Toledo's Carlton is to be renovated
Owners plan apartments, grocery, more
"Once a gilded bachelor pad for Toledo's wealthy, single men, the old Carlton Apartment Hotel building in downtown is now slated for extensive renovation into a market-rate apartment complex with a street-level grocery store and a bakery/cafe."
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS16/707120...
They mentioned the Bartley building but that's totally an apples-oranges thing.
The Bartley lofts are condos selling upwards of $200k. Granted, their lack of property taxes make them cheaper than a conventional S.F.D. of the same price, but it's still awfully steep and very much upper-income, (> $100k/yr) and not middle-income, which I would define as 50-100k a year.
Market Rate rentals downtown are doing very well. The LaSalle Building (which I call home) is always +95% occupied, same for the Oliver House, the Sunflower Building, St. Clair Village, etc. More affordable buildings (and those in the near-downtown area) like Commodore Perry, Riverfronte, Hillcrest, Park Lane, Museum Place, etc, are also doing pretty well.
I just renewed my lease again. I LOVE living downtown. I would never live in an apartment in any other part of the city. There are only two things I would change if I could:
1. Market-Rate rentals that allow dogs
2. A supermarket. There are markets downtown, even one in my building, and they offer a great service (including delivery) but due to the nature of the business, their prices are higher than a chain supermarket. My wet dream would be a Whole Foods in the erie street market. Right now I patronize Monats regularly--as I prefer to reward downtown businesses with my money whenever possible--but I drive to Point Place for the majority of my grocery shopping.
Past that, it's been nothing short of a WONDERFUL experience. It's not cheap, but there is a lot of value living downtown over and above the square footage.