The Madison | ? | 11 fl | U/C

[SteelTown]

Rendering....



Link: http://www.themadison.info/

Average asking price for each unit is $1 million.

[WhipperSnapper]

any updates? is a 2007 completion possible?

[matt602]

Nope. They've only just started putting in the windows.

[SteelTown]

Here's the latest article....

New condos have million-dollar view


Some units in Mountain-brow building cost $1m

October 22, 2007
Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator

The Madison is among the first complete million-dollar luxury condo buildings in Hamilton, but it certainly won't be the last.

Windows started going in on the 22-unit condo tower, which is perched on the Mountain brow on Mountain Park Avenue, tucked under quaint Concession Street quite near Henderson General Hospital.

"This is a growing trend, and many believe this is long overdue," said Dana Senagama, market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

"Even in the downtown core, we should see some. They might be conversions (of old condos) or complete new builds."

The reason, said Senagama, is a growing number of aging boomers who who want to downsize but still want space and want to stay in their hometown.

"It's a niche market, and it's catering to affluent ... empty nesters who don't want the upkeep of a single detached home."

The average price of a condo in Hamilton in August was $171,935 according to MLS sales figures.

That may not change much in the immediate future. But Senagama said there will be an increasing mix of price points offered to Hamilton homebuyers as the boomers move through the market.

Marilyn Rickard, of the Enfield Group, project manager for The Madison, said the marketing campaign hasn't started yet but two have already sold. Prices range from $750,000 to $1 million and go on sale officially in November.

The project is expected to be finished in the spring.

Each unit is 2,400 square feet with three bedrooms and options of having a formal dining room, a library or den. The condos have sweeping views of the city from spectacular windows. Those views come, of course, from the great rooms.

Custom-built cabinets in the kitchen, slate floors, granite counters, fireplaces as well as access to Club Madison's gym are other luxury features.

"They're huge," said Rickard. "They have a magnificent view, and they'll sell.

"There are a lot of moneyed people in Hamilton who want to sell their large homes but don't want to move to a condo in Oakville or Burlington.

"They want to stay in Hamilton near their churches and families. If you've lived all your life in a big house, you may not want to move into a small condo."

[BCTed]

SteelTown, don't forget our little bet on this terrible project.

[raisethehammer]

how does this thing look from close-up?

It looks like CRAP from below the escarpment. Is it being stuccoed??

[flar]

When I was up there in October, it had white brick on the sides, glass on the front and they didn't have whatever facade would be between the windows on the front up yet.

[BCTed]

Any updates on how this piece of junk is (or is not) selling? I do believe that SteelTown and I had a bit of a bet on the go.

[raisethehammer]

I was on Concession the other day and decided to check it out.
So far it's coming along nicely. I was pleased to see that the entire outside was brick, not stucco like it appeared in the picture.
No clue on sales though.

[realcity]

this builder is very low pro. I saw him at the construction site a worker pointed him out to me. I introduced myself and said I would like to do a story and he had no comment. Not even willing to take advantage of free publicity. He's an older tall skinny gentleman with white all white hair. He's definitely not like one of our all-show, media hungry, local gang of developers or should I say non-developers/land speculators.

[realcity]

I wouldn't be so harsh on it. It's a great location, great big units, my only real criticism is the mech penthouse. It could've been housed in a postmod design instead of the modernist look now. It's not horrible, just not stand outish. I think it's representative of the builder's own personality, low profile but real money. I think the people that buy these units will appreciate that. It's Bentley Place for the Mountain. Bentley has million dollar units too.

[raisethehammer]

they spoke about this place on CHML today...apparently there is quite a large demand for units. I suppose we'll find out once it's finished.

[raisethehammer]

went for a walk along the brow the other day. boy, I'm impressed with this building more than I thought I would be.
huge windows, huge balconies, great floorplans, amazing view. I think it's going to be a good project.

[realcity]

I think it looks great from Concession, esp if your walking near the Movie Palace. The cluster of mid & low rises with The Mad overlooking and the great eclectic mix of houses. Its how a neighbourhood should be. All within walking distance of mini grocers, hardware, entertainment, healthcare destinations.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

went for a walk along the brow the other day. boy, I'm impressed with this building more than I thought I would be.
huge windows, huge balconies, great floorplans, amazing view. I think it's going to be a good project.

I decided to walk home rather than bus it from my friend's place near Gage Park the other day. I opted to walk along the Maplewood/Delaware route as it's much better than the Main St Expy walk.

It was around 5pm, and the sun was just starting to fall into the west. I looked up at the mountain and was like, "Wow... what is that reflection coming from??" It was the Madison! Great, big wrap around windows and big balconies. It actually added to the Escarpment Skyline rather than killing it (like lots of other Escarpment-Edge 'Scrapers).

So I'm going to say I like this project so far... although I was against it in the beginning. Let's just see how it turns out. Hopefully the balconies have glass walls rather than metal. We'll see.

[BCTed]

Below is a link to the original discussion that SteelTown and I had concerning this project:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...on#post3123300

And below is a copy of the post that had most of the details surrounding the "bet" that SteelTown and I made. I place the word in quotation marks because I am not certain that ST ever actually accepted it as a bet. Regardless, his expectation was that about two-thirds of all units would have been sold (under the original pricing scheme --- I was very skeptical and believed that prices would go down) within six months' time. Given that the posts were made on October 23, we are only three weeks away from the deadline.

Does anyone have any ideas on how many units have been sold to this point and under what pricing scheme?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
POST FROM OCTOBER 23, 2007:

Originally Posted by BCTed

I do not know anything about these Beach Blvd. townhouses, but I doubt that they had prices anywhere near the Madison's "Pricing from $827,500 to $980,500."

2/3 of 22 is approximately 14 --- so 12 more units will have to be sold within six months under the current pricing scheme for you to be right --- 2 a month. I will happily take that bet, but I am not sure if we will have any regular updates on sales and/or prices.

So there are aging people on Hamilton Mountain who might be looking for condo-like digs --- great. Very few of them could afford $800K+, so you are starting with probably a pretty limited prospect universe. When you factor in the fact that only a small percentage of these people would ever seriously consider the Madison in specific (and only two have made purchases to this point), it is pretty clear that this project is nowhere near a slam dunk.

[JT Jacobs]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

No idea how sales are going. I will say that the developers own a heck of alot of parking lots surrounding the Downtown. If this project tanks, you can bet they will be staying in the parking lot business.

BTW, RTH go fuck yourself.

Easy does it, Turbo.

What say we have a return to rational discourse on all matters urban, with, perhaps, a little more urbanity?

[beanmedic]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

No idea how sales are going. I will say that the developers own a heck of alot of parking lots surrounding the Downtown. If this project tanks, you can bet they will be staying in the parking lot business.

BTW, RTH go fuck yourself.

There is no need for that. That's a lot like what BCTed said to me a few days ago.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

NEWS TO EVERYONE...

I AM NOT THE SAME GUY AS BCTED OR ANYONE ELSE ON THIS BOARD.

I think the reason RTH suspects this is because he is a big enough loser to contemplate doing something that silly. There are people in this forum that can actually think for themselves and don't get bullied into new urbanist dogma.

This is true. We are not the same person.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by beanmedic

There is no need for that. That's a lot like what BCTed said to me a few days ago.

I said nothing of the sort.