[NW Mike]

Here is a pretty good article I wanted to share.

http://www.crosscut.com/mossback/1546/

Does anybody else think these names are kinda goofy?
Ever city you go the names stay the same. Its almost like Walmart/Bestbuy/Gap....You can go all over the country and live in a Lumen or a Cosmopolitan. What do you think?

[mersar]

Yep. Everywhere suffers from the problems of names that are the same, or are just plain goofy. The most ridiculous names are when its trying to make it sound like its something far more deserving of the name (such as a new one for Calgary, called 'The Astoria', which is far from being a gem). Or 'Oscar', which is marketing itself as being a high end 'life of the stars' type development when the building itself is in the top 5 worst designs ever unveiled for Calgary IMO. The simply weird names are also common, the current/recent ones for Calgary include: Vetro, Sasso, Brava, the Vento, Arriva. Mind you, some of these are actually fairly nice buildings, especially Arriva which is the tallest condo in the city currently.

[Holden West]

Here in Victoria, we have cracked the mystery of where condo names come from. Yes, we have a new Astoria (http://www.concertinvictoria.com/astoria.html) too (ours is not "The Astoria")

We have evidence that our condo names are created using a top secret machine called the Condo Name Generator™©®. Your construction budget and ideal tenant profile is inputted into the Generator and a suitable marketing name is spit out.

Right now, Victoria's Generator is programmed to lean towards vaguely Italian/Spanish names or names with vowels at the end (Astoria, Vicino, Juliet, Belevedere, Corazon, Aria, Aquattro, Michelle etc.)

The Condo Web Page Generator™©® is a more sopisticated machine than the Condo Name Generator™©®.

There are more input parameters with the CWPG, for instance with the photos you choose from "Cafe couple--chai or latte, young and hip or senior but still funky?" and of course, waterfall spring or fall? And of course "Sunset strolling couple--breakwater or seashore". Then you choose your theme, Urban Hipster, Old World Charm, Nature at Your Doorstep or "Mystery Grab Bag".

Mystery Grab Bag is the cheapest option, but beware--the developers of the Wing (http://www.thetrac.ca/resources/docuploads/2006/04/Vic%20West%20condo%20project%20in%20receivership.pdf) (R.I.P.) chose it and they ended up with a flying kayak, so choose with caution.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j142/Theoldvictorian/126741267.jpg

[zilfondel]

I like the 25% sold thing - I bet they advertise that before they even have potential buyers!

[NW Mike]

:lmao: That is the Crappiest Ad I have seen. OMG!! 25% and a Guy in his kayak. But I know every city has crappy ads. Its so sad how they try to sell themselves. Escala in Seattle is having a silent action coming up and it wants its future home owners to fork out $400 each to attend. Its all part of the classic thing to do....Help out the helpless or some organization. They feel they will be able to connect to the community this way.

[Holden West]

If you're wondering why the condo was called "The Wing" it's because it was built on land that formerly housed the clubhouse of the Royal Canadian Air Forces Pacific Wing.

It's now in recievership but rumour has it that the unfinished project is so poorly constructed it should be torn down.

Our mayor (himself an architect) has said it was the ugliest building he's seen in 10 years at City Council.

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/vitc/20060421/215354-71826.jpg