413 McAdoo Avenue: If You’re Interested in Southside, You Better Move Fast

413 mcadoo street.jpg

Update: The owners accepted an offer eights days after they listed the property for sale. That deal fell through, however, as did a second contract. A third contract resulted in a sale, though at a surprisingly low price: $274,000 (on June 15, 2020).

Southside is a downtown neighborhood of classic old houses and well designed new homes that fit very nicely together into a “traditional neighborhood” redevelopment plan. Houses come onto the market in Southside more rarely than any other neighborhood in Greensboro, so if you’d like to live there, you need to be ready to go when the infrequent opportunities arise.

The one historic Southside home currently for sale is 413 McAdoo Avenue, a sweet 1935 four-square priced at $310,000. The house has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and 1,872 square feet ($167 per square foot). It went on the market January 16, the first older house in the neighborhood for sale in 11 months. The owner of that last one, 416 McAdoo, accepted a full-price offer in five days.

The listing shows 413 McAdoo to be in pristine condition. The interior is relatively simple. There are built-in bookshelves flanking the fireplace in the living room, chair-rail molding in the dining room, and a modern kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms. The property has a detached two-car garage at the back of the property, accessed by an alley. The property had only two owners from 1919 to 1995.

413 McAdoo was last sold in 2011. There are five other historic houses on the street. One was last sold in 2019, as noted above; two were last sold in 2014, one in 2011 and one in 2004. On nearby Murray Street, the most recent sale of a historic house was in 2017. There was one in 2016 and two in 2015. These two streets are in the heart of Southside. People don’t seem to want to leave.

listing for 413 McAdoo Avenue

About Southside

Southside is south of the downtown railroad tracks and just east of Elm Street. The city redeveloped the neighborhood about 20 years ago. Live-work townhomes and businesses are found on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Fountain Square on the west side. Traditional townhouses and apartments are on the north side of the neighborhood, with old and new traditional-style homes making up most of the rest. The sidewalks are wide and walkable. Alleys provide access at the back of lots. The Downtown Greenway is under construction along Murrow Boulevard on the east side.

The city received national awards for its redevelopment of Southside, including the American Planning Association Outstanding Planning Implementation Award (2003) and the EPA Built Projects Smart Growth Achievement Award (2004). The neighborhood was included on the Sierra Club Twelve Best Developments List in 2005.