Calgary Condo Talk - Page 6

Spring2008 · #**101** Posted **Apr 22, 2014, 4:17 PM**

Anybody have renders of the Mount Royal Village West condo or the new Intergulf project on 8th ave and 11th street SW yet?

Spring2008 · #**102** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 3:59 AM**

Call me crazy, but it looks like there's a level or two of rebar/concrete forms sticking out of the 6 storey podium at Guardian South. How are sales going with this one, wonder if they met their pre-sales target already??

ctochico · #**103** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 4:12 AM**

does anybody here live in sobow?

i just checked out a place for renting, and the unit looks pretty sweet. don't know much about the area tho.

i asked if there were any for sale, and theres apparently a few of them. just wondering what your thoughts were, how the neighbourhood is, any close convenient amenities ie grocery store, any close park and rides for lrt. the gym looks amazing, free for condo owners/tenants, i was almost sold on that alone.

lorenavedon · #**104** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 1:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Call me crazy, but it looks like there's a level or two of rebar/concrete forms sticking out of the 6 storey podium at Guardian South. How are sales going with this one, wonder if they met their pre-sales target already??

Guardian 2 was super hot with rental investors because of the tiny units without parking that were offered. Those must be all sold out. Like with all other new condo complexes, the 2 bedroom units that are all pushing 500k and up just sit because its not economical to rent out compared to a 1bedroom or studio that you can buy around 250k-300k. I would never look to buy and live in Guardian 2 as that place is going to be slumlord central. Nothing but rentals.

Bigtime · #**105** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 1:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Call me crazy, but it looks like there's a level or two of rebar/concrete forms sticking out of the 6 storey podium at Guardian South. How are sales going with this one, wonder if they met their pre-sales target already??

Well they are keeping the crane on the south side up, and I do believe they said to someone on twitter that they will start construction of the south tower this summer.

Edit: Here is the tweet talking about tower 2:

Quote:

with the underground and podium complete, we anticipate starting construction late this summer, completing fall 2016.

Spring2008 · #**106** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 2:58 PM**

Maybe, but I also know a bunch of youngish people who have just recently bought in the core, or looking, so I think this investors are the only ones buying talk is greatly exaggerated. Even if, I believe a certain % of the condo fees are required to be allocated to a reserve fund to fund capital expenditures of the common areas, so even if the majority are investors, I'm not sure this would affect actual residents much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

Guardian 2 was super hot with rental investors because of the tiny units without parking that were offered. Those must be all sold out. Like with all other new condo complexes, the 2 bedroom units that are all pushing 500k and up just sit because its not economical to rent out compared to a 1bedroom or studio that you can buy around 250k-300k. I would never look to buy and live in Guardian 2 as that place is going to be slumlord central. Nothing but rentals.

Spring2008 · #**107** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 2:59 PM**

I thought summer as well, that's what was surprising. We'll see if they keep pouring forms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Well they are keeping the crane on the south side up, and I do believe they said to someone on twitter that they will start construction of the south tower this summer.

Edit: Here is the tweet talking about tower 2:

MalcolmTucker · #**108** Posted **Apr 24, 2014, 3:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Maybe, but I also know a bunch of youngish people who have just recently bought in the core, or looking, so I think this investors are the only ones buying talk is greatly exaggerated. Even if, I believe a certain % of the condo fees are required to be allocated to a reserve fund to fund capital expenditures of the common areas, so even if the majority are investors, I'm not sure this would affect actual residents much.

If someone wanted to push upgrades at the condo board, maybe. But now that the province requires condo corps. to have an engineer or other qualified professional do a reserve fund study, then pretty much requires the board to build up the fund to fulfill the needs of the study, I don't think it is as big of an issue as it was in the past.

Now with buildings with common electricity and a pool reaching the end of its life without a necessary reserve, the fights are pretty crazy. But people who want to keep the building up almost always win. Even if what is being maintained isn't used that much. A condo in Edmonton my parents owned in decades ago recently turned their pool into a squash court instead of lifecycling it. What a great compromise, since the pool was big enough to build the court within the existing structure, so you can always redo the pool in the future.

Jimby · #**109** Posted **Apr 28, 2014, 8:48 PM**

Mark has one unit left for sale.

Socguy · #**110** Posted **Apr 29, 2014, 2:51 AM**

Here is a short segment from the Eyeopener on problems with the floor to ceiling windows in many of the condo developments.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/wi...ses-concerns-of-sustainability-1.2624688

In brief, people love them and buy them because of the aesthetic but they don't always realize the problems that come with them.

Basically builders have been able to do basically anything they want because the city is only now starting to regulate them. Many of the cheaply built previous condo's have been built with window walls with an R value of only 2. This is leading to huge heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer as well as condensation and other issues.

Even the top of the line buildings window walls have issues. From my own quick research the best window's you can currently buy only have an R value around 9. This is pretty poor when you consider a standard wall is upwards of 20.

geotag277 · #**111** Posted **Apr 29, 2014, 5:04 AM**

It all comes down to the quality of installation of the window wall. Condos have window replacement as a maintenance item in the reserve fund regardless (typically anywhere from 20-50 years for complete replacement of windows). All types of windows can leak, whether window wall or not.

As usual with condos it typically comes down to the quality and reputation of the developer.

RyLucky · #**112** Posted **Apr 29, 2014, 5:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socguy

Here is a short segment from the Eyeopener on problems with the floor to ceiling windows in many of the condo developments.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/wi...ses-concerns-of-sustainability-1.2624688

In brief, people love them and buy them because of the aesthetic but they don't always realize the problems that come with them.

Basically builders have been able to do basically anything they want because the city is only now starting to regulate them. Many of the cheaply built previous condo's have been built with window walls with an R value of only 2. This is leading to huge heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer as well as condensation and other issues.

Even the top of the line buildings window walls have issues. From my own quick research the best window's you can currently buy only have an R value around 9. This is pretty poor when you consider a standard wall is upwards of 20.

I understand the challenges with temperature regulation, but personally I don't think it would bother my that much because I really like the idea of floor-to-ceiling windows. All that light can make a small space seem much larger. Every apartment/condo I've ever lived in has had problems with being too hot, never too cold. As for the maintenance and condensation issues, that seems like shoddy workmanship to me... Maybe the opinionated trades-guys and professors that speak out in Calgary just tend to be dudes who prefer living in houses over condos...

Jimby · #**113** Posted **May 1, 2014, 12:55 AM**

Mark is now sold out.

Spring2008 · #**114** Posted **May 2, 2014, 5:56 PM**

^ Not surprised at all.

Drake's public launch is tom.

Spring2008 · #**115** Posted **May 2, 2014, 5:58 PM**

Quote:

Multi-family home sales up 27 per cent

Condo, townhouses prove popular in first quarter

By Claire Young, Calgary Herald May 1, 2014

Town of Chestermere Chestermere Townhomes line a street in Rainbow Falls in Chestermere. Townhouse sales in the first quarter in Calgary rose 25 per cent over last year.

The first quarter of 2014 was busy with multi-family units changing hands in Calgary, reports the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Sales of MLS-listed multi-family homes were up by almost 27 per cent from Jan. 1 to the end of March, with 1,874 sales compared to 1,478 last year.

Condo apartment sales were up by 28.11 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, with 1,062 sales over 829 last year. Townhouses also proved popular, with an increase of 25.12 per cent year-over-year, with 812 sales compared to 649 during the same time last year. Townhomes also moved more quickly than apartments, spending on average 29 days on market in the first quarter of 2014 compared to 34 days for the apartments.

Within the sales zones, the most activity took place in Zone C, roughly the southwest quadrant of the city, with 965 sales of multi-family units averaging $370,693. Zone A, roughly the northwest quadrant, saw 528 transactions, averaging $327,851. There was much less action in Zone D, the southeast, and Zone B, the northeast, with 227 sales averaging $308,473 and 154 sales averaging $223,886, respectively.

One community in Zone C logged more than twice the action than the next busiest community. Connaught has 127 sales averaging $354,553, with homes selling on average in 29 days. Victoria Park and McKenzie Towne, meanwhile, clocked 62 sales each. Homes in Victoria Park averaged $450,243 and 34 days on market, while McKenzie Towne averaged $292,171 and 31 days on market.

Three communities boasted single-digit days on market, showing robust sales even while the number of sales was small. In the northwest, Highland Park had two sales averaging $175,000 that took seven days to sell, while University Heights had two sales averaging $271,750 that took eight days. In the northeast, it took seven days for one home to sell for $290,000.

Two communities had resale averaging at almost $1 million. In the northwest community of the Hamptons, three sales averaged $960,746, with the median sale price of $1.191 million. In the southwest, a single sale in CFB Currie sold for $975,000.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/homes/Multi+family+home+sales/9798412/story.html