Joe Purvis photo

Dec. 16. By Dave Yochum. Some residential projects, like River Run and The Peninsula, are game-changers that help establish a market not everyone grasped back in the day. The Watermark condominium project brought mansion-quality living to the multi-unit market in Lake Norman and redefined that market as well.

And now it’s sold out—at $900,000 and up per unit.

Watermark was marketed exclusively by Victor and Amy Petrenko of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Cornelius.

Downsizing while retaining luxury

“We experienced high demand from buyers who are interested in downsizing without downgrading. They want luxury, but with less upkeep,” said Petrenko, broker-in-charge of Sotheby’s.

Victor Petrenko

Residents include international buyers, he said.

The project also tapped into empty nesters in the large lakefront and golf course homes who want to downsize but retain the ambiance of marble foyers and room-size walk-in closets.

$50 million project

Total build-out was in excess of $50 million—on a 5.2-acre gated property that includes a 3,255 square foot hotel-style swimming pool 10 times bigger than the average backyard pool.

Husband-wife developers

Husband-wife team Jamie and Emily Rolewicz developed the project, with Jamie running construction all the way to drywall and Emily following with fixtures and finishes.

The project was built with a total of 2.1 million lbs. of steel, a powerful selling point, Petrenko said.

There are a total of 48 units, with 10 penthouses.

“If I had more I could have sold them,” Jamie Rolewicz said.

Jamie and Emily Rolewicz