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Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

By Matt Goyer March 23, 2007

Tomorrow marks the first opportunity to buy at either Equinox or Leona. If you’re buying let us know how it goes! We’d love to hear what unit you reserved and why, we’d also love to hear about how the sales are going.

For those interested in Equinox they made their ‘private’ website public today. You can also review their public offering statement and purchase and sale online. I wish all developments published these documents online. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for in either document? What are the red flags?

And in case you are wondering how Seattle can support all these condos it’s because King County growth booms and I sure wish when I went to school I lived in luxury dorms.

Update: Wendy gives it an overall rating of average:

Final thoughts: A nice new building close to the new street car line in the developing Eastlake neighborhood.

I’m the founder and managing broker of Urban Living. I love lofts, floating homes, new construction and mid-century moderns but will help you buy or sell just about anything.

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32 responses to “Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?”

Foster says:

March 24, 2007 at 6:11 pm

Greetings. I was the first appointment, and I took unit 230. I stayed at the sales center having a full breakfast of nibbles, and by the time I left at 1015, I would say about 16 were sold. The builder is holding 30 units until a later date. These units ARE available for reservation, but the purchase price will not be known until later.

Units I know to be sold are 229, 230, 331, 208, 431, 530, 630. Those are just the units I remember being sold. There were more, but I will let ya’ll know later which ones were sold. I’m popping in later today to check out the sales board.

The couple who purchased 208 are readers of Urban Living, and seemed quite pleasant. They got a unit with plenty of windows. Makes theirs quite unique and desirable, I would say.
Foster says:

March 24, 2007 at 10:11 am

Greetings. I was the first appointment, and I took unit 230. I stayed at the sales center having a full breakfast of nibbles, and by the time I left at 1015, I would say about 16 were sold. The builder is holding 30 units until a later date. These units ARE available for reservation, but the purchase price will not be known until later.

Units I know to be sold are 229, 230, 331, 208, 431, 530, 630. Those are just the units I remember being sold. There were more, but I will let ya’ll know later which ones were sold. I’m popping in later today to check out the sales board.

The couple who purchased 208 are readers of Urban Living, and seemed quite pleasant. They got a unit with plenty of windows. Makes theirs quite unique and desirable, I would say.
jo says:

March 24, 2007 at 8:00 pm

i wonder how much 208 went for
jo says:

March 24, 2007 at 12:00 pm

i wonder how much 208 went for
PhilW says:

March 24, 2007 at 10:28 pm

“King County growth booms”

Wow, that is one misleading headline. Read the story and you find –
“King County’s population was 1.8 million on July 1, 2006, up 5 percent from July 1, 2000, putting it 27th among Washington’s 39 counties for percentage growth.”
So King County took 6 years to grow 5%, and 26 counties in WA grew at a faster rate.
PhilW says:

March 24, 2007 at 2:28 pm

“King County growth booms”

Wow, that is one misleading headline. Read the story and you find –
“King County’s population was 1.8 million on July 1, 2006, up 5 percent from July 1, 2000, putting it 27th among Washington’s 39 counties for percentage growth.”
So King County took 6 years to grow 5%, and 26 counties in WA grew at a faster rate.
Foster says:

March 24, 2007 at 11:52 pm

I just stopped by the sales center, and they had sold over 30 units from 9am to 4pm. The units sold up to that point are 208, 210, 229, 230, 232, 133, 136, 317, 324, 331, 332, 414, 431, 433, 507, 530, 532, 533, 603, 605, 606, 607, 608, 630, 631, 632, 633, 702, 735, 818, 821.
Foster says:

March 24, 2007 at 3:52 pm

I just stopped by the sales center, and they had sold over 30 units from 9am to 4pm. The units sold up to that point are 208, 210, 229, 230, 232, 133, 136, 317, 324, 331, 332, 414, 431, 433, 507, 530, 532, 533, 603, 605, 606, 607, 608, 630, 631, 632, 633, 702, 735, 818, 821.
PhilW says:

March 25, 2007 at 12:00 am

I really like the look and location of the Equinox project. Concrete and steel is expensive for a midrise but well worth it; cuts down on noise, holds up better, and allows for more open floor plans. It is also a great location, only downside (some noise potential) would be having I-5 to the east; but with the new trolley going south, buses going north to UW, and Eastlake business district a quick walk away – I think it beats out many other projects for location. Aren’t there schools in Eastlake too?

Did a quick review of the POS for Equinox. I’m NOT a lawyer or a RE professional; but areas I would look twice at in any POS:
– Your maintainence responsibilities.
– Uses allowed in condo, including renting restrictions.
– Warrenty Disclaimers by developer, warrenty length, and arbitration procedures.
– Pre-closing Inspection (walk-thru): be prepared and bring an experienced set of eyes with you.
– Read items 20-27; trust me.
– Insurance: coverage for flood and earthquake?.
– #5 should tell you about the developer and what they’ve built in the past 5 years.

The POS is long, but very important if you’re going to buy a condo.
PhilW says:

March 24, 2007 at 4:00 pm

I really like the look and location of the Equinox project. Concrete and steel is expensive for a midrise but well worth it; cuts down on noise, holds up better, and allows for more open floor plans. It is also a great location, only downside (some noise potential) would be having I-5 to the east; but with the new trolley going south, buses going north to UW, and Eastlake business district a quick walk away – I think it beats out many other projects for location. Aren’t there schools in Eastlake too?

Did a quick review of the POS for Equinox. I’m NOT a lawyer or a RE professional; but areas I would look twice at in any POS:
– Your maintainence responsibilities.
– Uses allowed in condo, including renting restrictions.
– Warrenty Disclaimers by developer, warrenty length, and arbitration procedures.
– Pre-closing Inspection (walk-thru): be prepared and bring an experienced set of eyes with you.
– Read items 20-27; trust me.
– Insurance: coverage for flood and earthquake?.
– #5 should tell you about the developer and what they’ve built in the past 5 years.

The POS is long, but very important if you’re going to buy a condo.
Jim&Kiery says:

March 25, 2007 at 1:30 am

Hi,
We’re 208! We had a positive experience. The sales staff are very nice and it was much more organized than what we’ve heard about other presale events. In addition to the construction and the attractive architecture, we like the selection of finishes. They are fresh and current but not excessively trendy and won’t be passe by the occupancy date. Eastlake has a nice neighborhood feeling and there is a proposal to extend the trolley up Eastlake Ave to the U District. That would be awesome! And, we’ll be glad to have Foster as a neighbor.
Jim&Kiery says:

March 24, 2007 at 5:30 pm

Hi,
We’re 208! We had a positive experience. The sales staff are very nice and it was much more organized than what we’ve heard about other presale events. In addition to the construction and the attractive architecture, we like the selection of finishes. They are fresh and current but not excessively trendy and won’t be passe by the occupancy date. Eastlake has a nice neighborhood feeling and there is a proposal to extend the trolley up Eastlake Ave to the U District. That would be awesome! And, we’ll be glad to have Foster as a neighbor.
Foster says:

March 25, 2007 at 2:24 am

Oh, I forgot to tell people.. Unit 317, the only studio, sold for $259,950. 431 sq ft. That means over $608 a sq foot.

Do you know what this means? You could cover every inch of a space the size of that unit with standard XBOX 360s, and then cover THOSE XBOX 360s again with a layer of XBOX 360s and STILL be cheaper than the unit itself.
Foster says:

March 24, 2007 at 6:24 pm

Oh, I forgot to tell people.. Unit 317, the only studio, sold for $259,950. 431 sq ft. That means over $608 a sq foot.

Do you know what this means? You could cover every inch of a space the size of that unit with standard XBOX 360s, and then cover THOSE XBOX 360s again with a layer of XBOX 360s and STILL be cheaper than the unit itself.
Ben K says:

March 25, 2007 at 6:49 pm

Foster – nice imagery. And, if you have any Xbox’s to spare, shoot one over my way. :)

Jim/Kiery – 208 looks like a great floor plan with the wall of windows. Congrats!
Ben K says:

March 25, 2007 at 10:49 am

Foster – nice imagery. And, if you have any Xbox’s to spare, shoot one over my way. :)

Jim/Kiery – 208 looks like a great floor plan with the wall of windows. Congrats!
PhilW says:

March 25, 2007 at 7:40 pm

Foster –
How much are they making you put down as a deposit? Is it refundable under any conditions?

Studios are more expensive per sq/ft because you still have to put in a bathroom and kitchen. Both of which are major expenses when building.
PhilW says:

March 25, 2007 at 11:40 am

Foster –
How much are they making you put down as a deposit? Is it refundable under any conditions?

Studios are more expensive per sq/ft because you still have to put in a bathroom and kitchen. Both of which are major expenses when building.
Foster says:

March 26, 2007 at 12:43 am

5% deposit. Read the PSA & POS on their website to learn about the refunds on deposits.
Foster says:

March 25, 2007 at 4:43 pm

5% deposit. Read the PSA & POS on their website to learn about the refunds on deposits.
Scott D says:

March 26, 2007 at 3:48 am

With all the responses to this project, I feel like I must interject our experience with Equinox. My wife and I had an early appointment on Saturday, the first day, and chose to cancel it for the following
reason(s): It seemed to us, throughout our contact with the sales staff, that there was somewhat of a rush job on signing people up with hard contracts. Which begs the question: Why?
We found it strange that a project would forgo a reservation process altogether and make buyers go to hard contract on a project which is at least 2 years out, a fact that would have been more agreeable if they had, in fact, given prospective owners more than two days to review the contract. Two days (plus 7 day grace period) to review an 18-page PSA and 13 pages of addendums is not enough, especially considering it is, after all, hard contract and any changes need to be in at initial signing.

We also found there to be an obvious lack of coordination and organization between developer and marketing/sales team, which in and of itself wouldn’t deter us, but didn’t help with the process. One last note: we also felt that the pricing was a bit high for presales.

Obviously, many don’t feel the same as we do as sales of this project are moving right along, but hey, to each his own. Just remember, the builders need us more than we need the builders.
Scott D says:

March 25, 2007 at 7:48 pm

With all the responses to this project, I feel like I must interject our experience with Equinox. My wife and I had an early appointment on Saturday, the first day, and chose to cancel it for the following
reason(s): It seemed to us, throughout our contact with the sales staff, that there was somewhat of a rush job on signing people up with hard contracts. Which begs the question: Why?
We found it strange that a project would forgo a reservation process altogether and make buyers go to hard contract on a project which is at least 2 years out, a fact that would have been more agreeable if they had, in fact, given prospective owners more than two days to review the contract. Two days (plus 7 day grace period) to review an 18-page PSA and 13 pages of addendums is not enough, especially considering it is, after all, hard contract and any changes need to be in at initial signing.

We also found there to be an obvious lack of coordination and organization between developer and marketing/sales team, which in and of itself wouldn’t deter us, but didn’t help with the process. One last note: we also felt that the pricing was a bit high for presales.

Obviously, many don’t feel the same as we do as sales of this project are moving right along, but hey, to each his own. Just remember, the builders need us more than we need the builders.
mattgoyer says:

March 27, 2007 at 4:07 pm

Thanks for the sales updates Foster. Are you planning on keeping your unit? :)
Matt says:

March 27, 2007 at 8:07 am

Thanks for the sales updates Foster. Are you planning on keeping your unit? :)
aly says:

March 27, 2007 at 9:00 pm

hmm,
I was at their showroom last week. Having a solid building is great, especially in the long run. The architecture seems nice. I would definetly like to have one of the places with a little garden/porch. But Weber and Thomson did not do such a great job with interior finishes. I noticed that the tub in the showroom is on the smaller side. I felt like there were some good finishes in their pallet but, maybe you can pick the finishes and come up with your own layout… Did anyone notice the reception counter? now that kinda stuff I like.. Why don’t they offer it in the units as well?
After having said all this, I just cannot wait that long to buy a place. I’m going to try to find something this summer.. :)
aly says:

March 27, 2007 at 1:00 pm

hmm,
I was at their showroom last week. Having a solid building is great, especially in the long run. The architecture seems nice. I would definetly like to have one of the places with a little garden/porch. But Weber and Thomson did not do such a great job with interior finishes. I noticed that the tub in the showroom is on the smaller side. I felt like there were some good finishes in their pallet but, maybe you can pick the finishes and come up with your own layout… Did anyone notice the reception counter? now that kinda stuff I like.. Why don’t they offer it in the units as well?
After having said all this, I just cannot wait that long to buy a place. I’m going to try to find something this summer.. :)
Foster says:

March 27, 2007 at 9:31 pm

One thing my realtor and I noticed was that the tiles at the shower surround were not bullnosed like most of the other ones you see. It was just caulked at the edge so as not to expose the side of the tile. I’m not sure if this was just done to save time, or if they actually plan on doing this in units. Regardless, it looks awful. They really should put bullnose tiles at the edges.
Foster says:

March 27, 2007 at 1:31 pm

One thing my realtor and I noticed was that the tiles at the shower surround were not bullnosed like most of the other ones you see. It was just caulked at the edge so as not to expose the side of the tile. I’m not sure if this was just done to save time, or if they actually plan on doing this in units. Regardless, it looks awful. They really should put bullnose tiles at the edges.
matthew says:

March 28, 2007 at 4:05 pm

Another worthless article from the PI. Why the constant comparison of Seattle to San Fransico or San Diego? I’m wondering if the people making these comparisons have even been to either of those cities…
matthew says:

March 28, 2007 at 8:05 am

Another worthless article from the PI. Why the constant comparison of Seattle to San Fransico or San Diego? I’m wondering if the people making these comparisons have even been to either of those cities…
aly says:

March 28, 2007 at 9:08 pm

Anyone with new fron Leona? I think I might make a reservation to check it out.. they will be ready late december. so I think I guess could wait that long :)
aly says:

March 28, 2007 at 1:08 pm

Anyone with new fron Leona? I think I might make a reservation to check it out.. they will be ready late december. so I think I guess could wait that long :)

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