Kaufman Lofts | 24m | 6 fl

[UrbanWaterloo]

Kaufman Lofts
404 & 410 King Street West, Kitchener
Andrin Homes, Quadrangle Architects, Tara Lee Design Inc., GSP Group
www.kaufmanlofts.com

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Newsletters:
Fall/Winter 2005/2006: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/newsletters/newsletter3.pdf
August 2006: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/newsletters/newsletter1.pdf
Spring 2006: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/newsletters/newsletter4.pdf
Sept 2006: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/newsletters/newsletter2.pdf
Fall 2006: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/newsletters/newsletter5.pdf

Floor Plans (Phase 2): http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/floorplans.html ; 4 samples below

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Features (Phase 2): http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/features_pricelist/features.html

BUILDING FEATURES:

Historic industrial style landmark building with concrete frame and brick exterior façade and complementary partial 5th & 6th floor addition.
4 full floors and partial 5th of loft living with complementary partial 5th & 6th addition,with expansive windows and lofts with private terraces ranging in widths from approximately 3’6” to 4’6” as per plan.
Enterphone security system.
Indoor bicycle storage room with pedestrian access to interior corridor for residents. Exterior visitor bicycle parking available near visitor entrance.
Soaring ceiling heights of approximately 12’on floors 1-3, 13’6” on the 4th floor, 12’6” and 13’6” on the 5th floor and 11’ on the 6th floor.
Original fluted round or square concrete columns with flared capitals, as per plan.
Carpeted common area corridors.
Multipurpose/party room to includes kitchenette complete with sink, refrigerator, electric range, dishwasher and over the range microwave.
Management Office
New expansive double pane aluminum thermal glazing (low e) with operable awning or sliding style opening window, as per plan.
Sliding patio doors with thermopane, tempered insulglass with screens, as per plan.
Some units available with balconies or terraces, as per plan
Common rooftop terrace overlooking the city complete with patio, sunbathing area, shade trellis and gas barbecue/seating area.

LOFT FINISHES

8’ solid core, wood veneer suite entry doors with chrome lever handle and privacy viewer.
Individually controlled heat pump heating and air-conditioning system with central hot water boiler.
Exposed spiral ductwork.
Partial height partition walls and full height partition walls, as per plan.
Dropped ceilings above bathrooms, as per plan.
Open shelf above closets, where applicable, as per plan.
Flat panel doors with chrome lever handle at washrooms and laundry, as per plan.
Sliding barn doors on bedrooms and dens, as per plan.
Sliding closet doors in entries, as per plan.
4” squared edge baseboard.
Quality white wire shelving.
Polished and sealed concrete floors, except for tiled areas, as per plan.
All bathrooms, interior doors and trim primed and painted in a white semi-gloss paint.
All exposed concrete painted in a white flat latex paint except for new construction units on the 5th & 6th floors which will have drywall ceilings and drywall columns.

Area Amenities: http://www.kaufmanlofts.com/area/area.html

Grand Opening Advertisement:
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[UrbanWaterloo]

This post is for price lists.

Phase 1 - April 12, 2005:
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[jay]

crazy to see how cheap they were when they went on sale. My buddy just moved into a Boca and paid around 180.

[Spokes]

Yea, you're right. Very crazy. Units starting at $115k. Unheard of now. Compare that to starting at $190k at Centre Block (http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/showthread.php/9-City-Centre-Condominiums-(Centre-Block)-|-59-52-m-|-16-14-fl-|-Proposed)

What did Bauer start at?

[jay]

Not sure but quite a bit higher. My unit started at 189 or something with height premiums added. That was for 764sq/ft so it was quite a bit more. I lost the price list awhile ago so it's all sketchy because it's was about 5 years now since I bought.

[Spokes]

Ya that is quite a big bigger. Was yours one of the smaller units? Bigger? Somewhere in the middle?

[jay]

Think mines second smallest or third smallest. 850-1300 or so is the 2 bedroom range.

My buddys 630sq/ft unit in Kaufman doesn't seem that small though other then the bedroom being real small. The living area is actually a decent size. I'm a fan of the barn door sliders.

[Spokes]

I like them too. And I'd be ok with a small bedroom if it meant getting a bigger living area. Well worth it in my opinion.

[Oliver.Ashton@Remax.net]

Had a client call me today about a letter received indicating a lawsuit on the way.

More details to follow...

[jay]

Ya it's against the city of kitchener I think about the lack of flashing, something about the balcony's, etc.. From what I heard it's about what the city "deemed" acceptable, or something along those lines.

[Spokes]

Has there been water leaking into units?

[Oliver.Ashton@Remax.net]

There have been some issues with water leakage.

[Spokes]

Is it totally inconceivable to think that in time the Kaufman surface lot could be developed? The new residential building having shared underground parking. The main issue being that during the construction process a lot of people would have their parking spots displaced. Maybe if the developer (Andrin?) bought an adjacent lot to use for temporary parking?

I'd love to see something built along Victoria that ties in with the Warehouse district, like a "replica" factory.

[smably]

Eventually the land will become too valuable to be used for surface parking, and as transit quality improves, people will start getting rid of their cars. Eventually I could see some kind of high-density retail/office building going up on Victoria, probably with underground parking. It may be a long time yet, but I think this is a pretty likely scenario.

[jay]

Well they would have to buy the surface parking from the Kaufman owners, and I'm not sure how many people would go for that. Especially since the building is only 5 stories tall and quite a few units look towards the lot. So if they built another building with underground parking it would need to be 10 stories at least to justify the cost. Therefore, everyone facing the parking lot right now wouldn't have a view. It would be a tough sell in my opinion. It would cost mega $$.

If the owners got enough cash they might go for it then just use all those "no view" units for rentals.

[Spokes]

That's true, that was one of the things I'd thought of too that would make it hard to do. The one way that could work would be to put something at Duke and Francis, but that doesn't help Victoria St. at all.