Signature Tower

[cheeriokid61]

I agree. I've decided to stop desperately hoping for the ST to happen, and started looking at the facts. And I gotta say, it's a lot less depressing. There is life outside of the Signature Tower.

[Jeeper12]

That's why I fully expect groundbreaking to happen. The first 30 feet of excavation is just dirt and can be removed at small financial risk. I'm thinking they will break ground and begin moving dirt as a means to kickstart sales. That will create quite a bit of excitement and I do expect a favorable bump in reservations.

I think you need to give buyers a little more credit than that, at this price point anyway.

[cheeriokid61]

I have a question. Once they start selling contracts, can people still just make reservations, or do people have to make a decision between buying a condo or not buying one?

[monsoon]

According to the wording of the reservation form, all reservations are void after March 31, 2007 (if I understand that correctly) so it would appear the answer to your question is no.

[Jeeper12]

I have a question. Once they start selling contracts, can people still just make reservations, or do people have to make a decision between buying a condo or not buying one?

That's correct. Once they begin converting to contract all new purchases would be with large at risk deposits like those already converted. One reason the developer may be delaying this process is because it's hard to start converting before you really know what contract terms (deposit amount mainly) the ultimate lender is going to require. In theory the developer can reserve the right to revisit this (and other terms) later but to experienced buyers it's generally considered bad form and risks souring them and/or undermining their confidence that the developer really has his or her act together.

IMO this developer has represented terms that seem very aggessive considering how high his prices are. As I've said before, I think most major lenders are going to expect much higher deposits than the 5% (plus 2% at top out) that he is trying to make work. He probably realizes that he's in a pinch on this but if he's already struggling at a low deposit he knows the impact of going higher.

[cheeriokid61]

Thank you.

[Plasticman]

On a bright note, maybe I'm slow but did anyone notice when using the floorplan on the website that you could click on one of the layouts and then click on view to see the view from that room? Those penthouse apartments have an incredible view but many floors below are also unobstructed.

[cheeriokid61]

Yeah, I noticed that quite often, floor 15 seemed to have the same view as floor 38. Hmmmm...

[atlrvr]

On a note about deposits.....in Charlotte, the largest most expensive project there (The VUE, 50 stories and $450-$600 per sq. ft.) required 5% at contract and another 5% at the start of construction (10% for units over $1M). This developer has done MANY high-rise projects and had lenders lined up, but still needed those large deposits. Thankfully he got them, but it took about 11 months to sell half the units at that price.

[Jeeper12]

On a note about deposits.....in Charlotte, the largest most expensive project there (The VUE, 50 stories and $450-$600 per sq. ft.) required 5% at contract and another 5% at the start of construction (10% for units over $1M). This developer has done MANY high-rise projects and had lenders lined up, but still needed those large deposits. Thankfully he got them, but it took about 11 months to sell half the units at that price.

Here's the link to their site: http://www.vuecharlotte.com/vue_content.html

It looks like 10% up to $600k, 15% for everything else except PH's and premium units. Those all require 20%. I agree with you that this is a pretty typical requirement unless your operating in FL, NV or CA in which case it's about double all those percentages.

[metropolitan]

So, 15% total at the start of construction for units over a million and 10% for everything else ?

It's actually 15% for units over 600K in price....and these are purchase agreements, not refundable reservations.

[ATLBrain]

I think the Vue is a good example of why I was hopeful that Signature would get built. Just like here in ATL, that building is just bland and even ugly from most angles. In comparison, Signature had flair and didn't look like a high rise tenement. Oh well, there's no doubt that those big boxes in the sky are popular right now. Plus, they're relatively cheap to build.

[monsoon]

.... Plus, they're relatively cheap to build.

Well no they are not. I believe someone here said the signature tower was a $300M project. The Wachovia tower in CLT is a $700M project, the BofA tower in Manhattan is a $1B project. Skyscrapers of this magnitude are definately not cheap.

[samsonh]

He isn't talking about Signature but rather the Novare style boxes I believe.

[Plasticman]

I think the Vue is a good example of why I was hopeful that Signature would get built. Just like here in ATL, that building is just bland and even ugly from most angles. In comparison, Signature had flair and didn't look like a high rise tenement. Oh well, there's no doubt that those big boxes in the sky are popular right now. Plus, they're relatively cheap to build.

Signature is far from dead yet. It still has flair in the present and future tense.

[Dale]

Yes, I caught the *had* flair bit too.

[elguapo731]

I for one am still confident that this will happen. These things take time, especially buildings such as Siggy. Tony G's legacy is attached to this tower. It may be delayed and pushed back but I believe it will happen. We can debate all day long (and it's fun) what will become of this project but in the end I believe Siggy will stand tall. People thought Tony was crazy for building the Viridian and the Encore but there they are... I know these are buildings of different magnitude but still... there they are. Nashburg is taking the housing slowdown well and other deveopement downtown is coming along... Nashville is headed in the right direction.

my two cents...

[ATLBrain]

He isn't talking about Signature but rather the Novare style boxes I believe.

You are absolutely correct. You read that the right way.

[Hankster]

I for one am still confident that this will happen. These things take time, especially buildings such as Siggy. Tony G's legacy is attached to this tower. It may be delayed and pushed back but I believe it will happen. We can debate all day long (and it's fun) what will become of this project but in the end I believe Siggy will stand tall. People thought Tony was crazy for building the Viridian and the Encore but there they are... I know these are buildings of different magnitude but still... there they are. Nashburg is taking the housing slowdown well and other deveopement downtown is coming along... Nashville is headed in the right direction.

my two cents...

I happen to agree wholeheartedly with your two cents.

[monsoon]

The previous posts that this project "just has to happen" because "Tony is doing it" simply ignores the basic fact that it will only be built if the banks will provide the financing to build the tower based on a certain amount of sales.

[reednavy05]

I have read alot on the projects in Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. He should not only market in America and looking for financing by an American bank. This town is making a name for itsself, not only in the South, nor America, but the world. Garnering such international attention by Nissan and other companies is incredible. Yall just llok back 15 years. We didnt have the Bellsouth Tower, 5/3 Ctr. at 490 feet was the states tallest, Nissan was still in SoCal, and Nashville-Murfreesboro MSA didnt even have 1million residents. Now look 1.4 million and growing strong, Nashville alone pushing 600,000 Williamson County bringing in major brand companies,Rutherford County home of Nissan, states only Money Mag. 100 best cities listed, Montgomery Co. home of Fort Campbell, and Dell in Davidson and Wilson Counties. people, this mertopolitan area will only become more cosmopolitan, more cutting edge, and only better. If this project fails now, in about 10-20 years, it will another will come along and WILL happen.

[Jeeper12]

People thought Tony was crazy for building the Viridian and the Encore but there they are.

Two comments. First, I don't think there was the widespread skepticism about either Viridian or Encore that you suggest. Two, wasn't there another player driving the development of both of those two projects ? From what I gather, Mr. Girantanna walked into a lawyers office signed some papers and relenquished all control over those deals to Jim Borders, retaining only a minority interest. As Novare pondered whether to move forward or not with Encore Girantanna had virtually no say in whether it was a go or no go. It's a good thing Jim Borders has a healthy ego and focuses more on profits than who takes credit otherwise he'd get a complex over how his Nashville projects get covered. To be fair, Girantanna's company has managed the sales office of these projects (with staffing, training and logistics support from Novare) but I'm not sure that role and his minority equity interests merit the praise you and some others constantly heap on him as the man "single-handedly rebuilding downtown Nashville". IMO there are quite a few other folks, including Jim Borders, making as much or more of an impact.

[Duke32]

**** DELAY ****

I know Metro is going to jump all over this with an "I told you so".

New drawings are coming out in January and the project will be re-bid in February. Contracts were to be awarded next week, but it looks like that won't happen now until late 02/07 or 03/07.

[jice]

New drawings? That can't be good... can it?

[Duke32]

New drawings? That can't be good... can it?

I was expecting this since the first set wasn't 100% complete. Several structural items weren't fully designed yet. I would expect 4 or 5 more revised sets before an "Issued for Construction" set comes out.