Where to look for condos on the quick
Want a new condo without the wait? Patrick Langston finds plenty to choose from.
Maybe you’re downsizing to a condo and the folks buying your home are insisting on a fast closing. Or perhaps you’ve been suddenly transferred to Ottawa by your employer. Whatever the circumstances, you may want new but don’t want to wait one, two or more years for a condo building to be completed.
Luckily for those in a hurry, Ottawa has a good selection of so-called inventory units, many of them from the boom in condo starts in 2012 and 2013. Although small units are sometimes harder to find (they get snapped up by investors as rental properties), oneand two-bedroom condos in the medium price range abound.
The following is a sampling of what’s available; prices are generally exclusive of parking and condo fees. For more information, visit builders’ websites — they usually have a move in-ready section.
Claridge Homes, the city’s principal condo developer, has more than 100 immediate-occupancy units spread over five projects in the downtown area (claridgehomes.com). They include one- and twobedroom units at the newly opened Tribeca Phase I on Metcalfe Street and at Fusion in LeBreton Flats.
The number of available units at Claridge is about 20 per cent higher than in an average year, according to vice-president Shawn Malhotra.
However, he says, in an email, that “glut” is not the right way to describe Ottawa’s condo market. Rather, there’s “more selection due to the strong market of years past.”
And he adds, “Inventory is being consumed pretty quickly, to tell you the truth.”
In keeping with market trends, Claridge offers incentives on some move in-ready products. At La Tiffani 2 in Vanier, for example, there are 11 units available, starting at $361,000 for two bedrooms. Some of the suites have been furnished, including art and custom window treatments. Buyers have the option of buying the furnishings at a negotiable price.
“If you’re downsizing from 3,000 square feet, your furniture may not be compatible with a small space,” says sales agent Damian Gordon. “All the furnishings here fit.”
The city’s newest condo building to open, Lamb Development’s monolithic Gotham at Lyon and Gloucester streets, has about 40 unsold units, although some may be designated as rentals (gothamottawa.com). They start at $262,900 for a 497-square-foot junior onebedroom. Lamb is releasing the suites four at a time and has four new models for viewing starting March 14.
Still downtown, buyers are already moving into Windmill Development’s Cathedral Hill tower at the west end of Sparks Street, but no more suites are available until May. Windmill’s mid-rise The Eddy in Hintonburg also has buyers now taking occupancy and will have move in-ready units in April. Both buildings are about 85 per cent sold (windmilldevelopments.com).
At the very upscale end of the market, The Merit by Charlesfort Developments (charlesfort.ca), in the Golden Triangle, has 15 available suites, including two models. Most run over $1 million.
Although there are still units available in downtown or proximate projects — Domicile Developments (domicile.ca) has a couple in Hōm on Champagne Avenue South, for example, and Urban Capital/Tamarack Homes a dozen or so at Hideaway on McLeod Street near Bank Street (hideawayatcentral.ca) — a reduction in quick-occupancy condos is likely around the corner.
Not only is the current inventory slowly being absorbed, as Malhotra says, but Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation forecasts another slip in condo starts this year following last year’s plummet of almost 50 per cent compared to 2013. The housing market is nothing if not cyclic, and we’ll probably see a surplus of units again down the road, especially with major projects such as Claridge’s 45-storey, 320-suite Icon in Little Italy now under construction, and with Richcraft having proposed a threetower, 1,120-unit development in the same area (it’s still unnamed but the proposal includes a 55-storey tower).
Condo shoppers, even those in haste, are currently in a good position, according to Richcraft’s Shawn Bellman.
“Buyers in Ottawa have the luxury of waiting to actually see the built unit before buying, especially the way the market is right now,” he says. “It’s not like Toronto where everything is sold fast.”
Richcraft’s Galleria 2 on Besserer Street has 12 units ready now. They range from a one-bedroom-plus-study at $338,000 to a twobedroom, custom condo at $1.275 million. Galleria 1 on the same street has one unit left at $435,000 (richcraft.com).
Out of the core in Westboro, Ashcroft’s Q West, 101 Richmond Road and 111 West all boast suites just waiting for owners. Prices range from $298,800 to $907,900 and include some penthouses with large terraces (ashcroft-homes.com).
Minto’s Vibe at Lansdowne, where minor construction is still going on, has only two move-in-ready units left out of the building ’s total of 78 (minto.com).
A little farther south, there are still four units available at Longwood Building Corporation’s Montage on Ohio Street near Bank (longwoodbuilders.com). They start at $385,900 for 1,000 square feet.
On Walkley Road near Bank, Legendary Warehouse Lofts (warehouseloftsottawa.com) has 20 two-bedroom units available. They feature open-concept designs, quartz countertops and industrial accents such as brick walls.
Patti Bourassa, a saleswoman for Legendary, says a move-in-ready suite is attractive to some because, unlike pre-build buying, “You know the risk is gone. The building is up and you can see everything.” Renters, she adds, often “see the units and want to lock in the good interest rates we have now.”
Bourassa also notes that in Ontario, even those buying in a hurry have a 10-day “cooling off” period during which they can cancel their purchase of a new condo from a developer and have the deposit returned.
Condo hunters in a rush have low-rise options as well.
Brigil Construction, for example, has inventory units from $270,800 at Heritage Hills in Kanata and at pretty Petrie’s Landing in Orléans from $296,800 (brigil.com).
Also in the east, there are a few two-bedroom units from the $250,000s at Cardel’s Notting Hill South low-rise project (cardelhomes.com), and Longwood is selling seven terrace homes at Dorima near Innes Road and Tenth Line starting at $210,900.
Other low-rise sites include terraces and flats by Theberge Homes at Alta Vista Ridge (avridge.com).
Out-of-town choices include three units left at eQuinelle, eQ Homes’ golf course community in Kemptville (eqhomes.ca). They start at $299,900, including stainless-steel appliances and underground parking. TAKE A TOUR IN VIDEO AND PICTURES AT OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/ HOMES.