Calgary Condo Talk - Page 24

geotag277 · #**461** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 5:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

AFAIK, Stardust has been burned twice by QL product, so his reluctance to endorse them and their product is grounded in experience.

Geotag, well put with the Toyota parallel... no one has a 'perfect' track record. I'm just not sure that QL is the 'Toyota' of developers - from Stardust's accounts, they might be more like Audi (draw your own conclusions there).

I wouldn't call Qualex the "Toyota" of developers either, but at the same time developers are a whole other can of worms compared to car companies - it's all relative to the other players and the other options you have to do business.

It might be worth a more general discussion regarding what makes a developer above average or "good". Building on time, number of issues once building finishes, support and accountability for building issues occurring during warranty periods, general responsiveness and customer service during sales and post move in. Quantifying these things is hard and likely made more obtuse by the developers themselves. My personal circle of acquaintances includes people who have dealt with a wide variety of developers in this city, and LaCaille and Qualex are two that stick out as receiving fairly high reviews for these things, at least from the people I know.

Electrical Storm · #**462** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 5:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotag277

I wouldn't call Qualex the "Toyota" of developers either, but at the same time developers are a whole other can of worms compared to car companies - it's all relative to the other players and the other options you have to do business.

It might be worth a more general discussion regarding what makes a developer above average or "good". Building on time, number of issues once building finishes, support and accountability for building issues occurring during warranty periods, general responsiveness and customer service during sales and post move in. Quantifying these things is hard and likely made more obtuse by the developers themselves. My personal circle of acquaintances includes people who have dealt with a wide variety of developers in this city, and LaCaille and Qualex are two that stick out as receiving fairly high reviews for these things, at least from the people I know.

Absolutely - I was just using a simple (though flawed) analogy to illustrate my point.

Re: What makes a developer a good one? Well, it would have to be based on metric that includes both the front end customer aspect (sales/marketing/customer service/communications/etc.) along with technical and project management ability...

*Stardust* · #**463** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotag277

I'm not sure what you said here but for the record I think you should continue to share your experiences with them. Having more information regarding the pitfalls of dealing with developers help to make buyers more informed and ultimately also keeps developers on their toes to provide better customer service if bad reputations start impacting their business.

I don't feel comfortable sharing on a public forum. They are well aware of their issues though.

Spring2008 · #**464** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 7:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanmoreGuy

I was there today. My observations:
1) All available unit 9s have sold. I can see why if the purchasers are investors.
2) They have held back 5 or 6 entire floors until the public launch.
3) By the end of today (day 3), about 20% of available units had sold (or 15% of total units)
4) I spent 3 hours in there doing my numbers and trying to choose the best floorplan. I couldn't come to a conclusion. There isn't a great floorplan among them in my view. The one beds are missing the space efficient breakast bars that professionals demand. Also many one beds have the bathrooms far away from the bedrooms. Tenants don't like this.
5) Finishes are v nice
6) Do not be fooled - people were signing and handing over cheques today so sales have started (it was supposed to wait until next weekend, except for previous purchasers but I think they have already started for everyone!)

That's pretty low. Guess we'll have to wait until official sales launch weekend to judge.

outoftheice · #**465** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 7:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyric

The riverhouse site is still active if you go directly to it so I'm not sure if it is intentional or if they reverted to an older version of the site/screwed up. http://www.thenewcalgary.com/calgary-condos/riverhouse/

I don't know that you can do too much there in terms of residential that isn't on the luxury scale to make your construction costs back and turn a profit considering the limitations of the site. They might be taking it back to the drawing board though if they had low interest/sales.

I think this might be a back to the drawing board type thing as all of their RiverHouse advertising that was displayed on the future building site has also been removed fairly recently.

Spring2008 · #**466** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 7:27 PM**

The Royal renderings

http://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/condos/condo-tower-set-to-deliver-the-royal-treatment

Really like this detailed rendering here, not sure how to link it though:
http://www.theroyallife.ca/

red_179 · #**467** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 10:51 PM**

Love that rendering of the Royal. There is a nice wall of high rises that is developing just off of 17th with the Royal, Montana, Drake and Smith just a block north.

suburbia · #**468** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 11:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Policy Wonk

... the fact remains that condos are the most asinine ownership vehicle devised since the selion.

Electrical Storm · #**469** Posted **Feb 21, 2015, 2:55 AM**

We haven't talked about 'Lucida' since it originally launched.

The project is now completed and some units have hit the resale market (here's a 1 bed and a 2 bed).

The location is great, but that exterior leaves a lot to be desired...

suburbia · #**470** Posted **Feb 21, 2015, 4:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

We haven't talked about 'Lucida' since it originally launched.

The project is now completed and some units have hit the resale market (here's a 1 bed and a 2 bed).

The location is great, but that exterior leaves a lot to be desired...

630sf for $390K is only $619/sf, but of course for such a cheap option you'd have to share your shower and toilet with all your guests. To be fair, the $191 HOA is lower than expected - though no amenities and it will probably go up like a rocket from about year three.

Electrical Storm · #**471** Posted **Feb 21, 2015, 4:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by suburbia

630sf for $390K is only $619/sf, but of course for such a cheap option you'd have to share your shower and toilet with all your guests. To be fair, the $191 HOA is lower than expected - though no amenities and it will probably go up like a rocket from about year three.

I'm not sure what you mean by this... look at the 1 bedroom plan again, it has an ensuite and a powder room, so no sharing "your shower and toilet with all your guests"

Spring2008 · #**472** Posted **Feb 22, 2015, 5:58 PM**

Poor exterior color choice. A similar scaled project called Lusso just started along the quickly growing 7th ave hub above Bridgeland.

http://www.buzzbuzzhome.com/lusso

About a block west, Liftt has some site prep going on, no drill yet though.
http://www.liveliftt.com/home/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

We haven't talked about 'Lucida' since it originally launched.

The project is now completed and some units have hit the resale market (here's a 1 bed and a 2 bed).

The location is great, but that exterior leaves a lot to be desired...

Electrical Storm · #**473** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 12:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Poor exterior color choice. A similar scaled project called Lusso just started along the quickly growing 7th ave hub above Bridgeland.

http://www.buzzbuzzhome.com/lusso

About a block west, Liftt has some site prep going on, no drill yet though.
http://www.liveliftt.com/home/

The price ranges for units in Lusso are way too high for Renfrew/ Regal Terrace...

Electrical Storm · #**474** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 12:30 AM**

Radius by Bucci seems to be launching pretty soon (Spring 2015) - http://bucci.com/radius/

Spring2008 · #**475** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 3:42 AM**

Radius will be another big boost for Bridgeland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

The price ranges for units in Lusso are way too high for Renfrew/ Regal Terrace...

Not sure, I hear the units are big plus southern units will have great skyline views.

The good thing about the oil drop is it'll rebalance the market. Record growth and a continual shift to inner city living has led to demand far outstripping supply for awhile. No more 10% per yr increases and developers marking up their prices more than reasonable, a slight pricing reduction/more buying power is welcomed.

Electrical Storm · #**476** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 5:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Radius will be another big boost for Bridgeland.

Not sure, I hear the units are big plus southern units will have great skyline views.

The good thing about the oil drop is it'll rebalance the market. Record growth and a continual shift to inner city living has led to demand far outstripping supply for awhile. No more 10% per yr increases and developers marking up their prices more than reasonable, a slight pricing reduction/more buying power is welcomed.

I'm sure that the views will be stunning, I don't dispute that. I'm simply stating that IMO, Renfrew isn't "there" yet... and an entire building of larger luxury suites will be a hard sell. Most condo buyers in this segment simply don't have Renfrew/Regal Terrace on their radar (yet).

MasterG · #**477** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 6:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

I'm sure that the views will be stunning, I don't dispute that. I'm simply stating that IMO, Renfrew isn't "there" yet... and an entire building of larger luxury suites will be a hard sell. Most condo buyers in this segment simply don't have Renfrew/Regal Terrace on their radar (yet).

Agree, a bit of correction is necessary, particularly in the up-and-coming neighbourhoods because they can't claim to offer the same immediate benefits that more developed places were for the same price. But I think it happens quicker than most of us would think.

After 2007/2008 Smith came on the market early. Perfect location, small bachelors for sub-200s. Not everyone's cup of tea (see the Construction thread for more endless pablum on the subject) but certainly was attractive and some of the only sub-200K units of any type to be on the market within the inner city. Some smaller two-bedrooms started in the mid-high 300s. Market correction at work.

4 years later, duplicate building (Smith) on same block, same developer has nothing below 240K, for smaller units. The building was much more heavily weighted to the higher-end, 2 bedrooms at mid-400s. Didn't sell nearly as well or as fast, but enough to get construction under way.

Electrical Storm · #**478** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 6:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterG

Agree, a bit of correction is necessary, particularly in the up-and-coming neighbourhoods because they can't claim to offer the same immediate benefits that more developed places were for the same price. But I think it happens quicker than most of us would think.

After 2007/2008 Smith [ed: did you mean Drake?] came on the market early. Perfect location, small bachelors for sub-200s. Not everyone's cup of tea (see the Construction thread for more endless pablum on the subject) but certainly was attractive and some of the only sub-200K units of any type to be on the market within the inner city. Some smaller two-bedrooms started in the mid-high 300s. Market correction at work.

4 years later, duplicate building (Smith) on same block, same developer has nothing below 240K, for smaller units. The building was much more heavily weighted to the higher-end, 2 bedrooms at mid-400s. Didn't sell nearly as well or as fast, but enough to get construction under way.

Good insight. I remember looking at Smith when it first came out (after being pretty impressed with Drake). The price points for Smith, which I released after a pre-opening event, were as you said much much higher.
Here's the best example of price bloat: 380k for a 500 sq. ft. unit. And the kicker here is that you can buy a nearly identical 1.5 year old unit Drake for way less even today.

geotag277 · #**479** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 6:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

Good insight. I remember looking at Smith when it first came out (after being pretty impressed with Drake). The price points for Smith, which I released after a pre-opening event, were as you said much much higher.
Here's the best example of price bloat: 380k for a 500 sq. ft. unit. And the kicker here is that you can buy a nearly identical 1.5 year old unit Drake for way less even today.

They definitely pushed Smith more upmarket. I think the finishing in Smith are a step above Drake. Some of the price difference is explainable that way.

Electrical Storm · #**480** Posted **Feb 23, 2015, 6:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotag277

They definitely pushed Smith more upmarket. I think the finishing in Smith are a step above Drake. Some of the price difference is explainable that way.

The finishings aren't all that different btw - it comes down to more choice in colour schemes and gas cooktops in the kitchen (honestly, that's about it! That's more or less what the Gosvernor sales staff told me at the time)