Rooms with a view

The views from the most expensive luxury condos in downtown Boulder are as breathtaking as you would imagine. The iconic Flatirons dominate the landscape, and glow warm in the early morning sunrise. Flagstaff Mountain looms over the parks around the Chautauqua Auditorium, and the city and university campus sprawl to the south. Beyond are the open spaces that fill out the sweeping vista of the Boulder Valley.

The views, seen from private rooftop decks and through floor-to-ceiling windows, along with state-of-the-art kitchens and home theaters, luxurious amenities, and downtown locations, are what make condos along Canyon Boulevard and Walnut Street among the priciest along the Front Range.

The view also is great if you’re a real-estate agent who works the luxury condo market in Boulder. But instead of the soaring Flatirons, the outlook is climbing prices with more people looking to buy than are willing to sell.

In fact, it’s beginning to look increasingly like 2006, said John McElveen, a broker with Re/Max of Boulder.

One of his properties, the penthouse at the Eleven 55 Canyon Residences, sits atop the list of the most expensive condos currently on the market, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

The 4,300-square-foot penthouse has three bedrooms and four bathrooms and is selling for $5.33 million. The condo’s interior was designed by architect Harvey Hine and includes a home theater with stadium seating that boasts six comfortable leather recliners. But the outside might be nicer, with 1,200 square-feet of partially covered deck space. A private elevator takes residents to their three parking spaces in the underground garage.

McElveen has decades of experience in Boulder, and luxury condos are a specialty. After some slow years, he once again likes what he sees.

“In the luxury condo market, it’s been a good year. We’ve sold a lot of inventory, and there’s not a lot for sale,” McElveen said. “We’ve seen increasing demand and decreasing supply. I wouldn’t say we’ve gotten to 2006 prices, but we’re getting there.”

That was the year Eleven 55 Canyon went on the market. Back then it seemed like buyers would immediately snap up any property that went on the market. Those years in the mid-2000s were the boom years, and the frothy market led to construction of Eleven 55 Canyon, the penthouses above One Boulder Plaza, The Walnut, and The Arête.

The Arête boasts the second most expensive condo on the market, with one of its three penthouse units selling for $4.3 million. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo is 3,736 square feet. Karen Bernardi of the Bernardi Real Estate Group is representing the seller.

While the prices are returning to 2006 levels, they won’t be accompanied by a similar building boom, certainly not downtown. A combination of available land, conservation policies and market size mean those are likely to be the last buildings to come on the market for what could be a long time.

“We have a finite supply of product,” McElveen said. “It’s not as if there’s anywhere to go here. There’s no place to build, or you’d have to tear something down to build it.”

Beyond the deluxe properties on Canyon and Walnut, other, smaller buildings around downtown are enticing.

A two-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,949-square-foot condo at the Pearl Street Lofts, on the market for $1.325 million, is an example. The condo is tucked into a quiet and up-and-coming neighborhood on the west side of downtown, just a few blocks from the Pearl Street Mall. Joel Ripmaster of Colorado Landmark Realtors has the listing.

While downtown condos command the highest price tags, condos in walkable and interesting neighborhoods outside the area are pushing above the $1 million mark.

“The north end of town is getting built out more, and there are starting to be a few more places as you move north along Broadway,” said Sue Masterson, a broker with Re/Max of Boulder.

She has a property in that category, a 2,585-square-foot townhome at 2832 Broadway. The condo has three bedrooms and four baths, and while it doesn’t have the commanding views of the Flatirons, the patio and deck overlook the foothills and open space that border Boulder to the west.

It’s about 10 blocks from downtown, but North Boulder Park and several markets and restaurants are within a three-block radius.

Masterson said young professional couples compete with empty nesters for properties in that price range.

Just as you shouldn’t focus on just a few blocks downtown, you shouldn’t ignore the market below $1 million.

“There are other things happening other than the $1 million plus market,” McElveen said. One reason for that is because new properties in the $700,000 and up price range are in the works.

They might not be available very long. Scott Holton of Element Properties is building a four-unit project at 601 Canyon. The units will be about 1,300 square feet, and the asking price was around $700,000. All four units have been sold.

“I wish I had a lot more to sell,” Holton said. “They literally flew off the shelf.”

Holton agrees with McElveen that downtown is reaching the point where it’s getting built out, and that’s creating challenges for developers and designers and forcing them to get creative. One happy result, in his opinion, is that the new projects in the works are better projects.

“Even though the market is coming back, there’s an emphasis on quality. You have to be in a walkable location, it needs sustainable features, and it has to be a good design,” Holton said. “It’s not the market of 10 years ago, where developers had an ‘if you build it, they will come’ attitude.”

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