Downtown Apartments, Award-Winning Homes Provide Plenty of Housing Options
Looking for an award-winning home in a well-appointed subdivision? Or maybe a converted loft space downtown that will make for a car-free commute? Whatever the need, the bustling housing market in and around Columbus can provide the floor space.
New homes, whether on individual lots or as part of larger planned communities, continue to go up at a brisk pace, says Leigh Walker, executive director of the Golden Triangle Home Builders Association.
“We don’t have all the spikes and valleys a lot of other parts of the country have,” Walker says. “We increase all the time, or at least stay steady. A lot of that is because we’re a small community, and we’ve seen steady growth in recent years because of the military base here, and a lot of new business coming in. It’s not going to slow up anytime soon.”
That steady growth has turned into some recognition for area homebuilders, who’ve been picking up awards from the Mississippi Homebuilders Association for their efforts. Mark Frady of Mark Frady Construction won the best-home prize in 2007 in the 1,800- to 2,499-square-foot category for a home in the Cobblestone Village subdivision in Caledonia. Frady, who’s also taken the Best of Mississippi prize in the past, says that the market remains strong.
“This size, which is four bedrooms and 2.5 baths, seems to be a good-selling size house for us,” he says. “We do some larger houses, and those sell well too, but this is the market that’s doing best for us with a lot of the new people coming in.”
Many of these new residents, and quite a few of the existing ones, are eager to move into new space but don’t want the fuss and bother of a house at all. With that market in mind, many developers are turning their attention to downtown Columbus, where the lofts market is growing daily.
“Columbus leads the state in downtown, upper-floor living,” says Amber Murphree, director of Main Street Columbus. “At last count, we have about 130 apartments, and some new spaces are being renovated as we speak.”
Much of this growth has been happening in the last five or six years, and downtown merchants have been multiplying as a result.
“The majority of the people living downtown work here, so the apartments are putting people in restaurants and stores, and just outside walking around,” says Murphree, a Columbus native who returned in October 2007 to take the Main Street position. “We’re increasing what we have to offer people living downtown. [The growth in lofts] surprised me at first, but we have the population to support it and downtown’s become a very desirable place to live.”
That was definitely the case for Michael Doughty, chair of the Columbus Historic Preservation Commission, who lived downtown, left – and came back.
“I first moved to a downtown loft in 2000, and lived there for just over two years and thought I wanted to be in a home,” Doughty recalls. “I bought a house, remodeled it and sold it, then bought another one and redid it as well. I had an opportunity to sell the second home and thought, ‘Where do I want to live?’”
That train of thought led him back downtown in June 2006.
“The perfect loft was available, and I took it at first sight. There are only two apartments in the building, and there’s green space and a great parking lot next door. The unit has exposed old brick walls, tall ceilings and great views of Main Street, and the hardwood floors are unreal. I shop and eat downtown and everything is within walking distance – many weekends I park my car on Friday and may not move it until Monday as I head back to work.”
