Getting your player ready...
So you’re living in LoDo or Highlands, your monthly rent is a fortune, and you’re not seeing anything nearby that’s much lower, or available, or that appealing. You’d consider buying a condo or townhome, but you’re not finding situations you’d risk that for – at a time when experts are noting that down payments and mortgage rates are getting more restrictive.
Adrianne Stewart and her husband were in that exact situation – dual-income, no kids, but renting a loft in Uptown that was running $2,500 per month. Now Stewart is community manager at “m2” – newly completed luxury apartments just west of Marston Lake in Southwest – and is saving around $1,000 a month on a roomy two-bedroom with the same features that better condos would offer: attractive entertaining area under 9-foot ceilings, granite/quartz kitchen counters, engineered wood floors, large master with a big walk-in closet and deep-soak tub; and better amenities than the couple had downtown. Stewart and her team will show you m2’s luxurious models today and this weekend – 1-to-3 bedroom, priced from $1,130 – including some that you could move into right away. “We’re really the only new apartments in this popular part of town,” she says about m2’s setting, a half mile from South Wadsworth’s Restaurant Row. The area is wrapped in parks and bike trails – some following the shoreline of the lakes nearby; others that push west into the foothills where you find the best hiking and mountain biking trails in the metro area. Stewart says m2’s first renters are people who don’t want to go in deep on this market, one they still perceive as volatile. Some are briskly selling homes in South Jefferson County neighborhoods, but aren’t ready to buy anything else; others are coming in for jobs at Lockheed Martin, Swedish Medical Center, the Federal Center and other west or southwest employers; or they commute downtown or into the Tech Center. All of them, she adds, like the idea of a stress-free lifestyle – no maintenance, and the relative quiet of Southwest and the Littleton area, compared to trendy-but-much-denser areas downtown. “Eventually we want to settle down,” Stewart adds. “But this is an opportunity to save and still live in the lap of luxury.” At m2 the couple gets a newly completed clubhouse with year-round pool, free latte-espresso bar and 24-hour fitness area; free storage for their bikes and a maintenance shop to keep them running smooth; a dog run; and a recording studio with editing equipment. m2, Stewart notes, is close to Red Rocks Amphitheater, and residents take music seriously, prompting developer Stoneleigh Companies to name the floor plans after Colorado music venues. That includes the Boulder 2-bedroom ready for move-in now, with huge master with deep-soak tub and a second bedroom with its own suite-style bath that could work for a roommate, available at a starting rate of $1,427. Stewart can also show you something you’ll never find in a downtown apartment: options for attached garages with some units – 2-car tandem style, or full 2-car attached on others. You’ll see how close this is to Clement Park and Chatfield Reservoir, to Whole Foods, and to Starbucks, Mr. Sushi, Bonefish Grill and other dining; not to mention Old Town Littleton’s dining district and its Light Rail stations. M2 is just west of Wadsworth between Quincy and Belleview; from Hampden/U.S. 285 take Wadsworth south a mile to Quincy, turn west two blocks to Balsam, then head south. WHERE: m2 Luxury Apartments in Southwest, newly completed by Stoneleigh Companies, new pool and clubhouse, close to parks and dining, bike trails and lakes, 1-2-3 bedroom, optional attached or detached garages available. 4560 S. Balsam Way, Denver; from Hampden/U.S. 285 take S. Wadsworth south 1 mi. to W. Quincy, turn right (west) 2 blks to Balsam, then south.Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 PHONE: 1-877-647-3220 WEB:
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