Downtown condos going fast
People obviously want to live high up downtown.
In just three days, 70 per cent of the 116 condominiums in the yet-to-be-built, 20-storey Ella highrise were snapped up in a much-hyped sales launch.
Another highrise development, One Water Street, sold 72 per cent of the 222 units in its first 36-storey tower over the same three days.
“We’ve been marketing Ella for months and we’ve been working with people who expressed interest to set up sales appointments,” said JoAnne Adamson, vice-president of sales and marketing at Mission Group, the developer that will build the tower.
“But, it all came down to opening weekend and the majority of the activity all happened in three days. By setting appointments, we were able to keep it organized.” It was much the same story nearby at One. “It was a pretty seamless launch,” said Mark West of Epic Real Estate Solutions, which is handling marketing and sales for One.
“We set appointments, so everyone was able to buy what they wanted.”
The One sales centre is at the corner of Sunset and Manhattan drives, just a block away from where the 29- and 36-storey towers, Kelowna’s tallest, will rise at Sunset Drive and Water Street.
The Ella sales centre opened Friday at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Ellis Street, just a block north of there the tower will rise at the corner of Ellis Street and Lawrence Avenue.
It’s a mashup of Ellis and Lawrence that created the Ella name.
Construction on the highrise will start early next year for completion in early 2020.
“Most of the buyers are people from Kelowna who want to live the downtown lifestyle,” said Adamson.
Ella has been touted as having a home for everyone from a studio starting in the low $200,000s, a two-bedroom in the low $700,00s or a corner two-bedroom with den starting in the low $800,000s.
The building’s design ensures all units have views from their large windows and generous balconies.
Condos facing west will have unobstructed Okanagan Lake views, those on the north and south of the building will have partial lake views and city views and condos facing east will have city views.
The ground floor will house stores. Levels two through five will be concealed parking. That means condos begin on the sixth floor. There are different models on each floor, so buyers can choose a big or small unit on floors six through 20.
Prices at One start at $289,900 for a studio, $323,900 for a one-bedroom, $454,900 for a twobedroom and $459,900 for a three-bedroom.
Construction at One will start in the spring for early 2020 finish on the first tower.
Kelowna is undergoing a highrise surge.
Construction is well underway at the 21storey 1151 Sunset Drive and the 12-storey Sopa tower on South Pandosy Street.
There are also proposals from Westcorp to built a 32-storey condo-hotel beside Kerry Park and a 14-storey condo beside Prospera Place called Ellis Parc.
Mission Group recently bought the former Bargain Shop downtown on Bernard Avenue, where a couple of retail-commercial-residental towers are expected to be proposed.