Champion Developments first residential project, Gaslamp
CitySquare (City Square), was recently rated three and a half
stars from the residents living there. While the building sold
out quickly in the hot San Diego condo market a year ago,
residents and the city government were a little disappointed
when seeing the final product.
Residents at Gaslamp Citysquare (Gaslamp City Square) do have a
lot to brag about including their location (one of two condo
buildings in the Gaslamp), common patio area with its pool and
hot tub and also the low HOA fees. Residents also appreciate the
great stores and restaurants in the ground floor retail spaces.
Because this was the developers' (Champion Development) first
attempt at a residential project they made some mistakes with
regard to the design of the buildings exterior and lobby. For
the buildings exterior façade they paid dearly, almost a million
dollars to put the right look on the outside, with pressure from
the City. One resident described the lobby as looking like a
"sterile Soviet era hotel". They also did not understand they
types and amount of equipment needed to adequately supply a
residential fitness center. The developer after receiving
several complaints from residents about the fitness center is
going to add more equipment. Look for a revised comment on this
in early 2006. One resident said she did not like the parking
situation. Here there are 3 levels of parking, the first level
is public parking operated by ACE and cost from $10 - $20/day.
The lower two levels are for residents. The "HOA effectiveness"
rating is low because three of the five seats on the Board are
held by people employed by the developer the other two are
realtors who do not live in the building. Therefore one could
surmise that the Board and residents have two different
objectives. The entire Board is made up of non-residents a very
bizarre situation that will improve over time.
Champion Development has certainly learned its lessons getting
its feet wet in the residential market. Two other projects they
have under way are being played "safely" by not building any
common areas or putting their own façade on the buildings
outside. They believe its less risky to redevelop an existing
structure than to try and build an architecturally satisfying
building on their own.
Resident's information and opinions were gathered from surveys
provided by Mark Mills, RE/MAX Realtor who regularly surveys the
downtown residents in order to share insightful information with
his clients looking to purchase condos in downtown San Diego.
Survey results for other buildings can be found at
http://www.LiveAtTheTop.com.
About Author :
RE/MAX Realtor focused on the downtown San Diego condo market.
Visit him at hppp://www.LiveAtTheTop.com
