Eateries, luxury condos wrap up at Pavilion East at Lakeview

Work continues to progress briskly over at the Pavilion East at Lakeview on Erwin Road, across from Duke's West Campus. The UPS Store has opened already, with Firehouse Subs and Chipotle both under construction in the space.

We reported here a few months back that Dunkin' Donuts was planning to open up in the mixed-use project, and the Herald-Sun confirmed the report, though with the caveat that a lease had not been signed yet. Well, as of November 11, a lease has been signed with "the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world," according to this press release. (Again, no disrespect intended to our good friends at local coffee shops, but there are days that the orange-and-purple coffee just hits the spot.)

Meantime, the TGI Friday's under construction at Pavilion East has a tentative opening date of November 27 according to the corporate web site. Expect this location, the chain's third in North Carolina, to be a big draw for Duke students, who can now perhaps avoid what one Chronicle columnist claims is a mortal risk whereby he is "taking [his] life into his hands every time [he goes] out at night to Brightleaf or Ninth Street." (Personally, I think crossing Erwin Road as a pedestrian is about twenty times more likely to cause death than being out at Brightleaf Square, but hey, what do I know?)

Also of interest: Anthony & Co., the project developer, has been holding open houses for the luxury condos for sale on the uppermost floor of the project. Stopping into the open house last weekend, I was stunned to see two dozen or so prospects streaming through in perhaps 20 minutes' time -- doubly so given the light advertising for the event.

The condos are attractive in and of themselves (with the two bedroom unit making perhaps the best use of light possible for a design that only has windows on one wall), but their prices are eyebrow-raising. A 1200 sq. ft. 2 bedroom/2 bath unit is priced at about $420,000 -- for a condo in a mixed use project in the middle of the Erwin Road wasteland. On a per-square foot basis, this is about a third more expensive than units in the Durham Kress downtown, which is blessed with a much more 'signature' destination.

Still, a significant number of the Pavilion condos appear to have been sold already, which speaks to something more important about its location -- namely, the proximity to the Duke and VA medical centers. Perhaps "Medical Pavilion East at Lakeview" would be a better name for the project, given that's a significant part of the target market for the project.After all,  the project web site notes in its second sentence that "[t]he Pavilion East at Lakeview Park is located on Erwin Road directly across from the Duke University Medical Research Laboratory complex and is within walking distance to the main entrance of the world-renowned Duke University Medical Center."

From what I could (unscientifically) tell of the folks wandering the hallway in the condos last week, that does indeed seem to be the core target market for prospective buyers. Makes some sense; if you're coming here for a residency or fellowship and aren't interested in the upkeep of a single-family home, you've got an option to live in walking distance of work for a few years.

Somehow, I'm guessing it's that proximity and not that between the condos and TGI Fridays that's driving the sales.

Comments

[dwd]

I think it's a shame they went for all national chains. And TGIF - who wants to live above that? Doesn't make sense with the price points of those condos..

And amen to your comment on Erwin Road.

[durhamfood]

ARGH! More mediocre national chains aimed at Dukies rather than good local restaurants!

[Michael Bacon]

In a perverse way, I kind of think more national chains right around Duke is kind of a good thing. That way, the dumb ones can stop bitching about there being nowhere to eat in Durham, whereas those with a clue can venture out into Durham where we get to meet them. Kind of a weeding out process.

[phoebe]

ugh indeed:

I've become one of the those annoying durham residents to all my raleigh friends: touting how fantastic it is that the development here seems to support more local rather than corporate franchise...oh well, not anymore.

[Steve]

You meant orange and pink, right? It's always been a favorite color combination of mine.

[Bull City Rising]

Steve: Orange and pink? I think you may be right, but it's awfully hard to tell. Mauve, perhaps?

To the Fridays folks -- I should open with a disclaimer here that, out of all the chain restaurants in the world, I actually don't mind Fridays and have even been known to eat there from time to time. With that disclosure having been made: I too like the fact that Durham is full of non-chain restaurants, and in fact looking back over the past month's credit card receipts, my wife and I have eaten at non-chain places like Rue Cler, Watts Grocery, P&O, etc. by a ratio of about 8:1 over chain places.

But there's a place for everything, you know?

I wouldn't worry about Durham being overtaken by chains; I would be hard pressed to think of many _chain_ restaurants that have opened north of, say, Garrett Rd. anytime in the past couple of years -- versus a wide number of locally owned establishments.

Which is exactly how it should be, IMHO. But I'm not panicking over the presence of some chain place going in.

[KH]

I too...am not ashamed to say that I like Friday's. I liked Ruby Tuesday's before they changed their menu. Tripps is okay to me also. That being said...I like options so if I want to eat the worst food in Durham at Cheesecake Factory (great cheesecake though) or some great food from one of our local spots, I have options.

I really think the national chains could learn a lot from the locals and the same for the locals.

[KH]

In regards to the Duke student, I completely agree and disagree. I think some people just fear different which represents most of Durham. Some people are better off in the sameness of Cary or N. Raleigh. These are places where I get lost very easily due to their sameness.

Durham is affluent, poor, educated, Black, White, Hispanic, liberal, conservative, etc.

Durham is not the most fun place for people 18-30. Three or four hangouts with 25 people don't make a GREAT nightlife experience. Duke students were partying in Trinity Park (and before that the Quad) because they had NO other choices.

Durham needs to continue to develop a broad array choices for not just Duke students and NCCU students but also young, single professionals (whom are the forgotten class of people in this area).

We don't want to keep going to Hi5 in Raleigh or some club that is members-only. I've been asked on several occasions by visitors, "Where do you go to dance in Durham?" Don't worry...I'll wait

[mike]

I agree completely with you KH, there really aren't any really good nightlife places here. I love Durham and live downtown, am a single professional student at Duke, but if I want to out out for a long night of fun I have to Raleigh or Chapel Hill. The restaurants and the urban feel of Durham can't be beat, but it would be great if West Village II put in just one chic dance club and a late night bar like Tyler's or something.

[mathpants]

KH,

I'm nicely between the ages of 18 and 30 and find Durham a blast. I imagine there are many different types of people between the ages of 18 and 30 in Durham. There are also, thankfully, many different types of Duke students, some of whom seem quite comfortable going to a party outside Trinity Park (often at someone's house! whom they had earlier met and befriended! during some sort of activity not related to the university!).

Sorry for the snarky tone, but the general attitude of your post (is the young professional class really the "forgotten" class around here? really?) kinda got my back up.

You are, of course, right on the facts: there are not that many options in Durham for people who wish to do the sort of thing you're describing. Whether or not that's a terrible thing, or at least something which Durham "needs" to fix, is probably a pointless thing to debate. If you want my advice (good lord, I'm sure you don't), go to the Green Room, bring a flask of whisky, and put Prince on the jukebox. They do allow the young professional class in there.

[mathpants]

Mike,

you've got Ringside right near you, no? Or has that been closed down (I've been out of town for a few months). It's a great deal of fun, though it either may or many meet one's definition of "chic."

If someone could convince Montas to open up a chain (hey, back on thread!) franchise downtown, that would be a marked improvement. I daresay Durham "needs" to get on that.

[ASE]

My wife theorizes that we'll see at least one major chain restaurant move into the Phase III section of American Tobacco. I imagine downtown has long been a high-risk venture for franchises (too few patrons, no enormous space for a Cheesecake Factory). Given the recent critical success and popularity of the local restaurants though -- and some spankin' new buildings -- the chains will undoubtedly feel more secure in opening up a spot. And the design of Phase III is insular enough that patrons won't have to gaze upon the county jail while dining.

Our local:chain ratio is probably even higher than 8:1, unless you consider Elmo's, Tyler's, and Torero's to be chains! They've each got at least TWO! :-)

[Dottie]

How much are they paying residents and fellows these days? When my ex started his residency he made 22K. Six years later, when he finished his fellowship he was still in the 20's. I can't imagine any resident or fellow affording 420K for one of those condos---unless mummy and daddy are footing the bill:)

[Dottie]

How much are they paying residents and fellows these days? When my ex started his residency he made 22K. Six years later, when he finished his fellowship he was still in the 20's. I can't imagine any resident or fellow affording 420K for one of those condos---unless mummy and daddy are footing the bill:)

[mike]

Starting salary for a Duke intern is $43,000. It goes up by about 2 grand a year and by the time you are a fellow, depending on the specialty, it is 55,000 max. Not likely enough for a $420,000 condo.