A look inside Vancouver's tallest luxury condo
Towering above Georgia and Thurlow Streets, the 61-storey Shangri-la dominates the downtown skyline.
Vancouver's tallest building is home to high end condos, a luxury hotel set to open next year and upscale shops like Burberry and Urban Fare.
It's also home to Ron Bascom. Bascom originally bought the $759,000 unit as an investment. Four years later, he's moving in.
"I never want to pack another box," he says. "This is it. Our plan is to stay here for quite a while."
All but four of the Shangri-la's residential units have sold. The remaining suites, including one on the 58th floor, are all in the $5 million range.
"We were almost finished in terms of sales by the time the downturn did occur now those remaining four units again it might be a little slower for those final sales but it's not something we're concerned about," says Shangri-la spokesperson Jill Killeen.
Condos are a tougher sell for some people these days considering the number of high-end projects that have stalled and gone belly-up. It's a trend the Shangri-la's developers are hoping to see reverse.
"When you talk about other brands coming into the market again it adds strength to your destination. We hope that this is just a blip in time," says Killeen.
A lot has changed since the units started selling in 2004. The local real estate market has cooled, and the current economic downturn isn't helping matters. In fact, residential unit sales in B.C. were down 51 per cent last month compared to last year.
"Consumer confidence right now is very low," says Cameron Muir, president of the B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA). "In British Columbia, it's the lowest it's been in a couple of decades."
Muir says buyers first began to back off when gas prices shot up, followed by the global financial crisis. But there may be a silver lining.
"Affordability is quietly improving and, in fact, by the time we get to the end of this year for more than two years," says Muir.
Places like the Shangri-la are still out of reach for most, but if the association's prediction comes true -- other homes may not be anymore.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local...081122/20081122/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
video story at the source ^^^
All but four of the residential units have sold at Vancouver's Shangri-la.
Towering above Georgia and Thurlow Streets in Downtown Vancouver, the Shangri-la dominates the downtown skyline. (CTV/Maria Weisgarber)
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Well in that case you have my sympathy.
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