New home construction may have slowed in recent months but hundreds of new apartments are on the way.

The units - more than 1,000 of them are being built - are designed for middle income customers with annual salaries in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. According to Ken Szysmanski, executive director of the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association, apartment living is attracting young professionals who are having trouble getting financing for a house or condo, or don't want a long-term commitment in case they need to move for a job.

Compared with Mecklenburg County prices, the relatively cheap land in York and other outlying counties in the Charlotte market are driving more developers into the areas surrounding the city.

"Most of the historic sites in Mecklenburg County have been filled in," Szysmanski said. "It's a dynamic situation with a lot of factors."

Construction crews have been preparing a 20-acre site near I-77 on Gold Hill Road for a 300-unit apartment complex called Bromley Village over the last two months. Developer Carroll Investment Properties out of Greensboro N.C. did not return several calls placed by the Fort Mill Times for comment.

The complex has already received site plan approval from York County, according to Planning Manager Steve Allen.

"I don't know what their timeline is," Allen said. "They have quite a bit of (topography) to deal with. They have a lot of grading to do still."

Developer J.C. Hart submitted a plan that includes 470 apartments on a 45.7-acre site on Hwy. 21 next to Captain Steve's seafood restaurant in mid July, Allen said. He also said plans for apartment complexes on two other nearby properties should be coming to the county soon. Both are owned by CRPM Gold Hill, according to property records available through the York County Web site's GIS system.

The parcels are both located along the south side of Gold Hill Road near I-77 and are zoned for commercial use. One spans 46.88 acres, the other covers 30.9 acres.

Another apartment complex will also be built on Hwy. 160 West in the Williamsburg Commons development. Developer ELA of Rock Hill plans to build 288 apartments in the 32-acre mixed use development behind several commercial office buildings that will front the highway.

Because apartment complexes are considered commercial property, not residential property, the owners of all of the complexes will pay property taxes based on a 6 percent assessment, rather than the 4 percent assessment given to owner-occupied residential properties, according to county tax officials. That also means the Fort Mill School District will receive property tax money from the complex owners for operational expenses. Residential homeowners no longer pay school district property taxes because of a change in state law last year.

The area's apartment boom comes as new home starts are down in the township after several years of rapid growth and sales of existing homes are beginning to outpace new home sales. It is a combination of several factors, Szysmanski said. The association tracks market conditions that affect apartment complexes throughout the greater Charlotte region, including York County.

"There are development opportunities for developers and there is a perception of more demand in the marketplace for apartments," Szysmanski said.

Changes in the products developers are bringing to market, changes in the sophistication of customers in the market for apartments, changes in the industry and changes in the housing market are all contributing factors, he said.

"There used to be a perception that the income levels of renters weren't high enough for new construction apartments," he said. "But that's changing."