Sun
A record number of would-be buyers have signed up for a condo at the site of the former Woodward’s store in the Downtown Eastside.
Since the sales website was launched three weeks ago, 1,200 people have registered for a chance to buy one of the 500 market units.
Bob Rennie of Rennie Marketing says it’s his most successful website campaign but admits many people are just sightseeing.
Woodward’s is an “intellectual property” aimed at buyers who want a different urban lifestyle, he said.
“If you’ve lived in Vancouver all your life, Woodward’s is forgotten and questionable,” said Rennie. “Yet if you’ve moved to Vancouver in the last 10 years, or you’ve ever lived in another major city, you really look at Woodward’s as an emerging area.”
Rennie said he’s getting interest from young architects and designers who “don’t want to buy and own the same as everybody else.”
About 100 of the website registrants live in the eastside, Rennie said. He’s arran-ging priority access for them to one-bedroom suites. He’s looking at preferred mortgages, capped mortgage rates and extended terms to help them buy in.
The high level of interest “bodes very, very well, for the project and the sale of the units,” said Michael Flanigan, the City of Vancouver’s project manager for Woodward’s. Flanigan said registered buyers will get the chance to come in on a certain day to make an offer at the list price, instead of lining up on the sidewalk.
The apartments average about 550 square feet for a one bedroom and 900 for a two bedroom, and range from $200,000 to $600,000.
Architect Gregory Henriquez said two-thirds of the condos are one-bedroom, “all very modern, open-plan concepts.”
The 40-storey building will house 330 condos, with the rest in the Abbott Building. The units go on sale in April and move-in date should be 2009. The project includes 200 units of social housing.
Mark Townsend of the Portland Hotel Society said 125 tenants will go into studio suites of between 341 and 558 square feet, each with a bathroom, kitchenette and folding bed. First dibs will go to eastside residents, he said. The other 75 non-market apartments are set aside for local families.
© The Vancouver Province 2005