Midtown Atlanta - condo advice needed

[Ethan]

From Creative Loafing.com:

Add It Up: Pass the caviar
Monday, May 14th, 2007

Number of names on the waiting list for a condo at Trump Towers Atlanta in Midtown, the first phase of which is slated for completion in 2010: 1,000
Total number of condos, starting at $400,000, to be built in both towers: 560
Moderator cut: Bulk of copyrighted material removed (quote brief excerpt only)

Would you pay $400,000 for a 1BR studio at Atlanta's Trump Towers?

They call places like that "trailer parks in the sky" because they have a glossy exterior with a fancy name, but the inside is like a trailer (small, cheap, tacky, uninteresting). Have people got more money than they have sense?

[Ethan]

I am kind of on a roll today. I should be doing my work and I am procrastinating.

I have a friend who lives in my condo building and I visited his condo a few weeks ago. He's got the same 1BR floor plan as me. But my gosh! He's got furniture packed in there and stuff everywhere. You can't live in a 800 sq. ft. condo the same way you lived in a 2,500 sq ft house!!!

Here are the rules:

1) No sleigh beds!
2) No big bulky couches and armchairs
3) No Lazy-Boy chairs made for 400 pounders
4) No dining room tables set for 8 or Breakfronts
5) No entertainment cabinets

With a small space you've got to be creative and do things to draw attention away from just how small your space really is. Maybe you can have a king size bed, but not one that sprawls across the room like a sleigh bed would. Get a platform bed -- or at least something without a footboard and the headboard hugs the wall. You may get two nightstands in there, but chances are you've got room for one nightstand. Then it's questionable whether you can get a dresser in there. Better to have one that's tall than wide. Leave it at that. Sell your extra bedroom furniture because -- you don't want to be bumping into everything. Less is better.

In the LR and DR -- there's probably not much of a DR. So that means you have to have furniture for no more than 4 to eat and 4 to sit around. If you need more sitting space pull some dining chairs to the sitting area. A small round glass top dining table that seats 4 will do nicely. Consider a love seat rather than a long sofa. Also, don't get a sleeper sofa. They are terrible to sit on and worse to sleep on. But if you do have one, take the mattress out of it and throw it away. Replace with an air mattress. Here's what I am going to do though. I will have a regular sofa that will seat perhaps 3, but really I don't want more than 2 on it. I am going to Sam's Club and buy an air mattress for $150. It's called the E-Z Mattress or something like that and it makes into a queen bed. It's on it's own platform that folds out automatically when you plug it into the wall outlet. It self inflates and deflates when you plug it in. I can store it in a closet when not in use. This helps to accomodate 2 guests (cozy ones) when you just have a 1BR condo.

Hang your tv on the wall -- a flat screen LCD or plasma. Chunk the big entertainment center cabinet.

I have already had my unit painted, but my designer says I picked the wrong color. He wants me to have a light color and wants to have a constrasting color on the ceiling and variations here and there. I also bought the wrong rug for my hardwood floor. Geesh. I just paid $2,500 for a 100 year old Serapi and he wants me to buy a lighter colored rug -- a Morrocan one. Crap. What do I know about decorating? Nothing really. I am learning though. It's all about making a small space appear not to be so small. You do that with color and design. If you are like me and don't really know how to do it right, hire somebody to help. Or pick 'em up in a bar and ask for ideas the next morning.

If you are moving to a small condo from a house, my advice is to use your house furniture somewhere else. You've got to re-think a small space. But if you don't then you just live in clutter and confusion. The space is uninviting and uninteresting and soon you will want to go back to a big house.

[Jim30309]

Originally Posted by Ethan

From Creative Loafing.com:
Would you pay $400,000 for a 1BR studio at Atlanta's Trump Towers?
:

I would if it was 3,000 Sq. Ft.

I'm sure they will be nicely appointed, but I just don't see how the value can be there.

[Ethan]

Actually, I don't know what the pre-construction pricing will be, but you couldn't move in until probably mid 2010.

Here's what their website says though:

Trump Towers Atlanta will be comprised of two towers (no hotel component), the first boasting 363 condominium units on 47 floors, overlooking the Downtown Connector. The project will include high-end, luxury condo residences with architecture, features and amenities that reflect the Trump standard. Luxury boutiques and a high-end restaurant on the first floor will compliment the residences. Moderator cut: Bulk of copyrighted material removed (quote brief excerpt only)

I suppose I was under the impression that the smallest unit would be about 450 sq ft, but apparently that would be true for their hotel-condo properties and this Atlanta deal will not be a hotel-condo. But you can bet their pricing is about $800 per sq ft and more if you require customizations. Gosh only knows what the HOA dues are.

Trump Towers Atlanta is for people who don't care what it costs.