The Crux Of Deluxe
With 'Luxury' Condos, Room for Interpretation

By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 1, 2008

Not just any granite, but Italian granite. Not just a 24-hour front desk, but a concierge who can secure tickets to the Kennedy Center or replenish your supply of milk in a pinch. Not just a parking space, but an on-call limousine.

In a market where condominiums can sit empty for months, developers are still pushing ultra-expensive homes, betting that even in a slump, luxury will be snapped up.

But when it can sometimes seem that almost every building has adopted the "luxury" label, how can how you tell the difference between the real thing and poshness that's only average? Are granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances enough, or must the granite be imported and the appliances high-end?

"You know what they say about granite and stainless? That it's the new avocado," said Joseph Himali, principal broker at Best Address Real Estate.

Some developers and real estate agents sound miffed at the frequent use -- they say abuse -- of the luxury label.

"I think they are using 'luxury' for buildings that don't leak. If you have a dry building, you have luxury," said local developer Anthony Lanier. "Tell me one ad that says 'I am not luxury, I am pedestrian.' "

A few years back, developers touted luxury gourmet kitchens, but in the past year the luxury label has been put on entire units or buildings, said Tim Liu, publisher of dclofts.com, a Web site that tracks new condo projects. He said, "Stainless steel is stainless steel, but are they using the high-end Viking" appliances? Attention to detail -- solid wood doors, dimmer switches, quality windows -- makes a real difference, Liu said.

There is little agreement on what is takes to rise to the level of a luxury apartment, besides basics such as a pool or gym and a 24-hour front desk. Many real estate agents would snub a unit without a washer and dryer, parking space and storage unit. Yet some argue that the ultimate luxury is a blank canvas, an empty condo ready for a buyer or his decorator to design the final product.

Sometimes the lack of one amenity -- a washer and dryer, for example -- can be offset by an abundance of another.

The Prospect House in Arlington, considered among the region's luxury condominiums by several agents, doesn't have washers and dryers in the apartments.

But residents have a dramatic view of the Iwo Jima and Jefferson memorials and the Capitol from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living rooms of most units, said Patricia Darneille, who has lived in the building for more than 20 years. That makes up for a lot, she said. "Even yesterday on a gloomy rainy day, you look out the window and it's magical," said Darneille, an agent in Century 21 New Millennium's McLean office.

The market for the highest-end condos is limited. The median prices for condos in the District and Montgomery County last year were $350,000 and $285,000 respectively, according to the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors. The average sales price in Northern Virginia was $341,840, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. Units selling for more than $900,000, for example, accounted for less than 4 percent of the market in the District.

What could entice someone to pay those premium prices? What about an elevator that opens directly into your unit? That is among the offerings Turnberry, a Florida-based developer, is promoting in its 26-floor condo building scheduled to open in Arlington next year. "People love it. They can be as private as they want," said Jim Cohen, vice president of sales at Turnberry.

With the elevator, European kitchens, a concierge and a limousine -- available on a first-come, first-served basis -- Turnberry caters to residents with expensive tastes. Like many luxury condo developers, Turnberry maintains that the wealthy are largely immune to the market downturn, although some developers and agents admit a little sluggishness in sales and a need to reduce prices slightly.

"Maybe our sales are off a bit, but not to the degree that is happening nationally," Cohen said. "We feel very strongly that the rich stay rich. It is not what they're going to make. It is what they have already made."

At the Mercer and Wooster, two adjoining loft buildings in Clarendon where several units have sold for $1 million, developer Jim Abdo points to the granite countertops that are standard. Then he corrects himself. They are not just granite. They are honed Italian granite he choose for a softer, organic look. He points to the 140-year-old brick brought in from a former convent and wrapped around interior columns and then to the places in the wall where speakers and iPod docking stations have been wired.

It's the attention to detail that raises the value of the units, Abdo said. "You can't build a vanilla box and put in granite countertops and call it luxury," he said.

Lanier also says countertops don't count for much. "Granite countertops or stainless steel are as unexciting a standard for luxury as the difference between green paint and white paint," he said.

Instead, a building's bones are important. "You can change the marble top in a bathroom, but you can't change ceiling heights," Lanier said. "You can't change whether the mechanical systems are effective. You can't add an elevator."

For example, Lanier said that at 22 West, his next D.C. condo project, the units will have sophisticated ventilation systems and be soundproofed to block city traffic noise.

And what about the condo owner who shrugs off a front desk and a pool, who is unmoved by even top-of-the-line granite?

For some, location is the only luxury needed, said Gigi Winston, principal broker at Winston & Winston. "Sometimes luxury and convenience go hand in hand -- being near the Kennedy Center, near the Georgetown waterfront," Winston said.

From his sixth floor unit at Washington Harbour in Georgetown, Steve Mottaghi can watch the sun set over the Potomac River. "Easily, having the water view is key," said Mottaghi, 46, the owner of several small businesses, including Hugo Boss retail stores.

Anne Hurley and her husband did not fall in love with their two-bedroom co-op at the Watergate for its countertops or appliances but because of the view and a level of service she said makes life easier. "You can have those things, but I would rather come in and have a spectacular view and add that in later," said Hurley, an artist and jewelry maker.

Other buildings offer potentially larger units, but the Watergate's secured parking and proximity to grocery stores and restaurants tipped the scales, she said. And the Watergate's doting staff helps residents with groceries and announces guests. "The services, it was just a total different ballgame," she said.

After retiring, Art and Marlene Hartstein stretched to afford a two-bedroom condo at Abdo's Mercer in Clarendon. It is smaller than the Rockville house they sold, but it's only 1.4 miles from their daughter in Georgetown -- and thus their grandchildren.

It has 10-foot ceilings and an open floor plan. The floor-to-ceiling windows, with their park view, have sapped her desire to travel or even leave home, said Marlene Hartstein, who recently retired as a reading specialist for Montgomery County public schools. Hartstein, who grew up in a four-room apartment in Brooklyn, said the condo is a chance to live in a way that she and her husband of 45 years always assumed would be unattainable.

"You are living in a quote, an apartment, but you feel as if, though, it's almost like a treehouse," Hartstein, 64, said. "The feeling of not being confined is truly a luxury."