Quote:
Originally Posted by Dcbrickley
I've sold quite a few condos downtown and owned one myself for a few years. I've noticed that the quality of construction and design for most of downtown properties lacks, and I believe that is due to the following
1. The demand to live downtown is such that buyers will purchase anything regardless of style/design.
2. Being a younger (new money) type of market, the buyers are not often educated to high design and don't demand it.....and probably could not afford it. Cities like Dallas-Houston (not to mention NYC & LA, etc), have a TON more money than Austin, have more museums, better fine arts, etc. Which, I believe, leads to buyers who demand more style.
3. I believe once the prices of newer units exceed $1000/ft, buyers will expect higher interior designs and "starchitects", who have a reputation to uphold with regard to design.
I believe we will reach those levels, but it will take time. As the boomers continue to retire and want a condo life downtown, they have the money and "style", and will demand a better building and appreciate a "starchitect".
I've never had a downtown condo buyer that even mentioned style/design. What matter most were;
1. price
2. view
3. size-value
4. location
But all of those buyers/sellers were below the $600/ft range. A buyer can only expect so much at that price point. We've had quite a few units sell in the $1000+/- sqft downtown, but I've never worked with those buyers/sellers.
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That's a really thoughtful and helpful analysis, thanks for that. My time in the U.S. prior to moving overseas was always in a single-family home or suburban apartments...I could never afford a highrise as much as I would've liked to live in one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wwmiv
All of this is more relevant to interior design and unit finishing, rather than the architecture. Really, the quality architecture when speaking of highrises never comes from residential highrises (although that isn't necessarily the case in Chicago and NYC), but rather from office buildings.
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I'd agree with that on some levels, but that is changing in DFW, Houston, and even Austin to a lesser degree. That said, when compared to most timeless towers, they're usually offices, etc., so you're definitely right. It seems to me that a lot of the newer, flashy towers throughout Asia (China, Thailand, etc., specifically) are mixed use...hotel, condos, and perhaps some offices.