Buzzing Back

Call Josephine Gleason an insider.

She moved into Bee Street Lofts in October 2007, buying a mid-level condo. Now she’s heading up sales there.

“It’s really, really good,” she says. The lofts uniformly offer good views and are close to major downtown arteries. Some condos have clear sights of the Ashley River.

“The location is perfect,” she says.

Gleason, a Realtor with Daniel Ravenel Sotheby’s, was selected to handle sales at Bee Street Lofts last September when the agency took over marketing the property.

When it opened in 2006, the 108-condo development sold quickly. Many buyers worked at Medical University of South Carolina and Roper St. Francis Hospital, which are within walking distance.

Then deals lagged as the real estate market tightened. Currently, 33 dwellings remain unsold in the eight-story complex. They are priced from $329,900 to $750,000.

“At its peak, prices were very high,” Gleason says. “Then the market pulled back.” The list prices were reduced in January. “We’ve got a lot of people looking. That’s a good thing.”

The lofts remain in a prime spot, on the fringes of downtown Charleston, a short distance from the Ashley River Bridge and a few blocks from Interstate 26 and the Ravenel Bridge to Mount Pleasant.

The condos are popular with empty nesters or other people who want a luxurious but smaller residence. “I have a lot of doctors trying to sell their home,” she says.

Available lofts are 806 to 2,053 square feet in size and include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Price per square foot ranges from $275 to $650, according to the complex’s Web site.

The building features 11 floor plans: the one-bedroom Metro, Java, Vogue, Strata and Nuvo; two-bedroom Mercury, Vista, Aurora, Eclipse and Ariel; and three-bedroom Panorama.

Features include contemporary finishes, art niches, urban-esque fixtures, stained concrete floors and stainless kitchen appliances.

The larger condos are quite sizable. Showing off an Ariel model, Gleason says, “This is more like a home.” And they are designed to take advantage of the surroundings. “You’ve got a view from every single room,” she says, while displaying an Aurora floor plan.

Many models provide balconies and large windows. Top-floor units come with 20-foot high ceilings. “You have such a great variety.”

The regime fee, based on square footage, is $3,020 to $5,790 a year and pays for the building’s exterior insurance, maintenance and amenities.

Bee Street Lofts has its share of community attractions, including an Art Deco club lounge, meeting room with plasma TVs, fitness room offering leading-edge equipment, on-site property management, two large courtyards, two-level parking garage and building security via key fobs.

But the complex doesn’t have to have every single amenity, since it is so close to downtown. As an example, Gleason cited the 150,000-square-foot MUSC Wellness Center. It is a couple blocks away, so there is no need for a large exercise area or swimming pools at the lofts.

Bee Street Loft owners can upgrade or otherwise redo their condos. And they can purchase extras. Each condo gets one parking spot, but an owner can buy an additional space for $35,000.

Gleason says she sees the real estate outlook brightening.

“Being a buyers’ market, it gives (home shoppers) an opportunity to buy now and have a great real estate investment. People are coming out now. They want to know if this is the bottom.”

To get to Bee Street Lofts from downtown Charleston, travel west on Spring Street to the Septima P. Clark Crosstown. Stay in the right lanes to Lockwood Drive. Turn left on Lockwood, then make a left on Bee Street. The lofts are on the left.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com

Neighborhood: Bee Street Lofts

Location: Charleston County

Phone: (843) 793-4023

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., by appointment on weekends

Web site: www.beestreetlofts.com