I just received this press release on Icon Tower which is scheduled for construction in early 2008. Here is the official Icon announcement link if you want to read the official spin on this project.
My thoughts? Condo buyers and investors have to think about a lot of things before picking a project such as location, amenities, pricing and the market overall (among other things). In the case of Icon, you have to think about all of that plus you have to convince yourself the developer, architect, and builder are able to turn this approximately 11,000 square foot triangle into a successful 224 unit condominium project.
This project will probably end up having a lot of lookie lou's who will wait till the building is complete before considering buying a unit. Investors with a higher risk appetite who buy into the project pre-construction may end up making a very good investment if the Icon team can really pull it off. This is especially true since I wouldn't expect them to forward price given the unique risks of this project. On the other hand, if the bleeding edge design doesn't work and attract the interest as advertised, early buyers may find it difficult to move the units when it's time to resell.
Why all this talk about space? If you see the picture below, the lot is very small (only 10,000 square feet) so when you think about hallways, elevators, trash shoots, and other common spaces, it won't be easy to fit 224 units into 29 stories. Even if they put in units evenly across every floor (including the first one) there would need to be 7 units per floor.
Given the fact some large lots still end up with really odd unit layouts (the Vine has a number of these), it'll be interesting to see whether Icon can turn an asphalt triangle into a tower of gold.
Quick facts on Icon Tower:
29 Stories
Average home size Approx. 900 square feet
Home ranges from 570-1,100 square feet
Larger size homes up to 1,400 square feet
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