Apex

As the town of Apex, North Carolina, has experienced a boom from 20,000 residents in 2000 to more than 70,000 in 2022, the West Apex neighborhood has experienced much of the new development. Single-family homes, town houses, and mixed-use developments have transformed the area from picturesque farmland to a bustling suburb with highly-rated schools and proximity to parks and greenways. In 2015, Apex was named the best place to live in the country by Money Magazine, partially due to the small-town charm and community events. “People who live here are very proud of their town,” says Barbara Belicic, Small Business Specialist with the town of Apex and a West Apex resident since 2016. “They feel that small-town spirit, even though we don’t qualify as a small town anymore.” Urban construction meets housing demand The West Apex area includes a mix of more mature neighborhoods developed in the 1980s, and new developments that have sprouted up to meet increased housing demand over the past 10 years. In the older neighborhoods, wooded lots and mature trees reflect the decades passed since construction, while the new development’s crisp concrete sidewalks and modern architecture feel fresh and contemporary. Home styles range from colonials in the older neighborhoods to a mix of new traditional and craftsman architecture within the more recently built areas. Single-family homes range in price from $470,000 to more than $800,000 for a 4-bedroom home. 3-bedroom town houses typically range from $450,000 to $500,000. Straight-A schools for West Apex students Students in West Apex may attend Olive Chapel Elementary School, which has an A rating from Niche and offers an eclectic variety of clubs for young students, including the LEGO club and Girls Who Code. From there, students will go on to attend Luftkin Road Middle School, which also has an A rating and hosts the Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Program. Students round out their education at Apex Friendship High School, which is named number 11 out of 43 high schools in Wake County and also has an A rating. Greenways and hiking within the suburbs Apex Nature Park is a primary outdoor escape for residents, with more than 160 acres of walking trails, picnic shelters, a dog park and an amphitheater. It’s also home to the Seymour Athletic Fields, which include tennis and volleyball courts. Kelly Road Park is an urban playground with a colorful play space and a softball field. Walkers and joggers can take advantage of the paths and greenways throughout the community, while hikers can lace up their boots and tackle the 22-mile American Tobacco Trails. “Retail follows rooftops” As more homes have been built in West Apex, retail outlets have begun development. “The commercial aspect is coming – it’s just a matter of time. Retail follows rooftops,” Belicic says. In the meantime, residents the Beaver Creek Crossings shopping center, just north of highway 64 houses big-box retailers like Target and Lowe’s as well as several chain restaurants. A Publix supermarket and independent restaurants off of Kelly Road offer other shopping and dining options, including Wake Oasis Coffee for a caffeine fix. Events and festivals bring residents together The community spirit is palpable through public events and volunteer opportunities like Think Apex Day. The yearly event brings residents together to for beautification and volunteer initiatives that range from digging up kudzu in public spaces to helping senior citizens with minor repairs and upkeep to their homes. The town also hosts cultural events like a Latino Arts & Culinary Festival as well as holiday get-together like a Juneteenth festival. Year-round, residents can attend a community theatre production at the Apex Friendship Theatre, take in the public art exhibitions at the Halle Cultural Arts Center, or get their hands dirty in the community gardens. Easy commuting to downtown and beyond Although West Apex may be growing, the layout of the streets has prevented traffic from becoming too congested. “I have four ways I can get to my job in downtown Apex,” Belicic says. “Depending on what traffic is like, I pick a way, but it’s really never been a major problem.” The GoApex Route 1 bus has three stops at the eastern edge of the neighborhood, connecting riders to downtown Apex. Commuters to Raleigh can either get on Highway 64, which makes up the northern boundary of the neighborhood, or Route 1 at the southern end to make the 30-minute drive. Raleigh-Durham International Airport is located 16 miles north of West Apex along Highway 540, and WakeMed Cary Hospital is located 8 miles to the east.

Friendship is an Apex neighborhood bursting with new subdivisions. New developments and Friendship’s location make it a desirable spot for families and professionals. “People are moving here for the proximity to schools and convenience to anywhere in the Triangle,” says Emily Lane, on-site sales rep for M/I Homes, one of the major builders in Friendship. “We’re only about 15 minutes to Research Triangle Park, so we have a ton of people who work in the tech industry.” Much of the housing stock in Friendship was built within the last five years, and homes fit snugly on green lawns in subdivisions. The Friendship Station and the Retreat at Friendship are two major developments in the neighborhood with single-family homes and townhouses. These homes, like others in Friendship, include two-story, new traditional homes with four or five bedrooms costing between $600,000 and $700,000. “We just opened up the Retreat at Friendship, right next door to us [at Friendship Station]. It has the exact same features. We’re building 1,1100 homes in the area, and it’s a big project,” Lane says. “Between the communities, we will have two cabanas, two pools and walking paths.” “People moving to this area go online and discover that we have some really highly rated schools,” Lane says. “We also have great charter schools like the Triangle Math and Science Academy nearby.” Apex Friendship Elementary School, Apex Friendship Middle School, and Apex Friendship High School are within walking distance of each other on Humie Olive Road. The high school also has its own performing arts center, Apex Friendship Theater, which hosts community theater productions for students to participate in. The elementary school, which first opened in 2022, is not yet rated by Niche, but the middle and high schools both earned A grades. Twenty miles from Downtown Raleigh, Friendship residents have access to the state capital’s top destinations and employers. “We’re about 2 miles from I-540, the big loop around the Triangle. It’ll get you anywhere in the Triangle in just a few minutes,” Lane says. Research Triangle Park in Durham, a major hub of innovations and employers in the area, is 15 miles north of Friendship, and nationally ranked schools like North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are all within 20 miles. “Pleasant Park opened up a few months ago. It’s a really cool park. A lot of the kids have already gone,” Lane says. Pleasant Park has six turf fields used for its soccer leagues, public pickleball and basketball courts, and a splash pad. For a peaceful outdoor escape, Apex Nature Park just north of the neighborhood has park amenities like a playground and disc golf course, as well as three miles of walking trails through scenic woods. The park also has a lake where visitors can canoe and kayak. Locals enjoy more hiking on the American Tobacco Trail, a 22-mile regional trail system that crosses through the west side of the neighborhood. Visitors park and enter the trail via the New Hill-Olive Chapel Road access. For shopping essentials, residents can head up Route 1 to reach Walmart Supercenter and Sheetz. Beaver Creek Commons is also less than 5 miles north of Friendship, housing well-known retailers like Target and T.J. Maxx and popular chain restaurants like Chick-fil-A. For local dining, residents can pick up fresh tacos at Fuegos or grab a pint of craft beer at Vicious Fishes Brewery. Downtown Apex has facilities like the John M. Brown Community Center and the Halle Cultural Arts Center that offer programming and events. The center offers summer camps, youth and adult athletics, and cooking, arts and wellness programs for all ages. The Halle Cultural Arts Center has art exhibitions, free movie viewings and theater performances. Friendship is also less than 10 miles from Koka Booth Amphitheatre, which hosts outdoor concerts and popular events like the annual Chinese Lantern Festival.

Home to Beaver Creek Crossings mall and a multitude of big-box stores, the Beaver Creek area offers the largest commercial shopping district in the suburban town of Apex. “Anybody who likes convenience would be happy there,” says Thomas Wohl, a Realtor with eXp Realty. “You have a ton of commercial stores in a 2-square-mile area. It’s a good place for everybody, really: families with kids and older people.” Beaver Creek area is situated in the historic railroad town of Apex, which is experiencing rapid growth due to its proximity to Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Cary, which is Raleigh's largest suburb. RTP is the largest research park in the country, hosting 300 companies. It also features nature parks, A-rated schools and souped-up subdivisions with amenities including tennis courts. From Target to Lowe’s to Panera Bread to Harris Teeter, Beaver Creek provides residents quick access to nationally recognized chain stores at Beaver Creek Crossings and Beaver Creek Commons shopping centers. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t new spots to be discovered. In fact, there are a few restaurants unique to the region. For example, Sweet Talk Cafe and Desserts brings Asian inspired treats like bingsoo and croffles to North Carolina. The area has the only movie theater in Apex, plus the Fred Astaire Dance Studio and Sky Zone Trampoline Park. Additionally, many independent shops and eateries are less than 5 miles away in historic downtown Apex. For dining out downtown, Scratch Kitchen & Taproom has decadent and playful dishes such as lobster mac and cheese and pimento cheese wontons. Prospective homebuyers will primarily find townhome communities and sprawling subdivisions marked by traditional homes with two-car garages. Some of the neighborhoods, such as Walden Creek and Haddon Hall, are decked out with amenities including playgrounds and community pools. Most of the single-family homes here were built in the 1990s and 2000s and rest on compact lots, giving the streets that end in cul-de-sacs an intimate feel. However, there are a few neighborhoods with more sizeable yards of a quarter acre that provide more privacy. “Many of them are selling in less than a week,” Wohl says. A two-bedroom condo will start at around $250,000, while a two-story five-bedroom home will begin around $750,000. Fresh produce, locally made food and crafts are for sale at the Apex Farmers Market, which was previously held at Beaver Creek Crossings. It has since moved to The Depot downtown, but luckily that’s just a short drive down the road — about 2 miles. The traditional season runs every week from April to October, while the remaining months are considered part of the winter season. At the 25-acre Kelly Road Park, residents can play a game of tennis or their kids can explore the castle-themed playground. The park is a trailhead for Beaver Creek Greenway, a 4-mile-long paved trail that’s popular among joggers, walkers and bikers alike. Following the path for about a mile, there's the Apex Nature Park and Seymour Athletic Fields, which offer an 18-hole disc golf course, a dog park and sand volleyball and pickleball courts. It’s also ideal for gatherings like birthday barbecues, an Indigenous People’s Day celebration and amphitheater concerts. Public school students are zoned for the Wake County Public School System and may attend schools such as Turner Creek Elementary, Salem Middle and Apex High. All three schools earn overall grades of A on Niche. In addition to its stellar academics, the high school offers nearly 60 different clubs, including the Acts of Kindness Club. Wohl points out that the major highways in the area allow you to quickly get to larger metropolitan areas, such as Cary and Research Triangle Park, for work or a greater variety of entertainment options. “You can hop on Highway 55 and be to Cary in 10 minutes and Research Triangle Park in 20 minutes,” he says. While shopping centers make it easy to walk from one store to another, a car is needed to get around most of the neighborhood.