Cribs VII: Spin Me Right ‘Round Baby

inferior finishes worth 700k? hmmmm. I’ll pass!

Was that a common area roof deck or a private roof deck just for this unit?

It looks like it’s a common area. Cool unit! I love all the windows and the double sinks.

madness! for$909/month ($11K per year), you could clothe and feed villages in the developing world… build schools, a library, buy books, provide mosquito nets, vaccinations…
please people, we are residents of the world…. not just pq residents.

well we wouldn’t be PQ residents if we weren’t all being overcharged for housing : p

True that #5, but really, $909/mo for a condo fee on a 1300sq/ft unit? I pay $450 for a 1050sq/ft unit across the street… and there’s a pool, gym, community room, and all the other management/front desk stuff that comes along with many new buildings… the Sonata has no pool or gym (that I know of)… so what exactly does 909 go toward? crazy if you ask me

Yeah.. it’s probably the fact that there’s only 79 units in the building.

woe is them.

I’d guess the condo fee is higher mostly because there aren’t many units in the building so you don’t have to share the gym or roof deck with throngs of people. because the unit is 80+ feet up right on the corner of the building, opposite a wide intersection and I-395 is to the southeast, you get very long sightlines which are not in jeopardy of disappearing.

#1 – pqr in france – the finishes are right in the middle. not amazing, not inferior.

#3 – CBD – the roof deck is a common element. there’s a gas grill up there too. the view is spectacular.

#6 – DCRay – the high fee probably relates to getting secured garage parking, having less than 100 units in the building and being designed as an ownership building (not rentals). the Sonata does have a gym (I added that to the post), no pool and no retail. don’t know if it has a party room. the MVT website also says that there’s a $120 per condo unit annual MVT Community Improvement District tax.

Decent unit, but it does not even come close to being worth its cost. The bathrooms look very nice and spacious, which is always a good thing. And, I consider the floor to ceiling windows all through the unit as another perk.

But, as others have noted, the finishes are–well–unfinished. I don’t believe the view is really that great either. You can see the Capitol out of a lot of windows in this area, and the last thing I want to see every morning is the jammed interstate. In fact, I don’t want to see the interstate ever–jammed or clear. The gym, at least in the photos, appears very tiny–comparable to the one in Gallery Place. The lack of pool is also a downer since there are other options that are as nice or nicer that offer rooftop pools.

All in all, it is a good, but not spectacular unit. It being significantly overpriced and also subject to ridiculous condo fees is the breaking point though. The building really needs more than a small gym and one grill for $900+ per month.

$909 per month condo fee – developers will charge whatever people will pay, & too many people have too much money…& far too many people have too little. They could bring me a cup of coffee & an English muffin every morning & it still wouldn’t be worth $909 every month.
Being overcharged for housing is not part of living in PQ. I know plenty of people who pay reasonable amounts to live here. People who pay too much – well, we have the current market shake-out addressing that.

I don’t really understand the comment “developers will charge whatever people will pay….” means.

The opposite usually usually seems to be true, the Developer low-balls the condo fee for sales purposes and then the owners find out they have to either raise dues or cut services when the Condo Assn gets up and running.

As Pres of a local condo building, I can say that $900+ is excessive – but not uncommon. It has little to do with what the developer wants to charge — but rather what expenses the building incurs — or will incur in the future. That fee probably includes water, common electricity (which is very expensive), maintenance and desk staff, management company, elevator repair contracts, HVAC contracts and hosts of other expenses. Even in buildings without amenities, or those with limited ones, fees are dependent on many factors.

Expensive – yes. Worth it to someone — yes. Will that unit go empty for long — no way!

This conversation must be more offensive to Sonata residents than any “you should move to” comments. I agree with Jon that living there is worth it to some people.

The fees in my building are not in the obscene range of $900 but I have always taken issue with why costs can’t be cut to make them considerably less. A few specifics….

Electricity: yes, electricity in the common areas is expensive but there is no reason to have SO many lights on in the hallways all the time…. especially the fancy fixtures with expensive bulbs. Many large buildings in the developing (and developed) world implement motion sensors/timers so lights are only used when needed.

Desk staff: unnecessary on several fronts. Packages could be left in a locked package room and residents would have the code/key to gain access and get their packages. I know the desk staff is responsible for many other things – but there are buildings all over the city who function perfectly without someone sitting staring at their computer 99% of the time….

Do I stand alone here? Or, do others find they are paying for service and fancy perks they don’t care about either?

They should be restocking my wine rack, cleaning the gunk behind my refridgerator, and offering me nightly massages for $909/mo.

If there are people willing/able to part with that much money every month for that fee, more power to ’em. But there are far too many beautiful, well-maintained, amenity-filled buildings in this area charging significantly less than $900/month for this DC res to view that fee as anything other than excessive.

the purpose of the Cribs series is to give people an idea of what condos look like on the inside by highlighting visual tours of the best of living arrangements we think the PQ & downtown have to offer across buildings (or rowhouses, if one ever comes up for sale). by definition, everything you see in this post series will be “expensive” on both an absolute and relative basis. some will be able to afford it and some won’t. political or social commentary, it ain’t.

before throwing barbs or heaping on accolades, make sure you’re comparing apples to apples to come up with a fair comparison based on square footage, amenities and number of units in the building. a new building’s condo fees don’t really settle in until at least three years out as I’ve personally (& painfully) learned. any realtor worth their salt will tell you the above.

#13 – dave – we are taking your comment to heart going forward. we may make these “read only” posts in the future.

I live in the Sonata and I do not find the comments offensive. I also think the condo fees are high for what is offered………

#17: i am not trying to stir up the crowd, just noticing a trend on these series of posts.

also, I would categorize your comment as “political commentary” that pqresident wants to avoid on this blog, and that would be more appropriately brought up at your condo meetings.

I saw in Express the Sonata is selling their remaining units for 75,000 off list price!!! Maybe the high condo fees is a reason they are trying to dump all the unsold units with such deep discounts as they have realized this is not the same market as 2005 anymore.

Part of the high condo fee is because the condo is considerably smaller than other condos. Imagine splitting the cost of a condo manager and front-desk staff among ~75 units instead of 200+ (the size of many of the PQ buildings). Another fixed cost split between fewer residents is annual elevator maintenance.

Dave,

What use is this blog if relevant information posted by those living in the building is not allowed to be published and revealed to those who consider moving into the property?

The original post featured an open unit that is for sale. It is not unrealistic that a reader who sees the post may be interested in purchasing the unit. Personally, if that person was me, I would appreciate all the commentary and thoughts from people both living in the building and living in other buildings.

A censorship approach will only prevent people from receiving relevant information, whether it be in the form of opinion or fact, from those who have experience with the specific building or comparable buildings in the area.

Don’t we already have enough people in this world who make uninformed decisions that they later regret?

“political or social commentary, it ain’t. ”

Neither is stating one’s view that a $900 condo fee is excessive. “Expensive” and “excessive” are not synonymous terms.

It isn’t political commentary to state that someone believes his/her own condo fee is excessive, nor is it saying that someone should move to state that the fee seems excessive – to each his/her own. It may be that the excessiveness of the early 00’s has made some people on both sides of the issue a little sensitive about the whole cribs concept – it does seem a little dated to me. Then again, to each his/her own.
It is helpful to discuss how condo fees can be contained – #14 has some good ideas. Turning out lights in common areas like trash rooms & using fluorescent bulbs helps. A conversion of the rooftop to a green roof is another if expensive idea. Any ideas on lowering energy used helps everyone.
The 24-hour front desk person seems wasteful but then again – some people want that. At my girlfriend’s building the night clerks are usually dozing or playing on the internet – I’ve never seen them stop anyone from walking in behind someone with a key, but I have seen residents do it.
Packages can be delivered to the 9-5 building manager or the engineer – I’ve seen both practices used.

#21: censorship approach? exactly what information are we learning here that wasn’t in the posted MLS listing? “relevant” doesn’t mean anything if it isn’t “reliable”.

your plea on behalf of the Uniformed Remorseful almost hit home . . . except that my heart already went out to anon #4’s “We Are the World” Remix and the global shortage of mosquito nets. *sniff*

the unit 3 floors above (#1102) sold for $1.05M this year and has approx. the same sqr. ft; so not a bad deal but won’t move easily in this market

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#19: The offer you saw was for the Madrigal Lofts. The building looks similar to the Sonata as it is from the same developer, but Madrigal offers more units on one building (and thus lower condo fees). The Sonata sold out during the height of the boom. Sales for Madrigal started much later (my guess would be a year) and they hit some problems where construction halted for a few months. That, combined with the current market, is likely the reason why they’re trying to dump the remaining units.

#27 – K – the Express did advertise Sonata (not Madrigal) units with “discounts” of up to $75K depending on the price. the ad listed three units with prices indicating there were five units left for sale in the building. the units are being sold by the same office that is selling the Madrigal units. #19 (pqcommuter) is not mistaken.

I could not secure financing and Madrigal is keeping my emd. I spoke to someone else who was buying in the building and they told him the same thing. Can you keep someone money because the market went bad? They even had their attorneys send letters siting that I told someone I was flipping the property. This is absurd! I filed a complaint with the DC office of Attorney General. Is there anyone else out there who is facing the same problem with Madrigal Lofts? We need to ban together and fight for our hard earned money back!

I am in the same financing boat with a contract at Madrigal. Any word on the complaint with DC Attorney Generals office?

Speaking of Madrigal does anyone know if their wood floors are actually wood veneer laminate instead of wood plank? My eye is rather untrained and I didn’t pick up on this during my visit.

If they are indeed laminates, how common is that in the downtown market? If it’s something that 1/2 the new buildings are doing anyway then it shouldn’t tank the resale value. But if the Madrigal is in the small minority of going faux on the floors it may indeed hurt resale.

Re floors: the “soft wood” floors at the Clara Barton are awful – not sure about other buildings but the CB’s floors are definitely not “hardwood” floors & are easily scarred.
Anyone having trouble with the Madrigal should hire a lawyer – the DC Attorney General won’t do anything.