09-23-2014, 11:24 PM
American Standard factory condominium sales start by invitation only
August 18, 2011 | kswayze | The Record | LINK
August 18, 2011 | kswayze | The Record | LINK
Quote:CAMBRIDGE — People won’t be moving into condominiums in the old American Standard factory for two years, but Dan Dudack’s coffee sales are already climbing.
Java Garden at Guelph and Queen streets is 20 metres away from the empty stone landmark, where 200 upscale homes are proposed in a $30 million redevelopment.
Dudack noticed immediately when by-invitation-only sales centre quietly opened last week. It opens to the general public Sept. 10.
“This is great. Last week alone, just with the showings for people from emails, I’ve seen an increase in business,” Dudack said.
“They get sales brochures and go for a walk, get a coffee and talk.”
The landmark factory is visible through his front door. Its future has been the talk of regulars since it closed in 2007. Talk regularly turns to when renovations might start, people will move in.
“They’re all going to want coffee . . . you hope for the best.”
More than 1,300 people submitted names online over the last year to get first crack at the 200 units approved by city council, said developer Shawky Fahel from Waterloo.
So far, only 40 units are up for sale, scattered throughout a building overlooking the Speed River and another parallel to Queen Street.
It’s a conscious effort to balance sales throughout the four old buildings, Fahel said.
“The building on the river, we could have sold it in 24 hours,” he said.
“We’re very happy — we’re overwhelmed — with the response.”
Demolition and renovation could start by winter, Fahel said. The first units would be ready for residents by November 2013.
Units range from 560 square feet to 1,495 square feet. Price depends on location in the building — river views and upper floors with higher ceilings cost more.
For now, the average price is around $300 a square foot, Fahel said. So that’s an average price of $168,000 for the smallest unit, or $448,500 for the largest.
As of Wednesday, 60 people have placed $1,000 deposits so they can consider buying. Fahel would only say “we’ve sold some,” when asked how many people signed purchase contracts.
Another 40 units will be ready for the public opening of the sales centre in three weeks, then another 45 by winter. The last 75 units in a building facing Queen Street won’t start construction for several more years, after a planned Hespeler sewage treatment expansion.
Over the past 30 years, Mark Cohen has sold 60,000 new condominiums across southern Ontario and western Canada. His Toronto-based The Condo Store realty is selling Riverbank Lofts for Fahel.
This is no collection of “cookie cutter, mass-produced” condos in a utilitarian building, he said. Instead, units will fit into the existing corners of the factory.
“This project stands out. It is a really, truly unique project . . . I think that makes it extremely valuable and extraordinarily challenging, and fun.”
The Hespeler Village is a selling point for the development, along with riverside trails and nature areas, Cohen said.
That’s what merchants are planning for: people living, working and spending — all within an easy walk of home, said Karen Grant, executive director of the local business association. Other buildings are under renovation, all the storefronts are full in a compact downtown with a hardbitten reputation.
“I think this a huge lift for Hespeler. I think it will really change, transform downtown Hespeler, but we have been moving in that direction for several years,” Grant said.