Saskatoon | Escala | ?m | 7 Floors | U/C

[prairieguy]

Originally Posted by Crisis

Thanks for posting those. The biggest thing that jumped out at me were the Condo Association Fees: $564/mo for the $673K 2 storey townhouse-style unit and $466/mo for the $771K unit on the 4th floor. I'm no longer a condo owner, but those seem steep and equate to $5,600 - $6,800 annually - not chump change.

Nice units, but in tough against similarly priced homes without those big monthly fees on top of a mortgage.

I am not so sure those condo fees are out of line at all in the current market. I have a friend who lives in older downtown high rise and pays over $600 condo fees and my mother-in-law lives in 1990's building by Market Mall and pays close to $500 for 1300 sq feet.

I WOULD agree that condo fees in general seem way to high for Saskatoon!

[canuck10]

Originally Posted by prairieguy

I am not so sure those condo fees are out of line at all in the current market. I have a friend who lives in older downtown high rise and pays over $600 condo fees and my mother-in-law lives in 1990's building by Market Mall and pays close to $500 for 1300 sq feet.

I WOULD agree that condo fees in general seem way to high for Saskatoon!

Those condo fees include heat and water.

[canuck10]

Escala has an Open House scheduled from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday October 10 and Sunday October 11.
Appears they have five units available for viewing.
The open houses are advertised with their listings on Realtor.ca.

[Ricopedra]

edit

[Arts]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

This is a good question and is asked by potential homebuyers all the time: are condo fees worth it, compared to paying for everything yourself with a detached home? When you're responsible for a yard and the street frontage, the heat and all, building maintenance, all the machinery? Some people just like to leave it to others and know their home is secure up off the ground. Some folks prefer cats, some prefer dogs. Both are valid loves.

Condo fees can be worth it and they can also be a ripoff. Two factors are the reserve fund status and the operating expenses. In a brand new condo there is usually no initial reserve fund, or very little set aside (which would be reflected in the sale price), so a significant portion of condo fees are going to build that up (important to do before any warranty periods are up). As for operating expenses, there is some extra management fees and administration fees (financial documents and audits etc) that you will pay which you wouldn't if you owned a detached house - it is crucial to understand how much of your monthly fee is going directly to the management company itself... plus it's easy for a management company to overspend the condo corporation's money on professional services so you really do need to pay attention how much is being paid for landscaping, snow removal and general maintenance... and also insurance. It's also crucial that the condo board is proactive about holding the management company accountable and transparent. It is really easy for a condo owner to get taken advantage of by way of condo fees.

Personally, I can't understand why the condo fees at Escala would be so exorbitant especially if those don't include gas and water.

[prairieguy]

Only 2 of the 10 townhouses available are left, which kind of surprises me as the floor plans are pretty tight in these units over 2 floors. But good for the Meridian sales team.

Crunching some numbers, it looks like they have sold just over 70% of their units in total. I think that is pretty damn good for a fairly high priced project where you are looking at $600,000 and up to get in!!!

I don't think Meridian would be moving forward with the Knox Tower if they didn't feel pretty good about these sales, so far.

Their portfolio is looking pretty good for Saskatoon (LUXE, King George, Escala and proposed Knox Tower)

[Echoes]

Don't expect their Knox project to hinge on pre-sale success, it's a rental project.

From this document for their appeal:

The development includes 112 rental apartments, office space, a café/restaurant, and a structured parkade.

It makes sense. Baydo is building rental Downtown and on Broadway. That's the play right now. Meridian clearly sees a niche to fill of premium Downtown rental (vs. the more conventional product Baydo is building).

[alt_center]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Don't expect their Knox project to hinge on pre-sale success, it's a rental project.

From this document for their appeal:



It makes sense. Baydo is building rental Downtown and on Broadway. That's the play right now. Meridian clearly sees a niche to fill of premium Downtown rental (vs. the more conventional product Baydo is building).

That's very interesting. I did not notice that when I skimmed the document, but it explains the statement I saw elsewhere that Knox will retain ownership of 40 parking stalls as a source of revenue.

A couple of thoughts:

- as a rental I hope Meridian is not tempted to cheap-out on the execution of this building; I think it could look pretty bad if its poorly done, specifically flat glass balcony panels.

- as a rental perhaps it will not eat into Highpoint's target market much.... as I keep repeating here, I think there is faint hope it's not dead yet.

Escala content: Nice to see some recent sales (or maybe just a website update?) I also noticed the website says "41 homes". I had not noticed that before, but when the floorplans first came out I could swear I counted 45. Maybe some got combined?

[YXE]

Looks like three more units have sold since I last checked a couple of months ago, I think. Now sitting at 35/45 = 78%.

[prairieguy]

I think what is interesting is there is just one or two units (or none in the case of floor 6) left on each floor of the development. It seems there was pretty decent demand for all types and price points of units.

Come on Highpoint and Knox Tower....looking forward to you both achieving similar sales (or rentals in the case of Knox. I wonder if they would ever consider a building that has combined rental and ownership options? Is that even possible??)

[Echoes]

[Roquentin]

I like this development a lot, but I wish there wasn't a visual interruption between the "podium," if you can call it that, and the "tower." I think that the blocky bottom floors, with their tacked-on pediments, clash with the curved balconies above, and I would have liked to have seen a smoother transition between the upper and lower floors.

[YXE]

Looks like there hasn’t been a unit sold since I last checked a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, I was told “The Grove” (?) is about 15% sold.

[canuck10]

It looks like some residents are moving in. I see patio furniture on a few balconies (river facing side) and a barbeque on the patio of one of the townhomes.

Still only 35 out of 45 sold. That has to be disappointing for Meridian. I think they would have counted on being sold out or very close by the time they completed construction.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Looks great. Reasonable materials. Maybe a little mullion-happy in places, but if all new developments were like this it would be hard to complain.

[Echoes]

Yep, it's definitely at the upper end of quality in terms of what we see in this town.

[905er]

Escala and River landing should be looked upon as benchmarks for design in Saskatoon.. Highpoint too if it's ever built. None of that Baydo garbage.
Escala looks great!

[canuck10]

Originally Posted by 905er

Escala and River landing should be looked upon as benchmarks for design in Saskatoon.. Highpoint too if it's ever built. None of that Baydo garbage.
Escala looks great!

IMHO the main thing River Landing condos has going for it is the view. Escala is far more tastefully designed inside and out. I've been in a few of the River Landing condos now. The finishings are mediocre unless you paid to upgrade. For the price they were sold at everything should have been top end but unfortunately not so. I've also been following the listings at River Land over the last couple of years since it opened up. Very few have actually sold. And those that have were generally sold at a loss. They simply can't get the original pricing. Now that the units are complete and can be viewed the market does not seem to think the original pricing is appropriate.

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by 905er

Escala and River landing should be looked upon as benchmarks for design in Saskatoon.. Highpoint too if it's ever built. None of that Baydo garbage.
Escala looks great!

A very select few will be able to afford Escala or River Landing. Baydo’s projects are the ones that will bring about legit change in population / increase development to downtown everyone should be excited about all levels of living downtown. I’m still waiting to eagerly see new affordable housing units get built downtown soon...

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by canuck10

IMHO the main thing River Landing condos has going for it is the view. Escala is far more tastefully designed inside and out. I've been in a few of the River Landing condos now. The finishings are mediocre unless you paid to upgrade. For the price they were sold at everything should have been top end but unfortunately not so. I've also been following the listings at River Land over the last couple of years since it opened up. Very few have actually sold. And those that have were generally sold at a loss. They simply can't get the original pricing. Now that the units are complete and can be viewed the market does not seem to think the original pricing is appropriate.

This reminds me of how I went to check out their demo unit and tripped getting on to the balcony there’s quite a few 1960’s-80’s modern renovated condos that are 1/3 the cost and condo fees out there that are definitely a smarter buy. I also really don’t like how No1River Landing has no real great foliage directly out the front door. Lack of retail on the main level and lack of foliage really hangs me up on how excited Saskatoon was over this project.