During the Democratic National Convention, nationwide attention focused on the growing city of Denver. I recently covered a converted loft in the city as an estate of the day. The city also has its first luxury condo tower built in the central business district in more than 25 years. The 32-story One Lincoln Park will open to residents on September 22. All residences have terraces, kitchens with slab stone countertops, hardwood floors, 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. Amenities in the building include valet services, a guest suite and the Owner's Club which includes a gourmet kitchen, boardroom, terrace, infinity pool, fitness center and Pilates studio on the seventh floor.

In this time of condo dismay that has gripped the entire country and especially cities of moderate size, this one has sold pretty briskly. The Rocky Mountain News says that 144 of the 180 units in the $140 million project have sold. The remaining units range in size from 882 square feet to 4,330 square feet and are priced from $375,000 to $2.574 million.

Another week, another condo auction. This weekend, buyers lined up in Anaheim, California for a chance to bid on 58 deeply discounted Stadium Lofts condos. Potentials buyers could save between 24 percent and 29 percent on the condos which are located near the Angels Stadium. The OC Register reports that by Saturday afternoon, developer Windstar Communities LLC had received $5,000 deposits from each person for 48 condos.

The condo project has 390 units total but the developers had some trouble selling them so they decided to put the 58 units that had attracted the least attention from buyers up for auction. A 1,082-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath condo went for about $350,000 which is approximately 25 percent off or a savings of $114,300 off the original listing price.

Overall the condo market is still struggling but there are pockets of exuberant planning. In the Nashville neighborhood of Belle Meade, Tennessee there are three projects planned that offer luxury housing for empty nesters. Belle Meade is already home to a wide variety of large luxury homes but now developers are betting some of these homeowners might be looking for something a little smaller and less time consuming.

Belle Meade Court offers both condos and townhomes and at prices from $400,000 to $750,000 is the least expensive. It is the only one currently under construction. The Manning at Belle Meade, shown above, which is planning construction by the end of the year, offers two bedrooms under 2,000 square feet up to penthouses over 5,000 square feet. Community amenities include an entertaining salon and dining room, catering kitchen, guest suite, private wine storage, a library, fitness center, business center, pool and croquet lawn. Prices range from $950,000 to $5 million. The third project, 112 Harding Place, is in limbo until the market heats up again but is located near the Belle Meade Country Club and offers units from just under 3,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet and are expected to be priced from $1.3 million to nearly $2.8 million.

Given the current real estate market it does seem likely that at least one of these projects probably won't make it to completion. Their success hinges on the interest of retiring baby boomers willing to invest in condo life.

The Canadian luxury condo market continues to surge. According to the National Post, Concord Pacific Inc. is planning a new luxury development in the hot Calgary market. The project will be located in the Eau Claire area and Terry Hui, Concord Pacific's president and chief executive, says that the project will be the most high-end building the city has ever seen. The 14-floor condominium will contain 185 grand luxury suites ranging between 1,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet. The project will be designed by Canadian architects Arthur Erickson and Peter Busby. Can Calgary support a project with units of a $1-million to $5-million selling price? Local condo watchers say yes. Check out this recent article by Richard White in the Calgary Herald. He got his hands on a copy of independent condo market research firm MPC Intelligence's newly released Calgary Condominium Market Report which shows that Calgary is still going strong, although it's not as hot as it was in 2005/2006 when projects would sell out in a couple of days.

About a month ago in an article on the slumping real estate market in Miami I said "maybe this is the time for Miami developers to reach out to Russian investors looking for a place to wait out the winter chill." Looks like that's exactly what's been happening. The Moscow Times reports on the efforts to pitch luxury condos in Miami to the rich in Moscow. At a Philippe Starck-designed restaurant in Moscow, the wealthy heard sales pitches for Florida properties including three high-rise towers designed by Starck and the Trump Hollywood in Hollywood, Florida. The U.S. luxury construction firm The Related Group, hosted the shindig and are also looking for buyers in Britain, Canada and Central and South America.

Let's hope they get lucky, the Miami Herald had more grim news yesterday, reporting that many high-rises are in trouble because condo owners aren't paying their community fees. This in turn causes trouble for those remaining in the buildings who must either pay more in fees or live with reduced services. Just how bad is it? Check out this scary info from a recent Internet survey of 487 Florida condo and homeowner associations by the Hollywood-based law firm of Becker & Poliakoff. They say that around half of mortgage foreclosures put a burden on an association's finances and 37% have raised fees to cover the shortfall. Extrapolate that out to the over 7,000 condo associations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and you can see that this is a huge problem. It also means that people may be more likely to buy in to condo buildings because even though the unit price is now lower the monthly fees can be nearly as much as a mortgage in some cases.

Condominiums may be in tough shape all over the country but one thing is certain, empty nesters are beginning to move into them. The Arizona Republic covers the opening of Bridgeview, a luxury condo tower on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake. The 12-story tower has views of the lake and bridges (hence the name) as well as neighboring towns and the mountains. The $140 million building is n the 17-acre Hayden Ferry Lakeside mixed-use site that also includes office space and retail. A luxury hotel is also planned. Amenities at Bridgeview include a lounge, library with a fireplace, business center, demonstration and catering kitchen, dining room/supper club, home theater, billiards room, a gym with a sauna and steam room, outdoor heated pool and spa, outdoor barbeque area, zen garden and a putting course.

While many condo towers in the Southwest have had trouble selling, the project manager at Bridgeview reports that nearly half the 104 Bridgeview condos were sold before construction was completed. That would have been slow sales a few years back but is pretty good for this market. Bridgeview has one-, two- and three-bedroom residences starting at about $680,000 and 5,000-square-foot penthouse homes at about $5.6 million.

The Flushing, Queens area of New York is getting a bunch of high-end condominiums. The Sky View Parc will include three towers so far and the plans of developer Jason Muss call for six towers total with 1,100 homes. The bottom floors will be given over to a mall's worth of retail space which may end up including large chains such as Traget, Home Depot, Staples and Bed, Bath and Beyond. The complex is across from Citi Field, the new home to the Mets as of 2009. The first condos went on sale last month and sell are priced between $395,000 and more than $2 million. The developer reports that of the first 160 apartments, more than 50 have been sold. Move-in is scheduled for July 2009.

[via AMNY]

A new building in the West End/Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington D.C. is one of the priciest complexes in the area. The $100 million building called 22 West, is located at 22nd and M streets and will be home to 92 condominiums ranging in price from $838,500 one bedrooms to penthouses going for as much as $3,868,500. All two bedroom and larger units get two parking spaces and the smaller units get one space each. Also each unit gets a storage locker. Each unit has floor-to-ceiling windows, natural oak wood flooring and plenty of wiring for all audio-visual devices and building wireless and high-speed internet access. The building will have a rooftop pool, a garden terrace, a restaurant and retail stores on the ground floor. The GW Hatchet reports that the building is currently around 30% sold. it is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Big construction is going on in downtown Pittsburgh. The downtown area which has long been in a state of slow decline is looking to be revitalized thanks to a couple of major projects especially the Piatt Place project. Piatt Place will be a redesign of the Lazarus department store building. Two upscale chain restaurants, McCormick and Schmick's and the Capital Grille will anchor the building and the rest of the building will be turned into offices and condos. The residential units are new construction, built on a new slab on top of the roof. The condos start $330,000 to $1.5 million each and in an article on KDKA it has been reported that 40% of the units are under contract.

But in a nationwide market that is not, for the most part, favoring condos, there may be trouble ahead. For example at another high-end project in Pittsburgh, 151 First Side, owners have closed on more than half of the 83 units but a handful are already up for resale. At the Carlyle, a project that has currently a 6,000-square-foot penthouse listed at $2.195 million, half of the 60 units are under contract but many of those buyers are investors and the second phase of the project is on hold. It seems that the problem in Pittsburgh isn't so much a condo glut of the type that has affected so many other cities, but instead is a question of changing people's perceptions of life downtown and whether or not people are willing to pay these types of prices when for the same amount of money they could get a fairly large home in the suburbs.

The town of Stamford Connecticut is getting new waterfront lodging. Antares Investment Partners plans to build a 115-room luxury hotel in the South End that will also include condo units. The 14-story Harbor Point Hotel is part of the Harbor Point project turning the South End area of Stamford into a destination for living, working, dining and shopping. The hotel will include a wine bar, art gallery, library, two restaurants, spa and fitness center, two meeting rooms and a roof-deck swimming pool and will have 55 condominium units on the upper floors. The hotel still needs city approval for its architectural plans.

More proof that Nascar is big business comes in the plans for a luxury residential tower in Concord, North Carolina near the Lowe's Motor Speedway. The Arcadian will include penthouses, corporate suites and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units as well as a parking garage,conference rooms, a putting green, theater, fitness center, terrace pool, concierge services, shops and a signature restaurant. According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, buyers have sign contracts on 30 units since sales began in late November. The goal is to have the building ready no later than fall 2012 but that depends on sales. One Charlotte, the 40-story luxury building planned for downtown Charlotte, which we covered last May, has now been delayed. The tower will have 13 stories with 151 units priced from $395,000 to $3 million.

What is the cut-off for size for boutique hotels? I generally think it is under 150 rooms but a new multi-use project in Knoxville, Tennessee bills itself as having a boutique hotel even though it's got 200 rooms. The Metropolitan Plaza project is actually a fairly large project, including a 15-foor tower with as many as 32 condos above the hotel room as well restaurants, a bank and retail shops on the lobby level. There is also an office tower planned that would stand about 7-8 floors tall. The $78 million project from Knoxville-based Commercial & Investment Properties also includes an enclosed pedestrian bridge linking the complex to the Knoxville Convention Center.

The proposal beat out two other proposals for the redevelopment of the downtown state Supreme Court Building.The project does not have a hotel brand linked to it yet but the developer says that several are interested. Once approved, construction on the project could begin as early as this fall and be completed by early 2010.

Luxury condos in one of the most anticipated buildings in the U.S. went on sale this week. CBS2 in Chicago reports that the sales office for the Chicago Spire is now open. The sales office is as posh as the condos themselves with designs created by the architect of the Spire, Santiago Calatrava. Residences at the 2,000-foot-tall Spire are price from $750,000 to $15 million each. I had my doubts about the building when I first heard about it in 2005 but was soundly rebuked by commenters who insisted that this building is exactly what Chicago needs. Despite the sky-high prices and a sluggish real estate market, it is expected that the Spire will sell, not just to people in Chicago, but to people around the world who are eager to live in a Calatrava building. Those who buy are in for a long wait, move in isn't expected until 2012.

Breckenridge, Colorado is starting to rival Aspen and Vail when it comes to luxury condos. One Ski Hill Place, is a new 90-unit development at the base of Peak 8. The new property is part of RockResorts and will feature amenities that include an aquatics center with two swimming pools and both indoor and outdoor hot tubs. Owners will also have access to a game room, two movies lounges and lockers. There will even be a bowling alley which will be designed to resemble a mine shaft. The property will be home to three restaurants, a conference center, a sports massage center and ski and snowboard rental services. Units range from studios to four bedrooms. The development also has a green angle: the lodge will include recycled materials, low-energy windows, Energy-Star appliances and water-saving devices.

The first 15 of 90 units will be released Dec. 8 and the asking price for the first of four penthouses will be $2.67 million, which will set a record as the highest asking price for a non-single family residence in Summit County. The previous record was held by a unit at Crystal Peak Lodge which cost $2.4 million. Construction is set to begin in May and due for completion for the 2009-10 ski season.

[via The Summit Daily News]

Real estate in Detroit is pretty dismal overall but there is one bright spot, the Westin Book-Cadillac. The old 1924 building is being turned into a hotel, restaurant and residential complex. The condos, which sell for $375,000 to $1.5 million, are going fast, 61 of the 67 units have already been sold. The $180 million project sold 40 units in just the first day they were put on the market over a year ago. The Book-Cadillac's noble past is part of the allure; it was Detroit's top hotel for years. It came on hard times in the 1980s when it was closed and the city couldn't even put together enough money to raze it. The top six floors of the building will be condos and the hotel will have 455 rooms and is set to open next fall.