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sanman

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  1. Those are actually blue lacquer cabinets. That is the color that the owner of that unit or the builder chose. The cabinets are by Snaidero (Italian cabinet company) - you can go on their site and see the color options. There are lots of high gloss lacquer color options , flat laquer options, and there are even "car paint finish" lacquer color options in addition to ebony and many other wood finishes. Some of the buyers in the building chose paneled doors with more traditional hardware. There are endless choices with Snaidero and MDA Companies (the builder/developer) allowed the buyers to chose what they preferred without charging for an upgrade. Quite the concept...a fully customized unit (including changes to the floor plan) for the list price.
  2. At the end of the day - the location was the killer on this project. Period. AND - Turnberry obviously did not do their homework when drawing up the plans for the building. That location, at those prices, would NEVER have supported 182 or 184 units. Turnberry was not flexible in the Houston market, either, and insisted on delivering a decorator ready unit (no finished floors with primed rather than finished/painted walls) rather than a finished product. At those prices, in that location, the business model simply was not going to fly in this town and Turnberry was not nimble and did not adapt. The buildings in this city that do well in the 7 figure market are those with fewer than 100 units in a more prestigious location. That is the formula that the Houston market has shown that it can and will support. Turnberry got way off into the deep water early on this deal and it simply could not stay afloat, regardless of the economic conditions.
  3. Units in the building are for sale only - not for lease. If someone chooses to lease out their unit after they close, they can, subject to the condo docs/restrictions. Regarding the south units selling prior to the north units - the south side of the floor plate on the lower levels (up to floor 15) contained 3 smaller units where the north side of the floor plate on the lower levels contained 2 larger units. The most popular plan was the "C" plan on the southeast corner of the building due to size, view and price. Also, with most high rise projects, the least expensive units and the most expensive units tend to sell first. The intermediate sized units take a little while longer to move. There was, however, a very popular intermediate sized unit on the south side of the building that combined the southeast corner and south center units (the "F" plan) and it had about 300 more square feet than the northeast corner unit (the "E" plan). Whenever someone bought an "F" unit - it gobbled up 2 units on the south side. Lastly, you gain a Med Center view on the south side of the building as opposed to a simple green River Oaks view - that extra skyline is quite attractive to many high rise Buyers.
  4. I just spoke to the Director of Sales yesterday, who is a good friend of mine, and she said they cancelled the project. I also have it on very good authority that several Buyers are already looking to move over to another high rise that is already well under construction (delivery 2009) and in the same price range (read between the lines).
  5. Turnberry Tower Residences at the Galleria has been cancelled. The Buyers have been notified and employees have been released. I believe this occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd.
  6. Turnberry actually charges about $.41 per square foot but it's only on the ENCLOSED square footage, so after factoring in the terraces (which are not constant, as there are several different sized terraces), the maintenance is around $.35 or $.36 per square foot. Don't forget that Turnberry Tower is a very large building with 184 units, so that accounts for a lot of the difference in the maintenance fees. $.65 per square foot on the overall square footage is relatively standard, as that is what the Huntingdon was charging until very recently and Montebello and Villa D'Este charge in the $.62 - $.65 range, as well. Regarding plumbing, electrical, etc., at the Huntingdon, there is 14' between each slab, so all of the pipes, ducts, and wires are run in the subfloor, overhead and in the walls that are constructed. Since there is so much space on each floor, the ceiling heights are not affected due to drain locations, as I have seen many units at the Huntingdon with 11'+ ceilings. There have been some plumbing issues due to leaking into other units over the years in the building, though, as the wet walls are not restricted to certain areas as they are in most high rises. One of the restrictions on remodeling or new construction in that building is that the owner must install a computerized floor with moisture monitors in it in all wet areas. That shell space is on one of the highest floors in the builidng, too - I believe it's on 32 and 34 is the penthouse level. Remember - 34N penthouse was sold as shell for $5,000,000 in 2001 and 34S sold for $7,000,000 and it was basically gutted and redone. Each of those spaces was under 6,000 square feet. Even though there is only one existing large original shell space left at the Huntingdon, many of the older units are being sold either already gutted or to be gutted. 27S is one example of space in the building that was previously built out and then gutted before it was sold due to mold issues. I believe it sold in January 2005 for about $1,300,000 and it was about 7,000 sq ft. What a DEAL!!! There consistently continues to be quite a bit of construction in that building.
  7. Turnberry is not asking anywhere near $900 per square foot. It's really in the $500 - $600 per square foot range before terrace space and less than $500 per square foot after terrace space. It's $800,000 - $3,500,000 for the bulk of the building at 1,830 sq ft - over 7,500 sq ft after terraces. The two tower suites are over 15,000 sq ft each for $8,500,000 which is about $566 per square foot - quite a deal, if you've got the cash. Seeing as how all of the other developers factor in the terrace square footage, I included terrace space in the sq ft quotes above. Feel free to review the plans at www.turnberrytowerhouston.com $2,000,000 will actually get you about 4,500 square feet, after the terrace. The model unit at the sales center is about 2,600 square feet, after terrace, and ranges from around $1,100,000 - $1,400,000. I don't know where the $2,000,000 number on the 10th floor came from but it is completely erroneous. The 10th floor model unit would cost about $1,200,000. The Huntingdon was orginally sold as SHELL - not even "to the white" with plumbing stubbed out and sheetrock installed - it was simply concrete floor, concrete ceiling and exterior glass and it required a complete build out, including plumbing, electricity, etc. Turnberry simply does not install flooring and the walls are primed, ready for paint. It's hardly shell or even "to the white." Further, the Huntingdon is a 25 year old building with no amenities to speak of. Never mind the $.70 per sq ft (including terrace sq ft) a month in maintenance - more than TWICE what you would pay at Turnberry for monthly fees for a building with full amenities.
  8. There's no fence on the site and no ground preparations have been made. No construction activity will begin until the first quarter of next year.
  9. Construction should start late in the first quarter of 2008. Expected delivery is the first quarter of 2010 for a 24 month +/- build. This isn't exactly Turnberry's first rodeo as they've been in business for nearly 45 years. They tend to put a building up pretty quickly. They started Turnberry Ocean Colony in South Florida after Trump started a neighboring building and Turnberry delivered first. Regarding $8million - it's for a three level residence on floors 32 - 34 with over 15,000 square feet and a private pool. Freeways and parking garages will hardly be the views. It's actually a pretty damn good deal considering other penthouses on the market and other penthouses that have sold in the city (ie: a shell penthouse at the Huntingon in 2001 for $5,000,000. That's right - SHELL - nothing but concrete and glass and it was nowhere near 15,000 square feet, more like 6,500 square feet with exclusive use of a very rough roof deck).
  10. This site has been tapped for a luxury high rise for at least 3 years and was not the site where the retirement community was going to go. The site is currently a 2-story wooden office park type development on San Felipe west of Voss and just east of the Bayou. There used to be a Kinkos on the east edge of the property. Also - go to www.mapquest.com and type in 7703 San Felipe St, Houston, TX 77063 - you'll see where San Felipe and Woodway intersect.
  11. www.turnberrytowerhouston.com You can click "skip" to skip the intro but it's nicely done.
  12. The rain is the problem - it's rained nearly every single day for 2 months or so. The weather has been the only delay since commencement of construction. Regarding Oak Lane - the main reason that project was purchased was to preserve the views for 2727 Kirby. When the 2nd phase was sold to Zom, it was conveyed with a 75' height restriction. MDA Companies are still involved with the sales of Oak Lane and the Broker who has both projects listed is an in-house Broker.
  13. The Sales Center will indeed be torn down at some point during construction of the tower.
  14. As to the question "what's new on this?"... As of yesterday, the Sales Center is about 4 - 5 weeks from officially opening.
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