Wilmington apartment dwellers are finding that today’s apartment complexes are becoming far more than just a place to hang their hats or lay their heads. Through design and amenities, the developments are increasingly catering to individual tastes while encouraging a sense of community.

In New Hanover County, as in other metro areas, more young professionals and older adults are opting to rent rather than to purchase a home. But that doesn’t mean that they are willing to skimp on perks.

“Apartment amenities have evolved over time as developers have followed the changing interests and lifestyle patterns of apartment residents,” said Robert Bishop, president of Wilmington-based Tribute Properties. “It used to be that an apartment community would offer tennis courts and a pool table for recreation. Now you’d be hard-pressed to find a pool table, and fitness centers have become more important to residents than
tennis courts.”

Tribute Properties has developed and built more than 7,000 apartment units in North and South Carolina and still owns and manages more than 5,000 of them. Its apartment communities include numerous developments in Wilmington. Amenities at the local properties include the standards: full kitchen with built-in microwave and dishwasher, community laundry facilities, swimming pool and that traditional favorite, the tennis court. Tesla Park, off South College Road, also offers a “bark park” pet exercise and meet-and-greet area. Briarcliff Villas, in a somewhat higher rent range, adds a volleyball court to the mix of amenities.

In 2012, however, Tribute Properties introduced a different kind of apartment community to Wilmington: South Front Apartments, a gated complex near downtown.
Bishop said that Mark Maynard, owner of Tribute Properties, had a specific vision in mind when he purchased Nesbitt Courts, a neglected eyesore that had been built in 1940 as public housing.

“Mark’s goal for the South Front development was to repurpose an abandoned public housing project into a unique lifestyle community,” Bishop said. “South Front amenities were developed to create a specific lifestyle experience.”

In addition to the usual list of resident perks, South Front, which boasts a waiting list for units, offers a community great room with fireplace and big screen TV, chef’s kitchen, coffee bar, media screening room, loaner bicycles and bike storage area as well as a community roof garden and gathering space, outdoor kitchens, water park and bark park. The project, whose LEED Silver certification is pending, also incorporates green features, from energy efficient systems to heritage tree preservation to educational signage.

           

“We consider the reuse of the original buildings as the ultimate in recycling,” Bishop said.
Bishop said Maynard made creative use of existing spaces. An old boiler room, for example, got new life as a place for residents to gather and watch movies.

The developer is now at work on a similar urban redevelopment project in Asheville, turning an old Chrysler dealership into a boutique apartment complex.

Wilmington’s apartment communities aimed at college students and older adults also are piling on the extra amenities in the market’s current buildup of multi-family developments.

Websites of developments near the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus show that students have their pick of places with pools, patios and sundecks, billiard rooms, coffee bars, sand volleyball courts and basketball courts, fancy fitness centers and tanning beds.

A new apartment complex, Progress 910, which bills itself as “premier student housing,” enhances the standard student perks by equipping its furnished units with stainless steel appliances, extra sound insulation in the walls, a community game cove, an activity center/club room complete with a fireplace and lounge area and a cybercafé study area.

For older adults, Cambridge Village, now under construction on Eastwood Road, will provide independent living apartments plus some units that provide greater support. A partnership with the Davis Community means that there will also be a skilled nursing facility on the new campus.

Cambridge Village aims to replicate the best of its existing retirement rental community in Apex, while tailoring its programs and facilities to the Wilmington-area retiree, said marketing director Beverly Booth.

“We found that lifestyles and expectations are different here on the coast,” she said. “For one thing, there are more couples interested in moving into Cambridge Village; we have couples in Apex too, but more singles.”

Booth said another distinction of the Wilmington retiree is a greater interest in being active, especially outdoors. So the development will have a larger, more complete fitness/wellness center than its Apex sister institution does, with lap swimming and an aquatics class area. There will be opportunities for biking and kayaking nearby and a pickleball court.

The development hopes to distinguish itself by enhancing residents’ abilities to connect with the community and environment around them. 

“We’ll have a connection to OLLI [Osher Lifelong Learning Institute], since opportunities to engage the mind help people in the aging process,” Booth said. “OLLI will be using our facilities some. We’ll provide a one-year OLLI membership for our first residents here.”

Cambridge Village, which aims to open its first phase of apartments and facilities in early 2015, will employ a full-time enrichment coordinator who will organize cultural and recreational programs.