Century Plaza Condos

Century Plaza is an interesting new hi-rise condo development at the intersection of Osborn & Central Avenue (ZIP code 85012), and there’s a lot for sale there. Pricing goes from the high $200,000′s to $1.5 million, see more info on this below.

Originally built in 1974 as an office tower, it was completely gutted and rebuilt starting in 2006 by Equus Development Corporation (dba Windsor Century Plaza, LLC). The Century Plaza site offers condos from 734 to 2,911 square feet with current asking prices starting in the high $200′s and going up to over a million.

The views are stunning and one reason for that is that setback regulations in the 1970′s allowed buildings much closer to Central Avenue than today’s setbacks allow. The effect from the upper floors is almost like you’re floating above Central Avenue!

The Osborn light rail stop is literally outside the lobby doors and with the light rail scheduled to begin regular operations this December, residents will have easy access to downtown & Tempe.

Each condo has 11 foot ceilings, 8 foot doors, a shaded balcony off the living room and master bedroom. The site boasts private covered parking, secure key-card access, concierge service, a 24/7 clubhouse and fitness center and a unique Car Share program for urbanite owners who want to use a car once in a while but not foot the maintenance and storage costs. Upscale retail shops were built into the ground floor. (I’m not sure the Car Share program is up and running yet. Phoenicians are pretty addicted to our cars, so it’ll be really interesting to see how this idea takes off.)

After many construction delays, the tower is finally complete. The builder’s reps are still onsite, selling never lived in units. List prices currently start at $291,000 for a 3rd floor, extra large 1 bedroom. Expect to drop at least a cool million for 1600 or 1700 square feet on the upper floors. The current high list price is $1,449,000 for 1700+ square feet with a panoramic view from the 16th floor.

Think urban loft living is right for you? Contact me for a private tour, or just for more information. Just want to see downtown hi-rise condos on an MLS search? Email or call and I’ll setup a custom search for you which will email you whenever anything that suits your needs hits the market. Heather@NorthPhoenixAgent.com or 602.999.8831

This is probably an appropriate spot to remind readers that you absolutely need a Realtor to represent you when you buy from a builder! The builder has sales reps onsite who are lovely, helpful and charming people. They will tell you they’ll “make sure you get what you ask for” but the builder’s sales reps work for the builder. Their job is to sell inventory and they have no obligation to protect your interests.

A colleague of mine tells a story of working with a buyer who bought a condo from a builder. The buyer intended to work from home and needed a condo with quiet neighbors. The builder’s rep assured the buyer the condo was quiet as far as she knew. The buyer’s own Realtor visited the condo one weekday about 10am, only to hear a trumpet being practiced (loudly!) next door. Turns out the neighbor played for the Phoenix Symphony and practiced at home daily. The builder’s salesperson never mentioned that to the buyer.  The builder’s rep actually didn’t do anything wrong – she had no obligation to disclose the noisy neighbor because her duties were to sell condos for the builder. She had no duty to protect the buyer’s interests.

Had that buyer used the builder’s Realtor instead of hiring his own…… hmmmm. Earplugs, anyone?

Related Post – 2 Downtown Landmark Hi-Rises Having Trouble

Search Downtown Phoenix Condos

Just back from the monthly “Urban Tour”. Arranged by Realtor Helen Prier of Urban Living Properties and sponsored by Jeannie Bolger of Wells Fargo Home Loans and Rich Ghali of Guaranty Title, the tour meets the 4th Thursday of each month to tour downtown Phoenix condos.

We saw some really cool stuff this month. My personal fave remains the Executive Towers but Portland Place is mighty impressive. You can search downtown Phoenix condos here.

ZIP Code Report – 85022

First up, this ZIP is where my heart is. I grew up here, in Moon Valley, and still recommend that neighborhood to any of my buyers looking for a home to raise their kids in.  I call it the McCormick Ranch of Phoenix. Awesome neighborhood schools. Plenty of shopping & dining nearby. A quick 5 minute car ride to freeways 51, 17 and 101. Mature landscaping. Beautiful older homes. Each one has character, a big lot, and plenty of interior space to spread out. Lots of split floor plans. Downsides? Lots of sunken living rooms. Hey, whaddya gonna do? We were all a little nutso in the late 70′s and some builder convinced us that sunken living rooms and conversation pits were hip.

Quick Stats on ZIP 85022

Absorption rate for the past 30 days (Sept 4 to today) is 10%. Sellers in this ZIP, you’ve got it easier than most! A 10% rate is awesome compared to the overall Valley, which I believe is bottoming out at 5% in past few weeks. But don’t let that go to your heads, 85022 sellers. Good as your number is relatively speaking, it still means that only 10% of the homes for sale are actually selling in any given month. You’ve still got to price aggresively and stage your home with flair.

(For novices, ‘absorption rate’ is a simple math equation. There are 550 homes for sale in ZIP 85022, and 55 sold in the past 30 days. Real estate blog ActiveRain explains it best: “The total amount of available product is divided by the total amount of product sold in the previous month.”)

Average days on market is 85.

Average sale price overall is $251,441. This breaks down into $330,599 average sale price for a single family, detached home, and $180,077 for condos/townhomes.

Budget minded & first time buyers can buy into 1 of 2 great school districts by looking at The Cliffs at North Mountain (a condo conversion at 1720 E Thunderbird Road where students attend Shadow Mountain schools) and Quail Hill (kids at the intersection of Coral Gables road & Central Ave attend Lookout Mountain schools). Sale prices in these two subdivisions run between $165,000 and $200,000.

That’s it for now. TOMORROW: 85022′s Best Kept Culinary Secrets