Opinions on the Central Park Condos

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

A friend of mine is thinking about buying a condo at the Central Park highrise downtown.  Does anyone have any opinions on it positive or negative that I can relay to him?   Or would you recommend another place to purchase a condo?

Thanks.

[cannon_fodder]

An acquaintance of mine lived there and enjoyed it.  His main complaint was a lack of "stuff" within walking distance.  I was only at his place a time or two and it was a nice "apartment" complex - no more, no less.

This was several years ago.  He since bought a house in midtown (why, I don't know.  He hates yard work, doesn't have dogs, is never outside, etc.).

[USRufnex]

Cheap prices, but high HOA fees (at least for Tulsa).
Resale is hard, buying might even be harder.

[Conan71]

An acquaintance of mine lived there and enjoyed it.  His main complaint was a lack of "stuff" within walking distance.  I was only at his place a time or two and it was a nice "apartment" complex - no more, no less.

This was several years ago.  He since bought a house in midtown (why, I don't know.  He hates yard work, doesn't have dogs, is never outside, etc.).

The Cellar Dweller is across the street.  What more could you need?

I lived there from Sept. of '87 to May of '89 when it was still an apartment complex and loved it.  Safeway was still open on Denver (might have been Homeland then, can't remember), they had a dry cleaner pick up/drop off on the first floor in my building (south tower), a bar in the north tower, fitness center, Double Tree was next door if you wanted a fancy meal and convention center was "across the streetish", there was a Git-n-Go on Houston on the south side of the BA.  And yes, the Cellar Dweller was open then, though it did get consumed by a fire one night.

Very ecclectic mix of people living there back then.  I have heard much the same as Ruf that HOA fees are high, though there are buildings with even higher ones like 2300 Riverside.

[TheTed]

No opinions on the condos, but there are definitely a few places within walking distance that are open nights/weekends. This is not even counting the tons of weekday restaurants.
Cellar Dwellar across the street
Baxters Interurban Grill 2-3 blocks away
Mayo bar/restaurant a few blocks away.
Elote, Ti Amo and Casa Lorado a few blocks away, plus the convention center and bok center.

And the entire Brady and Blue Dome Districts are about a mile away each. If somebody can't or doesn't want to walk that, move to the suburbs.

[cannon_fodder]

FWIW, those places weren't open 5 years ago.  When he lived there Safeway was closed and downtown hadn't really started to see new places open yet.

[wildgoose]

Be sure to do some homework regarding the new fire code.  I remember reading an article that basically was forcing the buildings to install sprinklers, fire walls, etc.....It was massively expensive, they were fighting it but I don't know if it has been resolved.

[sgrizzle]

I believe Kent Morlan is president of their HOA. You can email him Kent(at)morelaw.com with questions.

They did get all the fire code stuff done.

[sauerkraut]

Re-Sale could be a bear. If the price is very good then it may not be a bad idea. Today it's a buyer's market, But Tulsa's market is not that weak, Tulsa's home prices are holding up. Places like Indianapolis have some very good deals on homes many are bank owned and foreclosed and the companies just want to get rid of them and off the books so they will sell them at almost any price. A neighbor of mine has a sister in Indianapolis and she bought a home apraised at $65,000 for only $25,000. The real estate sites on line say alot about a market  too. I looked at homes on-line where I grew up in Warren, Michigan 48091 zip code (Detroit Metro Area) and homes that once sold for $130,000 back in 2001 are today going for $40,000, solid brick homes all with basements built around 1960. So if your retired or don't need to work and want a nice home cheap the Detroit suburbs are the place to go.  

[Red Arrow]

I visited a company in Detroit a few years ago (less than 10) that allowed employees to park their cars inside during daylight hours to make sure they had a way home at quitting time.   I think I'll stay in Tulsa (area).

[Wilbur]

I think you mean Center Plaza, not Central Park.

The Village at Central Park is at 6th and Peoria.

[OpenYourEyesTulsa]

My friend put an offer on a nice place at Central Park http://www.centralparkhirise.com/ but the lender informed him that they are not approved for FHA loans.  It sounds like they are working on becoming approved.  My friend needs to do the FHA loan because it has a much lower down payment so now he is looking at other places that are approved.  Here is the link to search for FHA approved condos if anyone cares: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm  

I looked at Liberty Towers http://www.libertytower.us/liberty.html with my friend and they are FHA approved but I noticed they are very odd because one floor smelled like people were smoking in the hallway and it was run down and another floor was really nice.

My friend is also thinking about some condos outside of downtown but wants to be near downtown.  It seems like outside of downtown you can get a 2 bedroom for the cost of a 1 bedroom in downtown.

[Conan71]

I think you mean Center Plaza, not Central Park.

The Village at Central Park is at 6th and Peoria.

It's Central Park Condos.  Hasn't been Center Plaza since they sold off the units in the 1990's.

[Conan71]

My friend put an offer on a nice place at Central Park http://www.centralparkhirise.com/ but the lender informed him that they are not approved for FHA loans.  It sounds like they are working on becoming approved.  My friend needs to do the FHA loan because it has a much lower down payment so now he is looking at other places that are approved.  Here is the link to search for FHA approved condos if anyone cares: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm  

I looked at Liberty Towers http://www.libertytower.us/liberty.html with my friend and they are FHA approved but I noticed they are very odd because one floor smelled like people were smoking in the hallway and it was run down and another floor was really nice.

My friend is also thinking about some condos outside of downtown but wants to be near downtown.  It seems like outside of downtown you can get a 2 bedroom for the cost of a 1 bedroom in downtown.

I agree you are paying for a certain amount of prestige and security in one of the downtown high rises.  That's probably worth the difference if that's important to someone.  You do, however, lose some convenience having to schlep items from your car in the parking garage through a secure entrance, up an elevator and to your pad.

[waterboy]

2300 Riverside. Nice building. Well kept. Well located. Don't know if anything is available though.