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this bodes well for Columbus Center
High-end, full-service condo sales remain strong
Boston Business Journal - December 8, 2006
by Denise Magnell - Special to the Journal
In spite of a 20 percent slump in Greater Boston condominium sales this year, Realtors are finding buyers for $1 million-plus units that increasingly offer a laundry list of in-house amenities and concierge services.
"It's all about lifestyle. Yes, empty nesters are buying them, but they also are drawing younger people with families," said Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network, which tracks the Greater Boston real estate market listings.
Although the number of high-end condos sold in Boston year to date dropped to 300 from last year's 361, the average sale prices have been about the same -- this year's is $1.67 million; last year's was $1.68 million.
In Boston, major hotel projects have added penthouse-style living with hotel services to the high-end condominium market, including The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers residential towers, the planned The Residences at Mandarin Oriental in the Back Bay and residences selling at the new InterContinental Hotel on the waterfront.
But projects offering expansive views, in-house services and broad, one-floor spaces also are available a short distance away in Brookline and Cambridge.
Architect Hans Strauch, president of HDS Architecture Inc. in Watertown, is designing a project on Brookline's historic Fisher Hill that he said brings the best of city-style, full-service amenities to an open-space setting.
A mansion on the site, Longyear Manor, is being renovated into five luxury units, with five more planned in a new, adjacent building. Initial prices ranged from $1.8 million to $6.6 million. Three residences are under agreement so far, with the project slated for completion in the spring. The property offers a fitness club, heated pool and private elevators to the higher floors.
"This is country living yet so close to the city, with vistas, gardens and lots of light, flowing spaces," Strauch said.
All but one of the 16 penthouses at the Regatta Riverview Residences have been sold since it opened last year in Cambridge. In nine cases, buyers bought two adjacent units several floors lower to create one-level homes of 1,800 square feet to 2,100 square feet. Prices ranged from $1.3 million to $1.6 million.
"We never marketed it that way and never planned to combine them. But some people liked the view, and found one unit didn't offer enough space," said sales manager Tony Zarbano.
Regatta prices weren't lowered as the real estate market slowed, but Zarbano said prospective buyers were offered more upgrades and reduced condo fees to stay competitive.
Realtors have been heartened by a fairly busy November, when the onslaught of the holiday season usually dries up business.
Chobee Hoy, who heads Chobee Hoy Associates firm in Brookline, said she was getting "some healthy offers" just before Thanksgiving and recently sold a 2,800-square-foot condo in the Coolidge Corner area for $1.9 million.
She believes the increased activity just prioer to Thanksgiving bodes well for 2007. "There's a lot of disagreement about this, but my feeling is we've bottomed out, or we're darn close to it."
? 2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.
High-end, full-service condo sales remain strong
Boston Business Journal - December 8, 2006
by Denise Magnell - Special to the Journal
In spite of a 20 percent slump in Greater Boston condominium sales this year, Realtors are finding buyers for $1 million-plus units that increasingly offer a laundry list of in-house amenities and concierge services.
"It's all about lifestyle. Yes, empty nesters are buying them, but they also are drawing younger people with families," said Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network, which tracks the Greater Boston real estate market listings.
Although the number of high-end condos sold in Boston year to date dropped to 300 from last year's 361, the average sale prices have been about the same -- this year's is $1.67 million; last year's was $1.68 million.
In Boston, major hotel projects have added penthouse-style living with hotel services to the high-end condominium market, including The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers residential towers, the planned The Residences at Mandarin Oriental in the Back Bay and residences selling at the new InterContinental Hotel on the waterfront.
But projects offering expansive views, in-house services and broad, one-floor spaces also are available a short distance away in Brookline and Cambridge.
Architect Hans Strauch, president of HDS Architecture Inc. in Watertown, is designing a project on Brookline's historic Fisher Hill that he said brings the best of city-style, full-service amenities to an open-space setting.
A mansion on the site, Longyear Manor, is being renovated into five luxury units, with five more planned in a new, adjacent building. Initial prices ranged from $1.8 million to $6.6 million. Three residences are under agreement so far, with the project slated for completion in the spring. The property offers a fitness club, heated pool and private elevators to the higher floors.
"This is country living yet so close to the city, with vistas, gardens and lots of light, flowing spaces," Strauch said.
All but one of the 16 penthouses at the Regatta Riverview Residences have been sold since it opened last year in Cambridge. In nine cases, buyers bought two adjacent units several floors lower to create one-level homes of 1,800 square feet to 2,100 square feet. Prices ranged from $1.3 million to $1.6 million.
"We never marketed it that way and never planned to combine them. But some people liked the view, and found one unit didn't offer enough space," said sales manager Tony Zarbano.
Regatta prices weren't lowered as the real estate market slowed, but Zarbano said prospective buyers were offered more upgrades and reduced condo fees to stay competitive.
Realtors have been heartened by a fairly busy November, when the onslaught of the holiday season usually dries up business.
Chobee Hoy, who heads Chobee Hoy Associates firm in Brookline, said she was getting "some healthy offers" just before Thanksgiving and recently sold a 2,800-square-foot condo in the Coolidge Corner area for $1.9 million.
She believes the increased activity just prioer to Thanksgiving bodes well for 2007. "There's a lot of disagreement about this, but my feeling is we've bottomed out, or we're darn close to it."
? 2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.