Claridge Icon [505 Preston St] | 143m | 45 fl | Completed

[S-Man]

Presumably you mean this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYcqToQzzGY

Would need a little edit, but pretty close.
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Absolutely. It would continue the 'Memories of New York' thing that's popular as of late. Just replace 'east' with 'west'.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Absolutely. It would continue the 'Memories of New York' thing that's popular as of late. Just replace 'east' with 'west'.

Ha! Brilliant!

[canabiz]

According to this CBC Story, Claridge Icon — has sold only 10 per cent of its units. The slow sales have caused the developer, Claridge, to redesign some of the units to make them smaller and cheaper.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-condo-surplus-causing-prices-to-drop-1.2159075

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Absolutely. It would continue the 'Memories of New York' thing that's popular as of late. Just replace 'east' with 'west'.

This being south of downtown with touch of italian, maybe they could go Jersey on this one The building's got cleavage, rechristen it "Snooki" — hey, it's "ikoons" spelt backwards

[S-Man]

According to this CBC Story, Claridge Icon — has sold only 10 per cent of its units. The slow sales have caused the developer, Claridge, to redesign some of the units to make them smaller and cheaper.

I wonder what number/percentage "some of the units" actually means...

This being south of downtown with touch of italian, maybe they could go Jersey on this one The building's got cleavage, rechristen it "Snooki" — hey, it's "ikoons" spelt backwards

I think all the units should have a TV character name. You can go Jersey, for sure, but leave room in the building for the George, Wheezy and Lionel units.

[Boxster]

Originally Posted by canabiz

According to this CBC Story, Claridge Icon — has sold only 10 per cent of its units. The slow sales have caused the developer, Claridge, to redesign some of the units to make them smaller and cheaper.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-condo-surplus-causing-prices-to-drop-1.2159075

I hope that making them cheaper does not mean lower quality....because you cannot go lower than what they are offering today.

[JackBauer24]

Well, if they aren't changing the spec to make them cheaper, they'll have to significantly reduce the size....
Either way, I don't see a bright future for this development.

As I've said before, many times before, I hope this serves as a wake up call to Claridge, and similar builders, that the market will buy if there's value. Hom had no problem selling (it was a lower spec than most condos, but priced fairly) and the Merit sold well (it was a higher spec project but priced as such). Claridge has to stop relying on their locations to sell their product and put more imagination into their spec, design, floor plans, etc.... to get the sales they need.

Originally Posted by Boxster

I hope that making them cheaper does not mean lower quality....because you cannot go lower than what they are offering today.

[S-Man]

I hope that making them cheaper does not mean lower quality....because you cannot go lower than what they are offering today.

Unfinished, bare concrete walls (with free Mountain Equipment Co-op pup tent for urban camping) on floors 2 through 38 should do it!

[Boxster]

LATEST SALES UPDATE



Total of 320 units
Sold 28 units (of which 15 are of the same Pacino model)
If the math is right, that is not quite 9%
Not impressive by all means.

With the revised fllor plans, there are only 46 units (excl Penthouses) over 1,000 sq ft!!!

The following provides all the details (best summary of availability/price I have ever seen):

http://claridgeicon.com/uploads/icon-availability.pdf

[McC]

If I was a developer these days, I'd be going back and taking long hard look at the economics of building mid-rise on traditional mainstreets; where these kinds of sales numbers aren't a flop, they get the project built! (e.g.,the Eddy on WestWelli)

I know developers and their enablers like Ted Fobert often plead poverty when it comes to building mid-rise ("Concrete! Elevators! 6 floors? It doesn't work!"); but clearly the market isn't there right now for the hundreds of sales that are required to drive projects of this scale. Meanwhile, there are obviously efficiencies that can be found in the design, and in the process (e.g., no protracted re-zoning battles, OMB fights, and millions for lawyers and consultants if you follow what's in the CDP), because midrises are still going forward around town.

Tall towers are nice and towery and all, but filling in the gaps that old car lots, garages and petrol stations have left on our mainstreets will deliver a lot more 'urban vitality' in a much shorter time frame than a couple of skyscrapers thrown here or there will (or rather, than the ghost sales centres for hypothetical skyscrapers will)

[S-Man]

There is certainly truth to what the previous post says, and certainly a lot of the development Ottawa has seen in the past decade or so has accomplished a fair bit of this, especially in Westboro/Wellington West. It would be great to see more added to the still-tacky area of Bank Between Somerset and Gladstone.

However, going tall in places and having architecture that 'rises above' fulfills another desire of urban living, which is that of 'presence' - visual markers/symbols that can be seen from a distance. People like walking along well-manicured streets, but they also like to have a skyline.

Seems the only way to sell out a tall building now would be to have all other developers stop offering theirs, thus offering buyers little choice.

[McC]

"this market would work a whole lot better if I was the only one in it!" ;-)

[m0nkyman]

If I was a developer, I`d probably have noticed that condos offering good value are still selling, and stop trying to dump overpriced crap on the market, and maybe start offering decent finishes and decent sizes at a reasonable markup. And maybe offer larger units to baby boomers downsizing instead of pretending the market is made up of upwardly mobile twenty-something hipsters looking forr bachelor pads.

[JackBauer24]

Amen, brother.

There are still condos that are selling. Those that have struggled with sales generally are either over priced, low quality, and/or have no unique or distinguishing features that appeal to the demographic looking to buy. The Icon, Rhombus and 99 Parkdale are perfect examples of this.
Those that are selling well have been created and marketed with a specific demographic in mind; be it first-time buyers, investor, baby boomers, etc... The Eddy and Minto @ Beechwood are two great recent examples this.

Unlike the Rhombus, I don't think the Icon can fold up shop and sell. The land was too expensive to begin with (plus add in the cost of the sales office, architects, city approval process, etc...) so selling it isn't really an option - plus what builder would want to take on that risk? They could try to cut the building down, but part of their marketing pitch was that it was the tallest in the city. Plus if they cut down the size, that reduces the number of condos, which in turn impacts the Vendor's profit, so that's not really an option.

I'm not sure where Claridge goes from here if they don't start selling soon.

Originally Posted by m0nkyman

If I was a developer, I`d probably have noticed that condos offering good value are still selling, and stop trying to dump overpriced crap on the market, and maybe start offering decent finishes and decent sizes at a reasonable markup. And maybe offer larger units to baby boomers downsizing instead of pretending the market is made up of upwardly mobile twenty-something hipsters looking forr bachelor pads.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

I'm not sure where Claridge goes from here if they don't start selling soon.

Hate to say it, but ..... Shoppers?

[JackBauer24]

The neighbourhood needs one badly, but again, the cost of the land - it was one of the most expensive land purchases in Ottawa, I could imagine Shopper's being at the base of a residential or commercial tower, but certainly not on it's own.

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Hate to say it, but ..... Shoppers?

[PokerPukka]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

Amen, brother.

There are still condos that are selling. Those that have struggled with sales generally are either over priced, low quality, and/or have no unique or distinguishing features that appeal to the demographic looking to buy. The Icon, Rhombus and 99 Parkdale are perfect examples of this.
Those that are selling well have been created and marketed with a specific demographic in mind; be it first-time buyers, investor, baby boomers, etc... The Eddy and Minto @ Beechwood are two great recent examples this.

Unlike the Rhombus, I don't think the Icon can fold up shop and sell. The land was too expensive to begin with (plus add in the cost of the sales office, architects, city approval process, etc...) so selling it isn't really an option - plus what builder would want to take on that risk? They could try to cut the building down, but part of their marketing pitch was that it was the tallest in the city. Plus if they cut down the size, that reduces the number of condos, which in turn impacts the Vendor's profit, so that's not really an option.

I'm not sure where Claridge goes from here if they don't start selling soon.

If Claridge can't get enough condo sales, maybe they'll look at leasing the bottom half of the building as office space. Not sure if there's as much profit in that, but it would allow them to reduce the number of units they need to sell without having to reduce the height, which as you mentioned is one of their major selling features.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by PokerPukka

If Claridge can't get enough condo sales, maybe they'll look at leasing the bottom half of the building as office space. Not sure if there's as much profit in that, but it would allow them to reduce the number of units they need to sell without having to reduce the height, which as you mentioned is one of their major selling features.

There aren't any hotels in the area; at least I can't think of any. Perhaps they could make a part of it into a hotel.

[ThaLoveDocta]

Originally Posted by PokerPukka

If Claridge can't get enough condo sales, maybe they'll look at leasing the bottom half of the building as office space. Not sure if there's as much profit in that, but it would allow them to reduce the number of units they need to sell without having to reduce the height, which as you mentioned is one of their major selling features.

Ceiling heights and mechanical requirements can create some headaches with that kind of switch, but seeing as it's not yet built - sweeping design changes are still entirely possible.

[Boxster]

There is perhaps a reason there is currently no hotel in the area.....doubt there will ever be a demand from the business sector or the tourism side.

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

There aren't any hotels in the area; at least I can't think of any. Perhaps they could make a part of it into a hotel.