Construction of Greenwood’s The Madison complete, apartments 70% occupied

An $83-million project in the heart of Old Town Greenwood is officially complete.

The Madison, the redevelopment of the 19-acre former middle school property located along Madison Avenue in downtown Greenwood, is open. The development includes six buildings with nearly 329 market-rate apartments and 18 townhomes, along with nearly 21,000 square feet of office and retail space on the first floors of the buildings.

It also includes a 36,000-square-foot, four-story parking garage with 355 spots. Additional surface parking and garages attached to apartment buildings will bring total parking to more than 1,000 spots, with some set aside for residents, and others for the public visiting the area for dining and shopping, or for recreation at nearby parks and the Greenwood Fieldhouse.

The project has been years in the making, city officials say. The vision for the project dates back to 2013 when a master plan for the area was first imagined. The development is a public-private partnership between the city and developers, CRG Residential and Great Lakes Capital.

Construction of the massive project began with a groundbreaking in November 2021. The Greenwood Fieldhouse opened in 2022, and people began moving into the apartments at The Madison late last year. The parking garage opened earlier this year.

Now one of the townhomes at The Madison is occupied, and others are available for prospective owners to purchase. The retail spaces are ready for prospective tenants too.

“[I’m[ super excited to be here in October of 2024 with a project that is 99% complete,” said Clay Scheetz, managing director and principal at Great Lakes Capital. “Every building is open. All 18 townhomes are now officially open. All four apartment rental buildings are open.”

A few “final punch list” touches are being put on the project. For example, the sidewalk is being redone, as the developer and the city were not happy with how it looked, Scheetz said.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for years,” said Mayor Mark Myers. “We’re really excited to have the retail space out front, bring more business into the downtown area, bring more residents into the downtown area. … They’re nice, well-done luxury apartments, and I’m happy to see them done.”

Apartments, townhomes

Apartments at The Madison include studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with sizes ranging from “The Lincoln,” 451-square-foot studio apartment to “The Carol,” 1,079-square-foot two-bedroom apartment. Rents are tiered based on the type of apartment: studios range from $1,149 to $1,374 a month, one-bedrooms from $1,309 to $1,604 a month and two-bedrooms from $1,499 to $1,954 a month.

Nearly 70% of the 329-or-so apartments at The Madison are occupied and 80% are leased, Scheetz said.

“The market has responded really favorably to the apartments,” he said. “… I would say the numbers speak for themselves.”

In terms of retention, rental field it’s not uncommon to have a roughly 50% turnover rate, where people will stay for 12 months before moving out. While it’s still early for The Madison, and it varies month-to-month, they’re experiencing retention rates of 60 to 65% — and even 80% in some cases, Scheetz said.

People are not only enjoying the initial move-in, but the overall environment, he said.

Looking at the townhomes, high interest rates have been a concern over the last few years, as they can make it more difficult for people to afford a home. But these rates have been falling this year, with September rates at their lowest point since September 2022, CBS News reported.

The rates have slowed the market down, both nationally and in Greenwood, but The Madison offers a unique product for the city. There is not another luxury project like this within city limits, Scheetz said.

“For a new construction, luxury townhome product that’s for sale to be in this market, is new to the market, and so we’re excited to be delivering that. But with that also comes an element of risk, right? I mean, we’ve got to make sure that there’s a market here,” he said.

The first townhome to be sold was purchased for around $550,000. This affirmed there was a market, but they just have to wait and see about the others, Scheetz said.

Prices for the townhomes, which have two to three bedrooms, have dropped down to around $400,000-$450,000, Scheetz said.

“We’ve started to see some relief in interest rates, and we’ve also, frankly, gotten a little bit aggressive on our pricing to make it more of an affordable option for buyers, I think that that will probably drive demand pretty significantly,” Scheetz said. “And now that we’re not an active construction site, I think that helps too.”

For The Madison, Scheetz says they’ve seen a mix of residential demographics. There are young professionals — those between the ages of 20 and 49 who are employed in a profession or white-collar occupation — but also singles, married couples, middle-aged people and even seniors for the apartments.

It’s too early to say the same about the townhomes, as there’s only one sold, but the owner lives and works in the community, Scheetz said.

Commercial spaces

On the ground floor of two of the main apartment buildings, there is 10,000 square feet of commercial space for rent.

Scheetz says that once the final punch list items are complete, the commercial spaces will be ready to lease. People interested in restaurant space have shown particular interes in the spaces, he said.

As for tenants, Scheetz acknowledged there is a need for more restaurants downtown. Myers is hopeful restaurants will move into the available spaces.

“When you have more restaurants, you’re going to bring more people in,” he said. “[It’s] the same with the retail space that they have: we’ll be bringing people in. They’ll be investing in the community.”

While the commercial spaces could become anything, the developer designed the commercial spaces with restaurants in mind. There are wide sidewalks that could be used for outdoor dining and there’s an outdoor plaza that could be used for outdoor dining with a small performance stage.

“It literally will embody that live, work, play strategy that we were trying to employ here,” Scheetz said.

‘Come in and see’

Scheetz encourages Greenwood area residents to come check out The Madison to make up their own minds about the development. It may not be for everyone, but everyone who’s moved in has been “very happy,” he said.

Myers also encourages residents to check out the development, even if they’re not interested in renting.

“People should come in and see what we really do have to offer versus what has been said in the past on social media that’s not true,” he said. “We want them to know the truth and know, this is quality, quality housing, quality lifestyle.”

Once businesses move into the commercial spaces and open up shop, the master plan for the site will be fully realized, Scheetz said.

“When that all happens, this whole Master Plan site will become a very symbiotic thing where it sort of works well for everybody — whether you’re an owner here or nearby, whether you’re a resident here renting or nearby, working in the community, driving by and you get to experience The Madison, or you’re just coming to the Fieldhouse to enjoy the field, for a good workout or some social programming event, and you want to stop at what’s going to hopefully be a deli, or coffee shop or one of our nicer restaurants — I think it’s going to be a great addition to this community,” Scheetz said.