Greenbridge Condos: ‘Make Us an Offer’

Nearly two years after new owners took over the embattled Greenbridge development, all but six condos have been sold.

Betty Harbourt is the executive vice president of The Marketing Directors, which handles Greenbridge’s sales and marketing. She says just half a dozen of the 97 condos are still available and the company is pushing a novel approach to get them sold by year’s end.

“’Make us and offer, we’ll make you a deal’ is our campaign to close out by the end of the year,” says Harbourt. “The owners had a goal to sell out in two years and we’re on track to do that.”

The one, two and three bedroom condos start at around $350,000, but Harbourt says price isn’t the only negotiating point.

“It’s not just off price that we can take an offer, we’re looking at including some homeowner’s association fees as part of the deal, maybe a storage unit as part of the deal, maybe a little off the price,” says Harbourt. “The offer can be a number of things. Because every home is unique, the offer is also very unique.”

In addition to selling the majority of the condos, Harbourt says only one of the ground-floor retail spaces remains unoccupied.

This marks a turnaround for the development, which has been embroiled in controversy since its conception.

It was originally billed as Chapel Hill’s most “environmentally sustainable” project. While town leaders touted its green features, those in the nearby Northside neighborhood worried it would speed the pace of gentrification in the area, potentially driving out long-time residents. The site was plagued with bomb threats and vandalism.

Then, the original investors got caught short in the housing and banking crisis. Shortly after opening in 2010, the development was foreclosed in 2011.

Condominium sales were put on hold for two years until Square Mile Capital Management LLC purchased Greenbridge in 2012. Harbourt says the new owners put considerable time and money into making the project successful.

“The owners gave a lot of capital to the building. They came in and built out a sales office; we’ve been there for the last two years, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.”

After four tumultuous years, Greenbridge is on track to fill the last remaining vacancies within the next two months.