The Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon impressed a developer so much that he built a nearby condo project, Columbia Cliff Villas, that mimics the look of the classic hotel with a stucco exterior and red tile roofs while creating a new modern interior. The project has 29 condos ranging from 550 to 2,450 square feet. There are also four-bedroom townhouses up to 3,800 square feet. The penthouses and two-bedroom units have views of Mount Adams and the Columbia River while other units overlook gardens and Wah Gwin Gwin Falls. The condo also has a relationship with the hotel so that owners can use the hotel spa and dining services or arrange to rent out their units through the hotel. Prices start at $395,000 and a three-bedroom suite is listed for sale at $1.15 million. The other five identical units have already sold.
More than ever it seems having a snappy website and a dramatic plan by a popular architect does not guarantee that a building will be built. But the developer behind one of the most ambitious projects in the U.S., the Chicago Spire, is saying that the Santiago Calatrava-designed building is a go. The developer says they have already sold 30 percent of the building's condo units, sending a strong signal that there is enough interest in the project despite the fact that the condos are priced higher than others in the city (the studio units start at $750,000) and that the developer has required 15 percent of a unit's price upfront for each sale.
The Shelbourne Development Group, has been financing construction but that will change later this year and so everyone will be watching to see what new lenders step forward to back the project. The Spire will have 1,194 units total including the still-for-sale $40 million penthouse. If all proceeds as planned, move in is set for 2012.
Donald Trump opened his latest Las Vegas property on Friday at a ribbon cutting surrounded by beauty queens and fellow developers. The Trump International Hotel & Tower is a 64-story gold-covered with 1,282 suites and a restaurant named DJT (Trump's initials). The new tower joins other new towers which have luxury accommodations, dining and retail but no casinos.
All isn't rosy in Trumpland though, shares of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. hit an all-time low on Friday after the company's three casinos reported lower revenue for March. Trump's share price is down 83 percent for the past 52 weeks. Also, Trump Entertainment issued a statement last week saying they would sell a casino or two if they thought the sale would be in the best interest of the shareholders.
Trump has said he will wait to build a second planned Las Vegas high rise until he sells all the condo and hotel units in the first tower.
I've written about the deluxe "car condos" before but I found this recent article on storage condos fascinating. More and more people are using storage condos not just as a place to stores a few things but to actually uses as a sort of second home, a place to actually spend time with your stuff. GarageTown sells units that come with cable television, high-speed Internet, individual thermostats, and clubhouses where the owners can hang out together. At 2,000 square feet the largest spaces are as large as some homes. All states have self-storage units but most are the rather chilly and drab cement and metal spaces you can rent out. The storage units as condos are for the most part, clustered in resort areas and places with long winters. But that is changing. Even rental units are getting more and more deluxe marking a shift from when people would just plunk their things in a storage facility and promptly forget about them. The prices for condo garages and storage condo units vary but GarageTown's units in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho cost about $57,000 to $85,950 (for comparison sake, one-bedroom condos in the area under 500 square feet start around $100,000). For those who simply don't have enough room, the storage condo becomes your garage or basement away from home, not just a place to store things but also a hideout from everything going on in your home.
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.
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.
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.
The iffy real estate market has delayed another condo project, this time in Atlanta, Georgia. One Museum Place is a biggie, a $350 million project that is to be located across the street from the High Museum of Art. The building was set to be home to 96 luxury condos selling in the $2 million range as well as a 15,000-square-foot gallery for contemporary art, retail and restaurant space. The gallery is meant to be a showcase for cutting-edge work and would be subsidized for the first 10 years by the Wieland Family Foundation and curated with assistance from the High Museum's contemporary art curator.The developer, John Weiland, has put the project on hold for at least 18 months, at which point they will reevaluate the plan, hoping to find a more favorable real estate market.
Luckily there are still plenty of condo projects in Atlanta to choose from. Check out the gallery for a few of the major developments planned for the city.
What is going on in Canada, the condo market is sizzling hot! Here in the States we are watching condo projects hit the auction block because they won't sell. In Canada they are lining up in the cold to get their paws on fresh new condo projects. We saw it in Vancouver and now we are seeing it in Toronto at 1 Bloor St. East, a $450 million 80-story slice of a skyscraper we first talked about in April. Back then various analysts were expressing fears that the condos might be too ritzy for Toronto. It doesn't seem like that will be a problem as people are camping out for a whole week just to get their first pick of the condos. Real estate agents have recruited hardy souls to hold their places in line because each person is able to secure three condos. The luxury suites start at $300,000 and run up to $18 million for the penthouse suite.
Real estate may be slumping in the States but in Vancouver, Canada prices are booming. The center of Vancouver is the most expensive housing market in Canada with the average sales price for a condo in Vancouver has been about 408,500 dollars this year, up 14.6 percent from last year. One sign of this the flurry of excitement over Millennium Water, a multi-million dollar housing project that is billed as Vancouver's last waterfront development. Suites in the condo complex will be home to the Olympic athletes in 2010 and once they leave the condos will go to eager buyers. How eager? They can't move in for three years but according to CTV, buyers camped out for days earlier this week for a chance to buy the condos. The suites range in price from $600,000 to $3.4 million and range from 500 square feet to 2,500 square feet. The homes offer balconies with park or water views and are available in three different color schemes: Vancouver, Canada or World.
I've seen cruise ships on the ocean offering condos before (a trend that seems to have begun with Residensea) but this is the first time I have seen condo boats for river cruising. River Cities Condos is selling floating condos that will travel through the intracoastal waterways of the U.S. Amenities include a grocery store, restaurants, concierge service, a rooftop lounge, theaters, activity rooms, a library, hot tubs and pools, fitness equipment, walking tracks, a rooftop chipping course and even fishing. The condos range from studios to two bedrooms and cost between $161,000 and $499,000. Shared expenses for the staff of 30 range from $6,700 to $23,100.
Condominiums attached to retail space are becoming more and more popular. I recently wrote about a California development within a mall and I just came across an article in the MetroWest Daily News about a New England high-rise condominium which is attached to a mall. Nouvelle at Natick is a 215-unit development that is attached to the former Natick Mall, now renamed the Natick Collection. The mall now includes Neiman Marcus , Louis Vuitton , Tiffany, BCBG , and will also include Burberry , Juicy Couture , Michael Kors , and the first Nordstrom in Massachusetts. It will also be home to upscale eateries including Boston's dessert-centric Finale.
There are one, two and three-bedroom units including penthouses. Amenities include a 1.2-acre rooftop garden, Parc Nouvelle, which is the largest of its kind in New Englanf, Club Nouvelle, a private club with a dining area and a library and the Bosse Fitness Center. Prices start at $425,000 and go up to $1.6 million for a penthouse.
I've covered the Turnberry projects in Las Vegas and Houston, but Luxist reader Hong tipped me off to yet an another Turnberry project, the Turnberry Tower in Arlington, Virginia. The 26-story tower is on the site of a former Best Wester and includes 247 condominium units and 4,400 square feet of retail space. The units are one, two, three and four-bedroom homes that range in size from 1,500 to over 6,000 square feet. Like other Turnberry projects the amenties are lavish with granite countertops, luxury appliances, marble bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs and private balconies on each unit. The building will have 24-hour valet and concierge service and will also feature a spa/fitness center and an indoor swimming pool. The building is also going for LEED certification and has green features such as water-saving fixtures and green roofs. Units are priced from the $800,000s to more than $4 million.
It takes an extreme college football fan to buy a condo just because it is near the stadium. But in South Carolina, being a Gamecocks fan is serious business. There are four condo complexes around Williams-Brice Stadium including the Stadium Village Lofts. The condos which can cost from $200,000 to $750,000 each can be used as regular living spaces but some dedicated fans have bought in just to be close to the games. The news isn't all rosy, some of the condos have not sold and one complex, The Spur at William-Brice auctioned off their units because of the slow housing market. But as The State reports, for some fans having a place to crash without having to fight stadium traffic is a dream come true.
Those black and white and fashionable all over Versace residences at the Plaza have joined the other residences that have snapped up in the revamped New York icon. New York magazine reports that the two apartments, a 1,212-square-foot one bedroom and a 2,656-square-foot two bedroom, have sold for $6.9 million and $12.5 million respectively. The purchasers didn't opt for Versace furnishings. I wonder where they will go, perhaps on to other apartments.
