Back in February, the Ed Peete Company announced that it was converting its nine-story, 87-unit Joule Condominium project at 3409 N. Wilson Boulevard (located between Clarendon and Ballston) into apartment rentals, despite the fact that 90 percent of the units had been sold and the project was just about finished (these contracts were cancelled). But now, in an interesting twist, it now appears this stylish building will become an extended-stay corporate housing location operated by PA-based Korman Communities Inc., which bought the property from Peete for $43 million and will manage it under its AKA subsidiary. One-bedroom units at the AKA-Arlington are leasing for $135 per day (two bedrooms for up to $215/day), with a minimum 30-day stay requirement – somewhat expensive, but given the high-end condo amenities featured in these units (including washer and dryer units), possibly worthwhile. As the market continues its upward climb again, we’ll watch to see the future fate of this and other projects.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
And Now For Something Completely Different ... Joule Now Extended-Stay Housing
Back in February, the Ed Peete Company announced that it was converting its nine-story, 87-unit Joule Condominium project at 3409 N. Wilson Boulevard (located between Clarendon and Ballston) into apartment rentals, despite the fact that 90 percent of the units had been sold and the project was just about finished (these contracts were cancelled). But now, in an interesting twist, it now appears this stylish building will become an extended-stay corporate housing location operated by PA-based Korman Communities Inc., which bought the property from Peete for $43 million and will manage it under its AKA subsidiary. One-bedroom units at the AKA-Arlington are leasing for $135 per day (two bedrooms for up to $215/day), with a minimum 30-day stay requirement – somewhat expensive, but given the high-end condo amenities featured in these units (including washer and dryer units), possibly worthwhile. As the market continues its upward climb again, we’ll watch to see the future fate of this and other projects.
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6 comments:
They can do that with 90% sold? How unfortunate for those that expected to live there. Doesn't seem right somehow...
It is unusual to see that happen, given the number of presales, but economically it must have made the most sense for Peete, given the market. But most new construction contracts allow for such actions. It will be interesting to see how this affects other Peete projects like the Io and Zoso.
A number of projects have done this recently, which doesn't instill much confidence in the purchasing community. Most have been located in the suburbs, though a few people in DC have also been displaced, mostly because the building they were in just didn't sell much and the developer was forced to cancel.
In the suburbs, however, developers have cancelled projects that were much further into sales, it will be interesting to see how this plays out legally. Not every contract clause is respected by the courts, and some contracts have been held invalid for being too one-sided.
There is at least a bit of justification on the part of the developer - a number of these projects have been experiencing large walk-aways, where contract holders simply forfeited their security deposit and walked away when they determined that the suburban market had left them with a devalued property. Developers would then have to remarket the project's empty units in a tougher market and might not have been able to do so financially.
Io Piazza and Zoso have both gone rental too, so there are alot of frustrated purchasers out there.
Jeez, that building is fugly!
and the developer really screwed up by building around the gas station located in front of it on Wilson. Imagine living with a view of that or trying to sell your unit later! Several of the units look pretty spectacular but when you look at the floor plans there are some really stupid units with practically no windows. I would guess that those were the unsold units. I seem to think that that building was way behind schedule as well, so imagine waiting all those extra months for your unit only to have the project canceled out from under you when it was finally built.
I think purchasers at Joule were lucky to have their settlement cancelled and their deposit returned. There are plenty of others condos available in Arlington and more are coming (that aren't overlooking a gas station).
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