happy holidays

happy halloween!

I'm a Mavrick!

from our living room window

Being an architect (or at least architect-in-training) has some perks. Today, I enjoyed a 1.5 hour full building tour including seeing our new condo (and view) for the first time. My tour also included the 4 bedroom, 14th floor, multi-million dollar condo (and view).

glass, concrete, and blue skies

For those who don't know, I live and work on the same block. Our new home is under construction directly across from my office. On a typical week, I rarely find myself more than three blocks from home. The construction workers (and architect) of our new building have become accustomed to my daily routine. On several occasions, I have found myself having long conversations outside with the architect. I literally ran into the developer and architect on the sidewalk this afternoon and have arranged a private "hard hat" tour of our new condo on Monday afternoon! After a two year wait, I will finally get to check out the view from our 11th floor living room! I'll post pictures next week.

a building is born

Our building is finally topped out and our new home now has windows. Rumor has it that the crane will be dismantled this Saturday.

the wait continues

Our closing date has been pushed to July 2009. The developer is in a battle with the bank to obtain financing for the building interiors and finishes.

2 years and still waiting

Here's a timeline from the last two years:

early September 2006 - Sales office opened - Mike and I were one of the first interested buyers
late September 2006 - Submitted offer to the developer and began contract negotiation
October 2006 - Contract negotiation lasted almost 4 weeks between lawyers
late October 2006 - Signed final contract and began the wait
April 2007 - the parking lot remained open through fall, winter, and spring, in early April our building issued a final closure notice
May 2007 - the parking lot officially closed and remained vacant with no signs of construction
early June 2007 - the first Port-a-potty was delivered to the site
late June 2007- construction officially began
July 2007 - the long wait continues
June 2008 - the 11th floor was poured and we finally have a physical unit
July 2008 - we selected our finishes (and we continue to wait)
August 2008 - the 14th (and final) floor is poured
September 2008 - the building will top out and the tower crane will come down
October 2008 - first model unit will open
March 2008 - we will (hopefully) move in!