urbanSTL

BL211 wrote:Well, i was told today Pyramid won't be able to close on any units in April. Now we're looking at mid-May. Sigh.

So, any reason for this most recent setback?



And I'm guessing this problem is not just affecting your closing, but the entire building..

BL211 wrote:Well, i was told today Pyramid won't be able to close on any units in April. Now we're looking at mid-May. Sigh.

Did they give any explanation, Mike? Wow....mid-May is later than I expected. That would mean mid-June for third floor at the earliest. So much for locking my rate on 4/15!

I was told they wouldn't be able to close any units in april and that it was because one of the common areas will not be ready for fire department approval (permits). Nothing was mentioned about the floor issue that has been previously posted in this thread.



Also, I was told that a letter was sent out yesterday (3.29.06) regarding this issue and other updates.

Maybe they can continue working on the other units and it won't affect any other floors???

i'm sure that will be the case. my guess is that once they get the permits the closing are gonna start flying.

UGH. It's going to be difficult to get our house on the market at the right time. It'll all work out, I suppose though!

When someone gets that letter that was mailed yesterday, will you post the highlights? I will be away for a few days and won't be able to pick up the mail to read it myself.

It is surprising it is taking so long for construction. It is understandable that with a rehab you run into things you normally wouldn't and they can cause delays but come on now. I would think that Pyramid understands that time is money and the faster they complete the project the more they make and the faster they can move on to one of their other projects.



Has anyone noticed how fast Opus is building the Parkeast tower? That is from scratch and they plan to have everyone moved in by the end of year.

Has anyone noticed how fast Opus is building the Parkeast tower? That is from scratch and they plan to have everyone moved in by the end of year.

You have answered your own question. New construction is easier (and, often, cheaper) than historic rehab. Look how much faster it was to build the new tower of the Renaissance Grand than it was to rehab the historic tower.



Although moving twice is not ideal, some of the earlier downtown lofties have moved in two steps: selling their homes when the market was ideal and then renting in the loft district until their buildings were completed.



Don't forget the first rule of rehab: there's always a problem.

kr2006stl wrote: It is understandable that with a rehab you run into things you normally wouldn't and they can cause delays but come on now. I would think that Pyramid understands that time is money and the faster they complete the project the more they make and the faster they can move on to one of their other projects.

Now you are just nitpicking. Almost all of these projects run over a month or two, and maybe even three. It's hard to make a construction schedule two years in advance of completion for use during presales, and predict every single roadblock along the way. When you buy pre-construction, you get a substantial price break. You are basically being paid to deal with delays and other headaches that you wouldn't have had to deal with if you bought move in ready. If you are going to get upset at little schedule hiccups, then pre-construction buying is not for you.



Pyramid is not at fault for the delays here. Look at other projects that have run a year+ overschedule if you want to see a true scheduling blunder.

i agree that there are bound to be issues. i'm not blaming pyramid at all. they want to close these units just as much as we do and get on to their next building.

I agree with Urban Elitist. Pyramid has a reputation of being on schedule and even ahead of schedule on many of their projects. Whatever happened here was I'm sure a surprise to them and they'll deal with it quickly. I spoke with Melanie today and she said she's sure they'll try to speed things up once the permits are issued to get back on schedule.



So far, I've received no letter explaining the problem, so I'm wondering if it really was sent yesterday. Has anyone else gotten anything?



Meanwhile, 17 windows have been installed on fifth floor to date. All but one across the front are in and they're installing them from south to north on 9th street.

I did my walk-through this morning. I'm told the current issue isn't affecting the completion timeline and my expected date is still July - August. The displays are still in the same situation they have been in for awhile. Waiting on furniture for one and the other isn't ready, but they have furniture. I did get into 305 for a few minutes while the construction guys were cleaning it. I looks good, but I was disappointed that they covered the exposed concrete wall in that unit.



It all looks good and I can't wait to get in there. If anyone has any questions, just ask. I'll see if I can get the pictures post soon.

HBM: Your account of the closings for the higher floor units is consistent with what I have been told. I still haven't recieved the letter that was supposedly sent out and I have already recieved my mail today.



Anyone get the letter?

I think they'll rush to get back on schedule and probably only second and third floors will have delays. I'm expecting June 1-15 for a move-in date. Glad to hear you had your walkthrough, Brian. I don't think they had windows in your unit yet, did they? How did they look on third floor? Much of a window sill? They didn't work on Friday for some reason, but are back at work today and had about 27 windows on fifth floor in now.



I haven't gotten a letter yet, either.

Downtown STL Fan wrote:I think they'll rush to get back on schedule and probably only second and third floors will have delays. I'm expecting June 1-15 for a move-in date. Glad to hear you had your walkthrough, Brian. I don't think they had windows in your unit yet, did they? How did they look on third floor? Much of a window sill? They didn't work on Friday for some reason, but are back at work today and had about 27 windows on fifth floor in now.



I haven't gotten a letter yet, either.

I'm hoping for the end of July move-in date they've targeted all along. The third floor looked pretty far along with most of the units I saw having drywall up. I say most because I can't remember one without, but I'm not sure, moving between units happened pretty fast. I got to check out 310 and it was great. It was nice to see my unit with the drywall up. It looks different somehow, taller maybe. The windows are awesome, but no, they were not in my unit yet. The sills are small, maybe 4-6 inches. I didn't really look at the time, but they don't look that big in my pictures.



I know the 2nd floor had some big windows, but have no fear, the upper floors are also very large. The measure just over 8'x 5.5" There was one sitting on the ground and my parents wanted me to measure it. They thought it was big and something didn't look right. They window wasn't extended. Then we noticed another one that was extended leaning against the wall studs and we were quite impressed. We didn't see it before because it was behind the drywall that they were going to start putting in this week now that this walk-through is done.



One thing I did just remember is that the side entrance will be the temp. resident lobby until the front entrance is finished.



Ok, that's I have for now. Any more ???s?

Post pics!!!

510 Entrance





510 West Wall





510 Bedroom

Thanks for the info, Brian! Great pics!



Did they say how long it will be before the front lobby is finished? I'd think they'd want both elevators running as people are moving in.



I don't know why they covered up the brick in 305. My window wall was plastered over at some point, but they were just going to leave it that way. I do have a great entrance, though (307). It's 7' wide and over 15' long and it's all brick. My north wall, like my window wall, was plastered over at some point, but there are sections of it that are revealed.



It looks like you've got some nice brick on your window wall. Thanks again for the update and pics!

both our exterior walls are brick. leaving the exposed brick is one reason why we liked this building.



entry hall and into our bedroom





bedroom back corner





a really bad picture of our windows in the living area (all brick)





BTW, I'm a freelance Art Director and my wife is a freelance Copy Writer.

Cool pics, Mike! Yeah, I wish my window wall and North wall were exposed brick. That's what I thought I had, but of course none of us could see what we bought until our walkthroughs. I'm still very pleased with what I ended up with and know it'll look great when finished.



Also, two more interesting occupations!

Downtown STL Fan wrote:Any other new people on here want to tell us what floor you're on or what unit you're in and something about yourselves? I'm Rob and will be in 307. I'm an attorney and work for The Bank of New York Trust Company which is located in the Lammert Building right next door to the Bankers Lofts. We haven't heard from any other third floor or fourth floor people. Now'd be a good time to come forward!



I think so far we've heard from an engineer, a professor, an accountant, an architect, a kitchen contractor and me. Anyone else out there?

I am a professional computer geek. I'll be offering my services once I get moved in. I'm betting this is the more technically savvy crowd, but if your neighbors need help, feel free to send'em my way.

I'm a software product manager (my husband is the contractor kitchen guy).



Pics look great! Can't wait to see ours!