The Strand Condos at 429 Somerset Street

[AiRON]

Good evening everyone! I’m AiRON - long time lurker, first time poster.

I’m looking at buying my first place and my search always seems to bring me to The Strand Condos at 429 Somerset Street. I love the central location and the prices aren't as high as the new builds I've seen.

I’m wondering if anyone has any information on the building. If you live there or have lived there, how do/did you like it? Are there any weird issues with it like poor sound proofing or bugs? I understand there’s currently a lawsuit against the builder, any details on what that’s about? (I searched for a thread on the building but came up empty - if there is one I apologize)

Thank you!

[cr872190]

Originally Posted by AiRON

Good evening everyone! I’m AiRON - long time lurker, first time poster.

I’m looking at buying my first place and my search always seems to bring me to The Strand Condos at 429 Somerset Street. I love the central location and the prices aren't as high as the new builds I've seen.

I’m wondering if anyone has any information on the building. If you live there or have lived there, how do/did you like it? Are there any weird issues with it like poor sound proofing or bugs? I understand there’s currently a lawsuit against the builder, any details on what that’s about? (I searched for a thread on the building but came up empty - if there is one I apologize)

Thank you!

I would be very cautious about buying into a condo at that age. The building is turning 12 years old next year and condo fees are at an average of $450 from what I can find. You can expect that to rise significantly over the next few years as windows need replacing, roof work gets done and mechanical repairs. I personally would never buy into a building at this age without interrogating the building management company about what work is expected to be done in the near future. Run yourself a cost analysis, it might be worth it to pay a little more for a newer building to save yourself the headache of rising condo fees or surprise charges.

[MattRichling]

Originally Posted by AiRON

I’m looking at buying my first place and my search always seems to bring me to The Strand Condos at 429 Somerset Street.

While I am not suggesting to buy or not buy in that building... You can get a great deal on the buy if the building is going through some issues (whether they are current or fixed). Many buyers will run when they hear lawsuit/special assessment/etc. which can make the building/unit hard to sell. Just make sure to examine and truly understand the issue before making a judgement call. Sometimes the risk can be worth it, other times not.

Edit... at a certain point in the "lawsuit"/talks, they enter a period where there is no new information. (forget what this is called). So it can be frustrating and hard to know what is going and how things are progressing. Talk to as many people/agents/owners as you can and try and get the full picture as best you can.

[rakerman]

All condos have pluses and minuses.

The Strand is a 2003 build from Claridge, concrete with brick facing.
Not the current style, which is concrete with all-glass curtainwall, but all-glass has its issues
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video...ticle21571875/

[AiRON]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated.

[fratopia]

Originally Posted by AiRON

Good evening everyone! I’m AiRON - long time lurker, first time poster.

I’m looking at buying my first place and my search always seems to bring me to The Strand Condos at 429 Somerset Street. I love the central location and the prices aren't as high as the new builds I've seen.

I’m wondering if anyone has any information on the building. If you live there or have lived there, how do/did you like it? Are there any weird issues with it like poor sound proofing or bugs? I understand there’s currently a lawsuit against the builder, any details on what that’s about? (I searched for a thread on the building but came up empty - if there is one I apologize)

Thank you!

Wondering if you ever ended up buying in Strand and whether you had any updates?

[Count Bla]

For Fratopia and others researching this condo building (Somerset and Kent), in its first years it had another name, quite possibly Soho (not to be confused with the other more recent SoHo projects in town).

[Chris-R]

Originally Posted by Count Bla

For Fratopia and others researching this condo building (Somerset and Kent), in its first years it had another name, quite possibly Soho (not to be confused with the other more recent SoHo projects in town).

The condo was marketed before construction as the "Soho Euro Flats" and following a decline in condo sales in the Ottawa market (2001-2002), the name was changed to The Strand (Winter 2002/Spring 2003), the project was reimagined somewhat, and sales picked up sufficiently to build. Disappointing pre-sales in 2001 and 2002 caused Malhotra to muse that he'd construct it as a rental if he could get provincial funding (which never happened). It was consciously aimed at the "young urban professional" who wanted out of the rental market, but who could not afford a building with many frills and luxuries.

(Compiled from Ottawa Citizen, October 13, 2001, September 13, 2002, February 22, 2003, October 18, 2003.)