Penthouse offer at new high for market

73 condominium units coming to Northwest Portland will top out at $1,000 a square foot

Tuesday, May 03, 2005
DYLAN RIVERA
The Oregonian

So you think the Pearl District or the South Waterfront, the upcoming waterside neighborhood with its 21st-century slender towers, has set the high end for condo sales in the Portland area?

There's a new contender. Developer Marty Kehoe on Monday bought a 1.62-acre sliver of Northwest Portland that will offer nine penthouse units asking from $565 to $1,000 a square foot -- as much as $3.5 million for a 3,500-square-foot unit with the most amenities. That could surpass the penthouse prices of about $600 to $700 a square foot in the city's two newer urban neighborhoods.

"It gives you the best of the old and the best of the new," said MJ Steen, principal broker listing the condos with Windermere Cronin & Caplan Realty Group Inc. "You'll be coming out of Northwest Heights and overlook the Pearl District and the city."

Though the project, called The Cambridge condominiums, has not yet been publicly marketed, word of mouth has produced 90 nonbinding reservations for the building's 73 units, Steen said. The team said it is trying to limit sales to future residents rather than investors.

The building won't be ready for residents to move in until early 2007, Steen said.

Real estate observers said the project could meet its lofty goals if the developer can meet the increasingly exacting standards of Portland's top condo buyers. Spacious living areas, custom cabinetry and Mount Hood views are some of the basic elements. Two potential buyers so far have asked for built-in espresso makers, saunas and combination steam-room showers that are pushing prices to a new level.

Kehoe on Monday paid $3.3 million for the land he bought from the Drake family of Portland. The site is part of the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital, which moved to the Sunset Corridor several decades ago.

"The consumers are smart, and they're discerning, and I think there are consumers in Portland, Oregon, who would pay $1,000 a square foot for the right penthouse," said Kathy MacNaughton, a broker with Realty Trust Group Inc. "But it has to be the best in Portland, and there's a lot of competition."

MacNaughton is listing other condos but is not involved in The Cambridge project.

The 73 units in The Cambridge project will rise only about five stories, with about three stories peeking over Northwest Westover Street, between Glisan and Irving streets.

"You're going to appeal to a traditional buyer that wants that neighborhood," said Kirk Taylor, a multifamily investment broker with CB Richard Ellis, which represented the buyer and seller in the land deal. "They're not disturbed by pricing."