Lucas Lofts - 1123 Washington Avenue

tb1000 · PostSep 09, 2005#1012005-09-09T00:12+00:00

New update. An extra bathroom has been added to the X18 floorplan.

New pictures and other info can be found here:

http://www.chastanpropertiesllc.com/ind ... ge0028.htm

PostSep 14, 2005#1022005-09-14T20:39+00:00

Just got word that now they won't be building a showroom. This is really frustrating.

I just don't see how you can demand people to enter into a contract without providing them with something to look at in person.

It's like saying, "hey, I have this great car I want to sell you. I'll show you a rendering of it but you can't test drive it or see it in person. By the way, I'll need you to sign papers today and give me a few thousand dollars."

Not good.

urban elitist · PostOct 12, 2005#1032005-10-12T19:51+00:00

Lucas Lofts has become ever increasingly shady. Their prices get higher as the cut out ammenities(ie 24 underground spots instead of 40+ and no rooftop bar). Also, almost every floorplan, even 1200+sq ft has only 1 bathroom(YIKES! for resale value). All of this so poeple can say that have " A wading pool and sky high condo dues". And on top of this, the "heart" of the loft district will shift in May '06 to about 15-16 of Wash Ave. If you ask me you'd have to be crazy to buy at this property.

tb1000 · PostOct 12, 2005#1042005-10-12T21:00+00:00

The condo fees are not sky high. You get a lot of bang for your buck with them.

loftlover · PostOct 12, 2005#1052005-10-12T21:05+00:00

MistaC01 wrote:Lucas Lofts has become ever increasingly shady. Their prices get higher as the cut out ammenities(ie 24 underground spots instead of 40+ and no rooftop bar). Also, almost every floorplan, even 1200+sq ft has only 1 bathroom(YIKES! for resale value). All of this so poeple can say that have " A wading pool and sky high condo dues". And on top of this, the "heart" of the loft district will shift in May '06 to about 15-16 of Wash Ave. If you ask me you'd have to be crazy to buy at this property.

I wouldn't say shady, just over-priced. When I met the sales lady at Coldwell back in June, she was very agressive and told me the prices would jump 20% when the display opened. I walked (quickly) and never went back.

ou812 · PostOct 12, 2005#1062005-10-12T21:28+00:00

MistaC01 wrote:Lucas Lofts has become ever increasingly shady. Their prices get higher as the cut out ammenities(ie 24 underground spots instead of 40+ and no rooftop bar). Also, almost every floorplan, even 1200+sq ft has only 1 bathroom(YIKES! for resale value). All of this so poeple can say that have " A wading pool and sky high condo dues". And on top of this, the "heart" of the loft district will shift in May '06 to about 15-16 of Wash Ave. If you ask me you'd have to be crazy to buy at this property.

Not sure about the heart of the district shifting. I definitely see more residential between 15th and 17th and Locust and Washington but you can't beat the 10th - Tucker on Wash. Ave. From there you are just sooo close to everything, and everything that is coming. That center with the energy there will always be a sought after location and when it does come time to resell you may be better off as there will not be the density, and inherantly the competition of 15th - 17th. I do agree however that Lucas is overpriced. Look at Bankers and Dorsa. Way cheaper, basically the same location, everyone gets indoor parking and both have decent ameneties. All this being said though, as long as the growth continues whoever buys now, wherever in downtown, should do just fine in the coming years. I want to see it all sell well and all grow well and each block to have it's own appeal.

gerwitz · PostOct 12, 2005#1072005-10-12T22:42+00:00

A few more counterpoints:

It is (unfortunately) common for the amenities planned for a building to change during construction. It's a risk of buying early; trust me, I've been a little burnt.

A "showroom" is hardly a necessity: it wouldn't display any of the floorplans or serve as an indicator of build quality, it'd just be a fancy upgrade catalog. It is troublesome they aren't designating a display; I expect they will end up with one unless they sell out prior to completing construction.

There is no sense to condo fees until the building has been resident-managed for a year. Until then, everything is based on the "best guess" of the developer (who has incentive to lowball).

It sounds like the base finish levels will be quite nice here, and the building itself looks to be a gem.

I also don't believe the "heart" is going to be up or down Wash Ave... it is Wash Ave, with slightly different character from east to west.

Disclaimer: I bought mine loft 3 years ago, so I want all these new units to be as expensive as possible

tb1000 · PostOct 20, 2005#1082005-10-20T13:54+00:00

Here is a link to the most recent update from the developer. Good pictures of the inside of the building...has a lot of character on the inside.

http://www.chastanpropertiesllc.com/ind ... ge0028.htm

Also, there is a meeting for future residents on Oct 28. I'll post what I find out there.

PostOct 28, 2005#1092005-10-28T15:43+00:00

Just got back from the tour with Patrick Stanley. Here is what we saw

7th floor: floors have been poured, ceilings sandblasted, and the skelton walls for some units are up. Very neat to see the curved walkways, etc and the arched brick. Hardwood flooring 3/4" thick will be in the common walkways.

5th floor: soundmat has been laid and concrete will be poured next week

rest of the floors: 2nd floor walls have different look. Exposed brick and concrete mix. Very cool looking and they will have plaster supports, instead of the wood supports (ceiling to floor) on the upper floors. VERY high ceilings in all units

Basement: 22 degree slope into garage area to prevent damage to cars. 24' drive lanes, etc, etc

Bowling alley will be called Flamingo Bowl. LARGE marquee sign to go out in front...dancing martini glasses with large moving Flamingo

12 lanes with martini bar. 3 lanes can be closed off for private party. Entrance in front of building

Dish or DirectTV for the TV and DSL. DSL will actually be 3x the speed of normal DSL. Great bargain with the condo fees etc

There will be a cigar shop.

A showroom will be open by the end of next week in the building where Mosaic is at.

I have pictures if someone can host them.

If I remember anything else I will let you know.

Very impressed with the building and all of the unique characteristics. Construction is moving along quickly...they are about 1 1/2 wks ahead of schedule.

Expat · PostOct 28, 2005#1102005-10-28T15:53+00:00

Thanks for the report. Sounds great. The Flamingo sign sounds cool.

suburban lou · PostOct 28, 2005#1112005-10-28T16:05+00:00

I can host your photos if you want, thanks for the report.

avlis · PostOct 28, 2005#1122005-10-28T17:48+00:00

I aslo went to the walk-through today. It was nice to get a real feel for what the inside will be like. I always thought the windows looked small from the outside, but they are not. the ceiling looked good, and it was nice to actually see the sound mats in the floors. They also said sound matting will be placed in the walls as well.

I read a couple posts talking about limited underground parking. I dont know where that came from. the entire basement will be used for parking, plus a section of the first floor will be converted into a 2 level parking area. all indoor.

i thought they were joking about the big flamingo sign when he was first telling us about it. dont know what i think about that.

suburban lou · PostOct 28, 2005#1132005-10-28T17:53+00:00

Photos by St.Louis UAB alumni

5th floor sound mat and concrete floor

7th floor ceiling

7th floor common area hallway arches

4th floor bare floor & part of plaster column supports

part of where bowling alley will be...22 ft' ceilings

thewayofthearch · PostOct 31, 2005#1142005-10-31T19:27+00:00

^ Ghost bubbles! Wooooooooooo...

Happy halloween.

gerwitz · PostDec 02, 2005#1152005-12-02T15:55+00:00

Flamingo Bowl "Opening Summer 2006" sign has been posted out front. I'm looking forward to it; hopefully those 22' ceilings will prevent the atmosphere from becoming smoke-filled.

(The Chastan Properties website is so amateur I thought it had to be a parody.)

buckethead · PostDec 02, 2005#1162005-12-02T16:04+00:00

phobia wrote:

(The Chastan Properties website is so amateur I thought it had to be a parody.)

Yeah, that web site is pretty bad.

gabrielg54 · PostDec 02, 2005#1172005-12-02T19:46+00:00

No Kidding. That website is atrocious. Not sure what my point is, since i'll be moving into Lucas, but still. You'd think they would put their best foot forward on a website that would help sales, not deter them...

tb1000 · PostDec 03, 2005#1182005-12-03T05:06+00:00

The website sucks and then it sucks even more when you look at another loft development site. As a matter of fact, it sucks so much that I refuse to show my friends the site because then they'll think I'm buying a loft that sucks. If my loft ends up sucking then that would suck.

PostDec 03, 2005#1192005-12-03T18:41+00:00

There is now a photo gallery up. Great pictures of the rooftop views, construction of the 2-story residences, windows, etc.

http://www.chastanpropertiesllc.com/ind ... ge0031.htm

Expat · PostDec 03, 2005#1202005-12-03T20:30+00:00

The photo gallery is great. This is a great property.

jeff vanderlou · PostDec 03, 2005#1212005-12-03T22:10+00:00

The front of the Lucas Lofts is a dingy grey brick above the granite that runs up to the 3rd floor. Does anybody know if they plan to paint that crappy-looking brick? It would be an improvement.

The brick on the alley side is a nice rust color, and actually looks better than the front IMHO.

framer · PostDec 05, 2005#1222005-12-05T07:52+00:00

Jeff Vanderlou wrote: Does anybody know if they plan to paint that crappy-looking brick?

God, I hope not. I never understood the logic of painting over brick. Natural brick has its own inherent beauty. A little powerwashing and tuckpointing and it will look good as new.

jeff vanderlou · PostDec 05, 2005#1232005-12-05T12:40+00:00

Framer wrote:God, I hope not. I never understood the logic of painting over brick. Natural brick has its own inherent beauty. A little powerwashing and tuckpointing and it will look good as new.

Good as new? I don't think so. I'm not a big fan of painting buildings either, but steam cleaning some old buildings downtown just highlights the fact they were clad in really cheap, ugly brick to begin with.

And there are good examples of painted buildings The Windows building is a great example. It really looks good for a building that doesn't have much going for it architecturally. And there are others as well.

tb1000 · PostDec 20, 2005#1242005-12-20T19:48+00:00

The showroom is now open and is located in the 2nd floor of the Mosaic building.

Construction is still ahead of schedule.

I just got back from the showroom to pick up the upgrade list and prices. Normal upgrades but no fireplace option, which I would've liked to see.

I tell you what, if you aren't excited about STL then just drive around downtown, particuarly Wash Ave during the day M-F and if you don't get excited about what you see then you just need to move to a small town.

Seeing all of the people, construction crews, and the sound of progress downtown really has me excited. You can't turn a corner without seeing some sort of improvements being made. Awesome time to be part of this transformation and rebirth of a great city.

Expat · PostDec 20, 2005#1252005-12-20T19:57+00:00

^You are lucky to be in St. Louis right now. It is an exciting time for the city.

Lucas Lofts - 1123 Washington Avenue

Choose Display Mode