bcanon

It was just too much space for one person. It was wonderful being able to wander around from room to room, but in the end I traded the cavernous feel of my loft at the St. Germain for a smaller unit at Capitol with nicer finishes and fixtures. My A/C bill was also $400+ in the summers, over three times the amount of my current bill. Some of this was due to an underpowered A/C unit for the downstairs area. When they outfitted it, there was a building to the East of my unit blocking the morning sun. Once they tore that down to make room for the pit that is there now, the amount of direct sun on the East wall made the three rooms downstairs very difficult to keep cool. So if anyone is looking at unit #214 at the St. Germain, be sure to negotiate for an A/C allowance for the downstairs zone. Another factor: When I took residence at the St. Germain, they had yet to break ground on the Light Rail project. Main St. then turned into a mud pit lined with orange cones and barrels. The view over Main Street has improved tremendously since I first moved downtown. Watching the city wake up while having breakfast has now become one of my favorite morning activities. My front picture window looks out over Main Street and one of my favorite buildings downtown, the Chase Bank Building (old Gulf building). Finally, the Sub-Zero and black granite in the kitchen, Chinese marble in the bathroom, spalted pecan floors, and the 27 foot long balcony attached to the bedroom via french doors won out over the finishings of the St. Germain. I understand that you can buy the units at the St. Germain "as-is" or at one of two other finish levels. That should do a lot as far as making them a little less "apartment-y", but I'd still like to see one finished off in to their "Platinum Level" spec before I'm 100% sold on that. Quite a few friends are in the process of buying their own units at the St. Germain. If nothing else, the building has a great sense of community. Having the Flying Saucer below you also makes for a great common "living area". Hope this ramble was of some help to you...

I lived in the St. Germain for two and a half years and still have many friends that reside there. I think that the auction is being held in order to get the requisite number of units sold so that the financing for the entire deal will go through. There is a magic number at work here, but I'm not sure if that number is meant to be public. If you are facing the corner of the building on Capitol and Fannin, my unit was directly above the St. Germain sign atop the garage. My unit was a little under 2500 square feet, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 stories. Private patio on the sixth floor near the public one...I'll def. miss it. As far as the interiors go, the walls could be a little thicker in places. Many of the units are cut up in interesting ways, which leads to the unfortunate situation of having several shared walls. Some of the polished cement floors are beautiful. Really, every unit is unique. When I first moved from Midtown to Downtown, the St. Germain won me over because it just felt more urban and "lofty" than say...the Rice did. The residents are also quite a bit younger at the St. Germain, so if you're the type that demands absolute quiet at 10:00 PM, this might not be an ideal choice. I have some pictures of the interior of my unit at the following URL: http://www.bcanon.com/705main I took them as an afterthought my last night there, but you still get an idea of the space... I moved next door to the Capitol Lofts in October of 2004 and would be happy to field any questions about either building... -bcanon-