urbanSTL

It looked like there were about 8 units per floor, 4 north facing and 4 Wash Ave facing, floors 3-6. Floor 7 seemed to be a penthouse floor. As usual for Pyramid developments, the 2nd was still optional. However, I think the floor plans do a very good job of making the floor plan flow well regardless of the 2nd br being there or not. Sterling at Pyramid told me, that maybe 10% of 2br units are actually built out with the optional 2nd br. He said many people leave it as a large open 1br, or finish of the 2nd br later on their own.

fountboy wrote:I was in the office today, and since I may not be able to make it to the showing thursday, I asked to check out the floor plans. They look pretty cool, every unit it looked like will have at least 1 red brick wall, even the interior units, since Dorsa will be made up of 2 buildings joined. Looks like floors 3-6 range in size from 1400-2000sf give or take, with floor 7 being penthouse Im guessing. The finishes and amenities and everything are basically the exact same as Bankers. I asked about pricing but they won't have actual pricing til the day of. But in general they are going to run $155-160/sf base. All units face either all Washington Ave, or all north since Dorsa is sandwiched in the middle of a block. When you all go thursday, check out the unit in the middle of the North facing side, the living area is going to be sticking out 3 sides glass, real cool.



Be ready to write some checks if you are interested, these puppies are going to fly off the shelves like a"Tickle Me Elmo" at Christmas time. My guess is by the end of the housing tour this weekend, incl Thursday, 1/2 of the units will be reserved.

I checked out the preview event Thursday evening. There were about 70 or 80 people milling about while I was there. They have 9 different floor plans with 5 being 1BR and 1.5 BA and the other 4 being 1 or 2 BR, 2 BA. The plans range from 1390 SF to 1,965 SF excluding penthouses. Base prices range from $120 a SF to about $169 a SF. Most lofts on the lower floors vary in base prices coming in at $120, $122, $139, $134, $122, $134 and $139 a SF. They will have a rooftop deck, fitness center and a few lofts will have balconies facing the north. I think they had 9 reservations out of 52 by the time I left.



I love the location but some things I just don't get are they have some really nice sized spaces hovering just below or above 1700 SF but they only come with 1.5 Baths and are only 1 BR. At least give me an office area and put a small shower in to make it 2BA. And Pyramid seems to be undercutting the market where most new developments are selling in the $160 - $190 a SF range base yet they come in at $120 and $130 a SF base. Any ideas?

I am not a pyramid fan...my girlfriend lives in 2020 washington and they seem to cut a lot of corners in construciton especially with soundproofing which is a big deal to me...



I think they tend to use cheaper construction materials to keep their prices down

My thoughts on undercutting the market price wise are that they make it up in the extras; charging to make it a 2br, granite, stainless, flooring, fixtures etc. I just got the options list for Banker's and they seem to be higher than I expected.



As far as some of the 1br units being 1700sf, I think they are leaning towards those and making 2br optional on some because a lot of people are desiring 1br with a lot of livibg space. Also when I went over the plans the other day, I asked about why a certain 1 or 2 plans couldn't be made into a 2nd br, and they told me because a 2nd br would cut into the required 3ft halway space as the floor plan flowed from entry to living area.

mophipsi wrote:I am not a pyramid fan...my girlfriend lives in 2020 washington and they seem to cut a lot of corners in construciton especially with soundproofing which is a big deal to me...

Depends on the project. Elder Shirt Lofts was developed by Pyramid and has some of the best soundproofing downtown.

I feel like Pyramid does quality work. Their cost savings comes from experience, and not from consciencely cutting corners. Aside from that, I am happy that a few loft builders are selling for what their margins need to be, instead of inflating the price to the competitions. Along with that, it seems nicer to be able to upgrade on the particular items of interest to you (even if you do pay a premium), rather than the developer doing a blanket 'high-end' finish. In those units the developer probably makes as much or more on the final selling price b/c they know exactly what they are putting into every unit.

Did anyone find out what they were going to do w/ the first floor?

For anyone interested, the Dorsa Lofts website looks to be live and includes a price sheet PDF, standard and penthouse floor plan PDF's as well as a PDF showing standard features, site map and parking layouts .



link:

http://www.dorsalofts.com

The website is not accurate with regard to number of reservations taken. There's at least six more reserved than indicated (as of last Wednesday).

loftlover wrote:The website is not accurate with regard to number of reservations taken. There's at least six more reserved than indicated (as of last Wednesday).

As of 3 days ago they were sitting on 21 reserves.

Ask and ye shall receive. They updated the website today. They're at 23 unavailable units: 4 penthouses not available and the display.

Hey, how is the view to the north in this building? Is there any floor you have to get up to in order to be able to have a decent view?

It's not really possible to know the association fees in advance, anything they tell you is a very very "ballpark figure" that the delvelopers will lowball. You Building association will raise them multiple times within the first year.

MistaC01 wrote:It's not really possible to know the assocuiation fees in advance, anything they tell you is a very very "ballpark figure" that the delvelopers will lowball. You Building association will raise them multiple times within the first year.

I was told that an 1800 sf unit would have an association fee of about $300 a month. That's like $2 a square foot. I hope that is not a low-ball figure.

$2/ft is consistant with our building, which has had two years of experience to create a realistic budget.

What do you mean by $2 per sq.ft.? $300/1800sqft=16.6 cents per square foot? Are you referring to something else?

MistaC01 wrote:What do you mean by $2 per sq.ft.? $300/1800sqft=16.6 cents per square foot? Are you referring to something else?

and 16.6?*12=$1.99... think annually

Ahhh icic, I was wondering what unit you guys were using, i guess it is dollars/foot/year.



P.S. Where'd you get that cent sign?

MistaC01 wrote:Where'd you get that cent sign?

Option-4 on a Mac keyboard.



Back on topic, anyone care to explain to me why the Ely Walker market swarm hasn't attacked Dorsa or other projects as strongly?

phobia wrote:

MistaC01 wrote:Where'd you get that cent sign?

Option-4 on a Mac keyboard.



Back on topic, anyone care to explain to me why the Ely Walker market swarm hasn't attacked Dorsa or other projects as strongly?

Simple, those lofts are much more affordable so it tapped the young professional market much more aggresivley(150-250k range instead of 200-750k range in Dorsa). Also, I smell a rat, I think flippers are attacking this building due to it's incrased affordability as well.

MistaC01 wrote:

phobia wrote:

MistaC01 wrote:Where'd you get that cent sign?

Option-4 on a Mac keyboard.



Back on topic, anyone care to explain to me why the Ely Walker market swarm hasn't attacked Dorsa or other projects as strongly?

Simple, those lofts are much more affordable so it tapped the young professional market much more aggresivley(150-250k range instead of 200-750k range in Dorsa). Also, I smell a rat, I think flippers are attacking this building due to it's incrased affordability as well.

They WERE much more affordable. I got a new price sheet Saturday and a lot of the units went up over $30,000 each. Some only went up about $12,000 and a few of the unpopular units stayed the same. But the average per square foot price seems to now be around $165 a SF with no options.

Does anyone else think that $2/sqft price is a little high compared to other buildings? Is there any reason for it to be so high?



I don't think there's supposed to be a pool on the roof, so it can't be for that ... is there something else in this building that requires such a high fee?

JimJim15 wrote: I don't think there's supposed to be a pool on the roof, so it can't be for that ... is there something else in this building that requires such a high fee?

Not sure if its really all that high. Some of the larger buildings can spread costs over a larger number of units, but I think Pyramid typically includes high speed internet (T1, not DSL) and water/hot water in their fees. I've heard Lucas and the Meridian are advertising fees in the $1 - $1.25 sq ft range, but remember those are initial estimates that tend to rise after the first year.

Sure, it's a T-1 ... that's about $1000 a month. And considering a T-1 is only 24x (or 28x ... I'm forgetting at the moment) faster than dialup, splitting a T-1 over 50-100 lofts is NOT very fast. Half as fast as dialup if even half of the people in the building are doing something online at the time, which can certainly happen in the mornings and evenings. And since a dedicated cable modem (which IS faster considering it wouldn't be split) is only $35 a month, that $325 a month for a 1950 sqft loft isn't really lessened all that much when thinking about included internet access, which may or may not suffice. The apartments I'm in now advertised the same thing, and in the end, I had to go out and get a cable modem anyway because the provided T-1 internet was awful.



Sure, water is nice, and I know other places are only giving initial estimates that will probably rise ... but I worry that Dorsa will quote this price, and then raise it even more. Might try and get something written into the contract for a maximum monthly fee ...



Obviously, I'm just harping on an issue or two here, and I know that the fees do go to necessary places, but I hate the idea of buying a home, yet still paying rent.