The Kenten | 40m | 9s | Davignon Martin

That reads like the tackiest sales pitch ever. "We have the best amenities imaginable" and then it's like a fancy shared kitchen/dining room and a TV room 😂

But I do love the refresh, it's gonna look great.
 
"As an added bonus for residents of The Kenten, stalls can be gated for additional security when they are away on extended trips, embracing a true lock-and-leave lifestyle."

Ah yes, the true spirit of a community where you know your neighbours is to lock everything the hell up when you are gone.
 
Does anyone know if this is a full teardown of the existing structure or are they just stripping it down and using the steel or concrete skeleton of the existing structure? I always assumed the latter since the height is the same as the existing building.
 
It's an interesting project, in that it's keeping the existing retail frontage on Kensington Road but rebuilding the tower portion on the south. It's still a tough sell from a value perspective with nearby options, but location and nearby amenities can probably be positioned effectively to drive enough interest. Everything seems expensive now - particularly in this areas.

It's a narrow niche market, but I can see it - if you have money, want to live in Kensington, don't want an old place and want something of reasonable size - there's not a lot of supply for you. Fancy infills and old renovated houses are all 1.0 - 2.0M anywhere near Kensington and there's only a handful of these available at any time. It's also not actually that big of a project, only 42 units to sell. Perhaps that lowers the bar enough to see it constructed.

Unless I am mistaken, I thought the old building there was condos? I am curious how they were able to consolidate the units over time to actually allow for this type of dramatic rebuilding.
 
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CBBarnett said:
It's a narrow niche market, but I can see it - if you have money, want to live in Kensington, don't want an old place and want something of reasonable size - there's not a lot of supply for you. Fancy infills and old renovated houses are all 1.0 - 2.0M anywhere near Kensington and there's only a handful of these available at any time. It's also not actually that big of a project, only 42 units to sell. Perhaps that lowers the bar enough to see it constructed.
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I'm assuming these would be catered towards older, higher-income people who would downsize from mansions after their kids move out, to a more inner city location, but regular condos would be a step too far down in size, and infills/other homes in the area would be too much work to maintain.
 
Nawads said:
I'm assuming these would be catered towards older, higher-income people who would downsize from mansions after their kids move out, to a more inner city location, but regular condos would be a step too far down in size, and infills/other homes in the area would be too much work to maintain.
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That's what I would think to. Probably a net loss for the community for affordability and supply, hopefully the other development in the area can pick up the slack.

Kensington is interesting in that it seems to have a tiny internally-focused housing market that really concentrates itself into a small area creating demand for this kind of high-end product. My best guess it because Kensington is the only place in all the NW that offers high-amenity urban lifestyle option. Unlike many popular inner SW communities(e.g. Marda Loop), there's really only one option - you live directly a few blocks from the main street in Kensington or you don't have that walkable lifestyle. There's a hard barrier with the large escarpment to the north and ring of rich SFH neighbourhoods prevent much spreading of urban development interest. That means if you want the "Kensington lifestyle" - your options are limited, and your prices are higher! Making projects like this a thing.

Thinking more broadly, University District is starting strong to give an alternative choice for wanting urban, high-amenity neighbourhoods in the NW, plus the clusters of infills keep improving options in new pockets elsewhere that might one day become something bigger (Montgomery, 19th Street, 4th Street NW etc.) For now Kensington remains the most mature option in the quadrant.

TL;DR - we should build more Kensingtons everywhere, perhaps then the prices won't be so out of reach for most people.
 
CBBarnett said:
TL;DR - we should build more Kensingtons everywhere, perhaps then the prices won't be so out of reach for most people.
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I'm watching all these smaller multi-family builds in the north central neighborhoods with keen interest. Everywhere I go in neighborhoods like Tuxedo, Mt Pleasant, Capitol Hill, etc.. I'm seeing 4-8 unit builds going up, it literally feels like they're going up on every street, and I'm hoping these will help feed into some bigger builds with retail on roads like Edmonton Trail, 4th Street NW, or 20th ave NW, 24th ave NW and see some retail corridors evolve. We probably won't see anything like Kensington, but maybe some 19th st type areas.
 
Nimbus said:
^^^ Existing building is rental units. So the neighbourhood will lose rental stock for owners that "are away on extended trips".

Win? I call it a loss overall to the community.
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Some may say that reducing the number of people that have to go home to peach stucco is a win for their mental health. We're saving lives here.
 
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