Ely Walker Lofts - 1520 Washington Avenue

janit0r · PostMay 15, 2006#1012006-05-15T18:52+00:00

Walked by during lunch to snap a few photos...

The old windows show the deteriorating paint, old glass, and some are even cracked and taped over.

Recently updated windows have new glass that appears to be double-pane insulated. We were told they hoped to preserve the casings if everything was in good condition, and it looks like it was.

I didn't check the back of the building so if there's no change there, the only progress so far is the right column on the (shorter) west side. I couldn't tell if the taped over column next to it had glass yet, or if it was still in progress.

pujols2005 · PostMay 15, 2006#1022006-05-15T19:16+00:00

Good pics, janit0r. Thanks. The old/new comparisons were very helpful...and really gives hope to how good this building is going to look over the next few months.

At times, it seems like progress has been real small...as the workers have spent the last 2 months filling in facade cracks with mortar. It's nice to see some tangible progress.

I'm not sure if they're putting new windows throughout the entire building at this time. My guess is that location (top west side) is where the new display will be built...once the current display is demolished.

trent · PostMay 15, 2006#1032006-05-15T21:02+00:00

Looks great.

loftlover · PostMay 16, 2006#1042006-05-16T09:38+00:00

ucity wrote:I think a lot of people reserved but didn?t sign a contract. I asked around 2 weeks ago and they had more than 50 contracts. Even if they signed some more, there is a huge gap between 143 reservations and 50? 60? 70? contracts

I wonder how sales are going?

midcoaststl · PostMay 16, 2006#1052006-05-16T12:34+00:00

I emailed Chrisitin and asked her about sales a couple of weeks ago... She said that" of the units that are released, they are 49-50% sold." With all of the reservations in the begining, i thought there would be more....

Was in the space the other day and they had a steady crowd in the model...

pujols2005 · PostMay 16, 2006#1062006-05-16T13:27+00:00

MidcoastSTL wrote:I emailed Chrisitin and asked her about sales a couple of weeks ago... She said that" of the units that are released, they are 49-50% sold." With all of the reservations in the begining, i thought there would be more....

Was in the space the other day and they had a steady crowd in the model...

I'm not surprised by that number at all. In the initial phases, many investors reserved 4-5 units. When contract time rolled around, residents were only allowed to purchase one unit.

50% is a good number....considering this building is still about a year away from occupancy. Once they hit the 3-4 month range, people will get more serious about buying.

pittstl · PostMay 16, 2006#1072006-05-16T13:31+00:00

Is there somewhere that gives prices and available units without actually going to the building?

pujols2005 · PostMay 16, 2006#1082006-05-16T16:36+00:00

Email cbeck@orcharddevelopmentgroup.com

She'll be able to provide you with a spreadsheet of availability and pricing. The copy I have is from February.

ou812 · PostMay 16, 2006#1092006-05-16T17:36+00:00

pujols2005 wrote:Email cbeck@orcharddevelopmentgroup.com

She'll be able to provide you with a spreadsheet of availability and pricing. The copy I have is from February.

According to your price list what seems to be the average per square foot price for remaining lofts?

loftlover · PostMay 17, 2006#1102006-05-17T18:42+00:00

OU812 wrote:
pujols2005 wrote:Email cbeck@orcharddevelopmentgroup.com

She'll be able to provide you with a spreadsheet of availability and pricing. The copy I have is from February.

According to your price list what seems to be the average per square foot price for remaining lofts?

Last time I was there, I was a little confused about pricing. If I remember correctly, it varied quite dramatically depending on whether you had a parking spot (options were two years free rental, a spot underground, or a spot at their parking garage across the street), floor height, and # of bedrooms. If you take all of this into account, the average price per square foot was around $180.

pujols2005 · PostMay 17, 2006#1112006-05-17T20:05+00:00

$180/sq.foot is about what my February spreadsheet reveals.

While I've reserved at Ely (and plan on living therE), I frequent the openings and showcases of all new developments. The parking situation seems to be something that is variable across all of the developments. With a going rate of around $15,000 for the deed on a parking spot downtown, I would subtract that value from the units that have a parking spot included.

After the subtraction, the Ely units that have a parking spot have a price/sq.footage of less than $175....which is below the going rate in downtown St. Louis.

irocktheparty2000 · PostMay 17, 2006#1122006-05-17T20:59+00:00

pujols2005 wrote:$180/sq.foot is about what my February spreadsheet reveals.

While I've reserved at Ely (and plan on living therE), I frequent the openings and showcases of all new developments. The parking situation seems to be something that is variable across all of the developments. With a going rate of around $15,000 for the deed on a parking spot downtown, I would subtract that value from the units that have a parking spot included.

After the subtraction, the Ely units that have a parking spot have a price/sq.footage of less than $175....which is below the going rate in downtown St. Louis.

You can't really subtract that value of the parking spot from the per sf price unless you are planning on selling your unit without the parking spot (which I don't think is even legal, check your condo docs). I'm confused. Is Ely selling units with no parking included and telling you that if you do want a one parking spot that it will cost you an extra $15,000?

I just got an updated price sheet for Ely and looks like prices range from about $187 - $199 a sf. And nothing was mentioned about parking being extra.

christin beck · PostMay 18, 2006#1132006-05-18T16:06+00:00

Hello, my name is Christin Beck; I represent the Ely Walker Lofts.

I would like to let you in on the whole story.

We opened in November of 2005 with over a 100 reservations. I?ve seen several comments about investors being allowed to buy 5-6 units, this is simply not true. There is not a single person that owns more than one unit in the building. Yes, we did have over 100 reservations, but they are just reservations that does not mean that they will convert to contract. Several of those reservations flaked. From the initial opening night reservations we converted about 60 and know in May we have 77 units contracted. There are 174 units total of which 149 have been released. The remaining 29 units are the 7th floor which we are planning on releasing in October of this year.

As for the parking. It is not extra to have a parking space; the parking is already allocated in the purchase price. The 91 most expensive units have underground. The next 63 will park in the garage directly behind Ely Walker (Terra Cotta/Annex Garage @ 16th and St. Charles) and the rest of the units will receive 2 years free rental parking. And yes, for resale sake a unit can be sold with or without parking. In fact most of the time the parking space is deeded separately.

Here's a little update on our progress at Ely;

-All Demolition has been completed

-Asbestos and lead base paint abatement has been completed

-All floors have been sanded and stained

-West windows have begun to be replaced

-Wood from atriums has been removed.

-Studs on 5th floor

-6th floor framed!

-Roof demo in progress

-Plumbing stacks in through 3-7

-Underground parking entrance has been cut

-Exterior cleaning almost complete

-Atrium demo should start this month.

We expect occupancy June of 2007

For those of you that have not seen the model, please stop by! After the spring loft tour they will demo the unit and we will be without a model until fall.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Thanks!

the central scrutinizer · PostMay 18, 2006#1142006-05-18T16:40+00:00

christin beck wrote:-Studs on 5th floor

This should interest our female posters!

framer · PostMay 19, 2006#1152006-05-19T01:02+00:00

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:
christin beck wrote:-Studs on 5th floor

This should interest our female posters!

trent · PostMay 20, 2006#1162006-05-20T15:57+00:00

Christian,

Thanks for the update. The Ely is one of my favorite buildings on Wash Ave. Wish it had a neighbor instead of a parking lot though.

midcoaststl · PostJun 12, 2006#1172006-06-12T15:00+00:00

Well I went to the loft tour saturday and it was just great to see all of the people downtown, a sign of times to come... BTW for the Future Ely residents, I think we made the best choice in my biased opinon of course..

The Fondue place will be a nice addition as well, just across the lot in the printers loft! I can't wait to move down there, July 07 !!!

I also had the chance to meet 2 future neighbors, I am really excited.. How many future residents do we have on the forum???

-B 2nd Floor

pujols2005 · PostJun 12, 2006#1182006-06-12T17:36+00:00

I'll be in Ely 316.

I also work right across the street from the Ely building, and it's maddening seeing the steady progress on the building everyday - and still having to wait for July 07.

janit0r · PostJun 12, 2006#1192006-06-12T18:07+00:00

unit 305

midcoaststl · PostJun 12, 2006#1202006-06-12T21:12+00:00

cool 216 here... it will great to meet all of the neighbors, we will have to a meet and great when we open.

janit0r · PostJun 13, 2006#1212006-06-13T13:10+00:00

I noticed on Saturday that the empty flagpole that used to stick out over Washington Ave has been taken down. It was my hope that a large St. Louis flag could be flown.

Maybe it will return? I don't know how the logistics of that would work though, since it'd likely become a resident's responsibility as it sticks out from a future unit's ledge.

framer · PostJun 14, 2006#1222006-06-14T03:46+00:00

I'm with you, janitor. I've always hoped that Washington Av. would again be decorated with lots of flags. Look at pictures from back in the day...They had LOTS of flags flying all up and down the street, and it really looked cool.

kanakakm · PostAug 12, 2006#1232006-08-12T13:37+00:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am intrested to buy one indoor parking spot .

If any one willing to sell pl post your asking price.

Thanks

kris

PostAug 28, 2006#1242006-08-28T03:15+00:00

Can any one comment on the upgrades listed in ely walker lofts. I think they are charging too much for the granite especially black splash.'

Thanks

kris

urban elitist · PostAug 28, 2006#1252006-08-28T03:23+00:00

I don't know what Ely is charging for granite but all of the developers overcharge for upgrade pricing. They usually make everything up at least 10% for a "service charge" and the the price is further inflated by the union labor they must use to install everything. So could you have most things done for less money after closeing? Yes, but then it wouldn't be rolled into you mortgage, and you would be inconvienced.

Ely Walker Lofts - 1520 Washington Avenue

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