John Kane, CEO of Kane Realty, gave a presentation this morning at the movie theater here to give details of his vision for the expansion of North Hills and The Cardinal (continuing care retirement community) to about 70 guests and prospective residents. Martha Grove Hipskind, director of senior living for Kane Realty (pictured below) was also available to answer questions, and media representatives from NBC17, News14 and ABC were present at the event.

Kane first explained what the area has to offer now and then went into details of the expansion across Six Forks Rd. One major piece of this will be The Cardinal, a retirement community scheduled to open in 2010 which will have 202 residences. Besides the location and partnership with Duke to handle medical-related things, one feature of The Cardinal that is unique is the pricing model, which allows residents to share in the appreciation of their units.

Entry fees for a spot at The Cardinal range from $300,000 to about $1 million. If a resident passes away or decides to move out, 90% of this fee will be returned to the resident or his estate, in addition to 50% of the appreciation. So, if a person buys in for $1 million and decides to move out 10 years later (after the unit has appreciated to $1.3 million), the resident will get back $900,000 plus $150,000 (half of the appreciation). This is a unique model, because the resident is essentially able to minimize risk (don’t have to pay property taxes) but is allowed to share in the profit due to appreciation.

Kane said they have the funding for The Cardinal but need commitments for half the rooms (101) to start building due to regulations. They’ve currently sold 54 spots and offering special pricing and customization options to early buyers.

Once they start building, Kane said it will take about 18 months to complete The Cardinal. He estimated that the community could be available for living in October or November of 2010. As part of the entire expansion project, Six Forks Rd. will be widened in order to ease traffic and provide a safer way of crossing the street for pedestrians.

You can check out the website for The Cardinal at North Hills for more information.

In other news, the News and Observer has reported that “Kane Realty has negotiated “right of first refusal” — deal-speak for dibs — on 65 undeveloped acres east of the intersection” between Six Forks and 440. There are no solid plans yet for what will be built here.

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