Complete Belmont Village Condominiums | 33 m | 11 fl

[Spokes]

Did you get the impression that they'll be excavating the entire site and not just the rear part? I get the impression with those metal plates in the ground that they'd dig everything up

[UrbanWaterloo]

September 2, 2010 | View From Sun Life's 19th Floor

[UrbanWaterloo]

It looks like you were right Spokes, the foundation comes within 2 metres of the sidewalk.

September 17, 2010

[Spokes]

Great to see it'll have some street presence. No drawings of this were ever found right?

[UrbanWaterloo]

October 13, 2010

[Floor2012]

Looks like they will attempt to market this building as a condominium instead of an apartment building.

http://www.bvcondo.ca

[jay]

I'm curious to see what the prices will be

[Floor2012]

I'm curious to see what the prices will be

1 bedroom plus den from $189,990, 2 bedroom from $255,990 from an ad in this week's Real Estate Book

[IEFBR14]

Centrally supplied, individually controlled forced air heating and air conditioning... Condo fees include heat, water and air conditioning

How can they do that in 2010? That means there will be zero incentive for anyone to turn down their thermostat in winter or turn it up in summer. Have they not heard of global warming? Have they not looked at the trend in energy prices?

There's no way I'd buy into a condo like that.

[panamaniac]

Any square footage numbers attached to those prices?

[jay]

A/C/Heat per unit is so cheap in a new condo. Most I have ever paid is 90$ a month with my place set to 19. In the winter with heated floors the most i've paid is 60$. I pay more for delivery than hydro every month usually.

Point is the condo fees can handle it. It could work if they install in heat pumps. They could also reverse it to individual later on if the prices got out of hand. All it would take is a majority vote, which you would assume most people would vote for if the prices "did" get out of hand.

[mpd618]

Point is the condo fees can handle it. It could work if they install in heat pumps. They could also reverse it to individual later on if the prices got out of hand. All it would take is a majority vote, which you would assume most people would vote for if the prices "did" get out of hand.

It's not really about the price so much as the disconnect between energy use and payment for it -- a disconnect that leads people to use more. Of course, connecting the use and payment would complicate things.

[IEFBR14]

It's not really about the price so much as the disconnect between energy use and payment for it -- a disconnect that leads people to use more. Of course, connecting the use and payment would complicate things.

+1

For a more technical discussion: Tragedy of the commons

[jay]

I hear where you guys are coming from and don't disagree. All I was saying is that it could work if they wanted it to. I assume it would be 100$ or so per unit to cover the heat, and it should balance out with some units using more with others using less.

[IEFBR14]

All I was saying is that it could work if they wanted it to.

Good luck with that.

I assume it would be 100$ or so per unit to cover the heat

Last year I paid about $500 (let's say $50/month) to heat a 1,300' multilevel house. That also included the cost of natural gas for a water heater, BBQ and fireplace. About half of that total was a fixed cost "account charge", i.e. not gas or delivery. I've since upgraded the attic insulation from R30 to R60 so I expect to pay significantly less for the other half this year.

Why should an apartment that's half the size of my house and which should benefit from the economies of scale inherent in a centralized building heating plant cost twice as much to heat?

[metropolis]

This project looks Mickey Mouse for a condo development. It's like the took the sales centre for the rental units and made no changes to it. Surprising they would convert this as rental vacancies have been at all time lows recently.

[jay]

Last year I paid about $500 (let's say $50/month) to heat a 1,300' multilevel house. That also included the cost of natural gas for a water heater, BBQ and fireplace. About half of that total was a fixed cost "account charge", i.e. not gas or delivery. I've since upgraded the attic insulation from R30 to R60 so I expect to pay significantly less for the other half this year.

Why should an apartment that's half the size of my house and which should benefit from the economies of scale inherent in a centralized building heating plant cost twice as much to heat?

I was just pulling a number out of the sky. I'm no expert on any of this.

I was just saying that this wouldn't be the first nor the last building to including AC/Heat into the condo fees. Lots of buildings have it so it must work on some scale..

I personally like individual metering for heat/a/c in a condo, but some people may not. There has to be a reason why they do it, you would think...

[benjaminbach]

Surprising they would convert this as rental vacancies have been at all time lows recently.

Running it as a rental building means they have less capital to utilize for future development projects, whereas selling the building as condos allows them to take profits and move onto another project.

Most developers in our region are "entrepreneurial" developers who are investing capital to make a profit (and then taking that profit and investing it in another development), vs "cash flow" developers who build properties to hold onto for long term cash flow. (FWIW Some developers are both, and many go back and forth between the two philosophies depending on market conditions.)

[IEFBR14]

There has to be a reason why they do it, you would think...

Simple. It's cheaper for the builder. Especially with a condo, once they get paid for the building, they're gone. But their legacy of high utility bills remains for the new owners to deal with in perpetuity.

Just curious, but does Bauer Lofts have individual HVAC in each unit?

[RangersFan]

What does everyone think of the look of the project now that there are renders available?

I can't help but think it looks decent nothign spectacular but wasn't expecting that either, should improve the areas density, and its a nice size infill development.