Telus Garden

[DAB]

[quote="Warren12"
On the topic of Telus Garden, here's the presale info with some floorplan and pricing detail. Many floors are missing though (?).

https://www.mylasso.com/FileWarehouse/Users/User_10116/Documents/TELUS%20Garden%20VIP%20package%20final.pdf

[/quote]

Those missing floors are probably being held back not for sale to the public but to insiders and employees?

[DAB]

All that being said, I wonder about the "liveability" of this area, including buildings like the Capitol. You have to look several blocks around on Google Maps to see anything that qualifies as a "park". And it's about as far as you can get from the water and still be downtown as well. Very close to Pacific Centre and transit though.

They are building a 'park' on Smithe and Richards (where the parking lot is). given the shortage of land in downtown, I don't expect too much when it comes to greenspace. anything is better than nothing.

[Warren12]

They are building a 'park' on Smithe and Richards (where the parking lot is). given the shortage of land in downtown, I don't expect too much when it comes to greenspace. anything is better than nothing.

Interesting. Emery Barnes turned out pretty well I'd say, although the spot you reference would be significantly smaller, and closer to the drunks of the Granville strip.

Those missing floors are probably being held back not for sale to the public but to insiders and employees?

Possibly. There's a lot of questions around how the floors will be numbered as well. Starting at 7, does that mean the floors below are parking or amenities? 4 elevators are warranted, I'm glad they included them. I was in that new development on top of New West Station. Nice building, has several levels of above ground parking, but only 2 elevators. In 30+ stories, that's tragic.

[MultipleOffer]

missing floors are probably social housing. hard to get rezoning without some social housing component, although i haven't looked into this one specifically and could be wrong. The non market participants will get free TV too...

The buildings will host a 3,000 square foot retractable projection screen located between the 14th and 17th floors of the office building, a 400 square foot LED screen between floors two and four and two 1,250 square feet LED screens at the corner of Robson and Seymour streets, according to a city rezoning report.

[Warren12]

I doubt it's social housing. The bottom maybe, but he floorplans posted list floors 7-21, 26-30 and 41-48.

[curious]

Too much small 1 Bedrooms there - I guess that most of them will be rentals.
I have never seen a 467 sq.ft. 1Bd before, it is a size of a studio. Probably only a twin bed will fit that bedroom.
All floor plans have flex (storage rooms). Seems, external storage lockers are optional and aren't included in price?

Maintenance fee looks high at $0.48/square foot, but a good thing that it includes Telus TV and Internet.
Unfortunately, after completion, maintenance fee usually gets increased.

I hate a high deposit which is 25% and its structure:
$20,000 bank draft must be paid at writing
Balance of 10% on 8th day after contract writing
3 additional deposits of 5%

[Warren12]

Funny I thought the ratio of bigger units was better than most buildings these days. Compare to 999 Seymour which almost all 1BR. Telus has lots of 2BR and even 3BR units.

MNT fee is a tough one. The Telus services are probably worth $100/month but what is Telus charging the Strata for these? I don't see where the MNT is going, but I kind of write off any strata maintenance estimates on presales. A well run strata isn't cheap, as long as the money isn't being wasted it's worthwhile, and that's all up to the strata council and building management when it's actually up and running.

Deposit structure is high, but doesn't that scare away speculators? Also the timing of the 5% additional deposits is key.

[curious]

Funny I thought the ratio of bigger units was better than most buildings these days.

Maybe the ratio 2Bd/1Bd units is better, but who will be buying these 467-500 Sq.ft. units? - I guess, mostly investors/speculators will be interested.

Yes, there are a lot of 2Bd, but most floor plans are not very efficient - some weird angles, too much space wasted on long corridors and columns.

[DrAcX]

Telus Garden looks tempting. I like that it's in the heart of DT, easy to access transit, and the modern architecture (that imo Vancouver needs more of).
Everything is a bit on the expensive side though, so whatever your reasons are, make sure you like the place as you're paying premiums for it.
If I had the capital, I'd invest in one of the 2BR units with an un-blocked view, or possibly something better. Love the large wall-to-wall windows that you see in all the ads for Telus Garden - tons of natural light and really amplifies that view; unfortunately, this effect really only applies to the corner units (or possibly the larger side units).
Definitely not a fan of the angled walls for the smaller units (types H, G, F) as they really make those units become especially small. (Ever lived in an attic where the roof is like a pyramid or triangular shape? that's sort of what I feel in these units). Not so much of an issue for the larger units though.

Other than that, I would not choose any of the 1BR units for investment purposes. The return just isn't there, whether you sell or rent later on. There's only so much someone is willing to pay to buy or rent a very small (around 500sqft or less) 1 BR apt and once you factor in the strata, lost opportunities that money could've gone to elsewhere, and other fees, you will probably be a tad under breaking even. In particular, look at the types of people who would want a 1 BR small apt - new grads, students, singles etc ie. people who don't have much capital and wouldn't want to put down much anyways. People who do have the capital, like couples, or those well into their careers and have saved up a lot, would not be getting a tiny 1 BR apt. Market fluctuations (if you're investing you're obviously betting on prices increasing) will also have a minimal effect on such a unit.

However, if you're buying for yourself and just want something you can afford, one of those lower 1BR suits are ok if you don't mind the noise from traffic below. That's the slight downside to being in the heart of DT, as opposed to a quieter area like Yaletown . I personally like my rooms far from traffic so would look at a higher unit. I did speak to a rep for Telus Garden and the price increase per floor is $5k+ with larger jumps at certain levels, so you can calculate for yourself if aiming for higher up is worth it as this means a higher small 1BR suite would end up costing >= a lower 2BR suite. At that cost, there just are better choices elsewhere for your money.

Oh and the unit (type D) facing the opposing Telus office tower (assuming you're not breaking past the roof level of it) ? No,... just no.
If you're buying a place here, you'd probably like to keep your window blind open to let in natural light and make the small space seem as large as possible... the opposing tower would too. Given the close proximity, you and the office next door are going to be waving hi to each other a lot.
Also take into account the direction the sun will shine, rising in east and setting in west and shadows from surrounding towers, not to mention the jutting-out wall of the adjacent suite (type C, N). Does not bode well at all for a lower type D unit.

[red_lantern]

Word has it that most of the buyers will buy for rental purposes so be prepared for rental frenzy with noisy tennants running amok.
The only view that you will have (other than the building directly across from you) will be another building that will be across from you. Yup, so those nice views in the advertisement are a bit deceiving, those may come from the penthouse but I doubt it.

[Warren12]

Word has it that most of the buyers will buy for rental purposes so be prepared for rental frenzy with noisy tennants running amok.
The only view that you will have (other than the building directly across from you) will be another building that will be across from you. Yup, so those nice views in the advertisement are a bit deceiving, those may come from the penthouse but I doubt it.

Word from where? The voice in your head?

Cheaper, smaller 2 bedroom units sell as rentals. Places like Spectrum which are (relatively) cheaply made and sparse. They are full of rentals.

Telus Garden looks marketed to a slightly higher end, higher quality furnishings, etc. It doesn't make sense to rent those. Plus who buys a pre-sale to plan to rent? If you're a landlord investor, you buy good product that can start generating income tomorrow.

[curious]

Plus who buys a pre-sale to plan to rent?

If investor/speculator flips a pre-sale unit without renting it out, it might be taxed as income.
CRA doesn't like flippers. If you want to be sure that the profit is taxed as capital gain, you have to rent it out for at least one year.

[vanpro]

Plus who buys a pre-sale to plan to rent?

If investor/speculator flips a pre-sale unit without renting it out, it might be taxed as income.
CRA doesn't like flippers. If you want to be sure that the profit is taxed as capital gain, you have to rent it out for at least one year.

Correction: It WILL be taxed as income: I know of several people that were assessed as such by CRA because there is NO justification for gain to be treated as capital gains.....

[Warren12]

What about if you take a loss on it? Can you write off the loss? It is a risk after all... as much as I hate speculators.

[vanpro]

What about if you take a loss on it? Can you write off the loss? It is a risk after all... as much as I hate speculators.

Of course.