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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Innovative condo project doing brisk pre-sales
Spaceship-styled, Disraeli-area site an eye-catcher
An artist's rendering of Green Seed's unique project. Unit sales so far are based solely on word of mouth. (62M RENDERING)
IT will look like a gigantic spaceship hovering four storeys above the ground, and it’s inching closer to becoming a reality.
Green Seed Development Corp. has sold almost half of the 20 units it needs to pre-sell before proceeding with its 40-unit 62M condominium project at Waterfront Drive and MacDonald Avenue. Green Seed president Mark Penner said nine condos had been sold as of last Friday, "so we’re well on our way."
And most of those were word-of-mouth sales, he said, since the marketing campaign only got underway a couple of weeks ago.
After two years of planning, Penner is itching to reach the pre-sale target and get construction underway. How soon that happens will depend on how long it takes to sell the remaining 11 units.
"We’ve been fighting for a few years to get it done," he said. "It’s going to be a landmark building. You’ll come over the Disraeli Bridge and you’ll see this flying saucer there."
The $6-million, 62M project is named after the address — 62 MacDonald Ave. — and will be circular in shape, two storeys high and built on stilts.
The reason for building it on stilts is the site is sandwiched between the Disraeli Bridge/Freeway and Green Seed’s You Cube condos on Waterfront. Putting it on stilts will elevate it above them both and provide an unobstructed view in every direction.
And one of the reasons the designer — 5468796 Architecture Inc. — opted for a circular design is because it will be more efficient than a traditional square or rectangular building.
Penner said all 40 of the wedge-shaped units will be 608 square feet. But they will range from $192,900 to $199,000, with the view determining the price.
"There’s really no bad view," Penner said, noting each unit will feature a seven-metre-wide, floor-to-ceiling wall of windows. "But the more coveted view is the one looking towards the downtown."
To reduce costs and keep the price below $200,000, Green Seed will have the floor and wall sections built off-site by Winnipeg’s Holz Construction. The finished sections will be hauled by truck to the site and hoisted into place with a crane.
Penner said that should reduce costs by at least 10 per cent, enabling them to keep the price below $200,000.
"We really wanted to stay under that $200,000 mark so they’d be accessible to everyone," he said, adding the bulk of the buyers so far have been young professionals who are also first-time homebuyers.
He said roughly half of the buyers said they intend to live in their units. The other half said they are buying a unit as an investment, with the intention of renting it out.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
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