523 Grand

[f4hondaphile]

I toured the open house at 523 on Sunday afternoon.  I don't want to flame the place since I want all DT projects to do well and find owners/renters but I have to say I was disappointed.  No offense to those who rented there (I wanted to rent there and it was out of my price range at the time) but the units will need quite a bit in the way of upgrades to be really swank condos.  The model unit they showed looked great but they admitted they spent 35K on it and their asking price for it before any upgrades is a quarter million dollars--the top unit is somewhere around 350K.  They also admitted that they have already lowered their prices some, so it seems they realize their predicament--the other condos downtown are either already awesome looking inside (depending on your taste) or are sold as warm shells whereas these are recently vacated rental units that quite frankly don't look that great when you tour them because they haven't even done stuff like replace or clean the carpeting yet.  Granted, a smart buyer will be able to envision what they will do with them and may be able to the work themselves much cheaper and its a beautiful building with awesome parking, but again, the units need a lot of work before they are to the standard a buyer paying 300K plus for them would want and no amenities are offered, except the great parking.  Also, and I hate to be negative but their "rooftop terraces" are rather underwhelming spaces with HVAC units all around them. 

Please don't consider this a hateful post because I have always admired that building but I just found it disappointing when I finally saw the inside.  I then went next door to Bridgeworks and saw units that are ready to go with a really cool stylish look to them that were cheaper than the units still needing work at 523 and Bridgeworks has amenities and nearly as good of parking.  I toured Riverbend next and its a great building, more affordable than either of the other two with some cool looking already modded units and others that need upgrades, a few amenities but just surface lot parking.  Sorry for the length but I thought it was worthwhile to compare 523 to its neighbors/competitors.

[tella100]

no thats not a hateful post at all. Very informative, you mentioned many of the things that I have been thinking about the times that I have been there.

They need lots of work that is for sure, but outside of Bridgeworks (which is now 250+ with no real views)  I am not finding anything really finished out in the River Market area.

Thats my problem. I am by no means an aggressive do it yourselfer type guy and would have to pay to have all the work done at 523, which I know would be exspensive. I still think it could be done for less money than buying new at Bridgeworks,but maybe i am way off here.

I am just trying to determine whether the positives of it (secured parking, location and stunning views) make it worth the time and money to fix up on my own.

[tella100]

well they seem to be selling pretty well, I think they have 11 of their 28 units sold, I wander, is this on par for other loft / condo projects in KC in the last few years?

A question for anyone on the urban tour this past weekend, did it seem that there were many people stopping at 523?