heart of the district, nearly walkable from all parts.

NoDa is also very convenient to Uptown/Center City via North Davidson or North Tryon streets. Charlotte Country Club and Plaza Midwood are also right next door to NoDa.

A new construction bungalow that sold in Feb 2016 in North Davidson.

In recent years, new construction and multifamily housing has brought more residential growth to the area. There are many older homes built in the 1930s, 40s and 50s mixed in with newer construction built in the 2000s.

Currently, there are 15 homes on the market in NoDa. There are 8 older homes listed for sale, a few of which have been renovated. Ten of the homes are under contract as of March 1.

There are still many diamonds in the rough available in the neighborhood, but the renovated homes are pushing up the average prices in the neighborhood. There are still great deals to be had, though.

An average of 5.1 homes sold each month in NoDa during the last 12 months. That is about 60 homes over the last year. The average sales price of those homes was $316,502 or $182.70 per square foot.

Given that there are only 15 homes on the market now, inventory is at a low 3 months. Charlotte and Mecklenburg County both have inventory around 3.6 months, so NoDa is below the average.

The lowest priced home sold for $77,400 and is actually one of the houses currently listed for sale. It has been renovated and relisted for $175,000. It’s a 1,000-square-foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. It is under contract again.

The highest sold price was $508,500 for a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom home of 2,880 square feet. The renovated home sold for 102% of list price.

Homes average about 97% of list price in NoDa, with many renovated homes often selling at or above list price.

Even if you are not ready to make a move of your own, it is worth taking a trip to explore NoDa and support local businesses. It is a fantastic place with a funky Bohemian vibe and a great place to live!