Insignia’s Nat Bosa – Too Good to Be True? Hopefully Not
On Tuesday a few of us got the chance to chat with Nat Bosa, the Canadian developer, in his brand new sales center for Insignia, the first condo development to break ground after five years of essentially no building. And this isn’t just any old condo project, this is 706 units of premium condos in two huge towers close to downtown.
Since we’re late to the game – Curbed has the best photos, DJC has the best writeup and PSBJ covers the greenlighting of the second tower.
What hasn’t been as well reported is Nat Bosa’s passion. The animated 69 year old spoke at length about topics as random as diesel engines, oil fracking, and the history of Vancouver development. The must have said, “let me give you an example of that” ten times and then animatedly ramble on about another story. But he spent most of his time talking about sparing no expense to build the highest quality homes. (Consider that he’s already built 25,000 homes.) He’s also been at the forefront of pushing the next thing in amenities and so it is no surprise that Insignia is going to have a 41st floor sky lounge, huge 7th floor terrace, fitness atrium, yoga and pilates studio, screening room, pet area, pet wash, car wash, electric charging, bike storage and work area and indoor pool and spa. (I can’t think of another amenity that I’d want other than an indoor rock climbing wall.) But he emphasized that he doesn’t just invest in what you see, he invests in what you don’t see like a span coil system instead of heat pumps (I have no idea what a span coil system is) and some other mumbo jumbo about wrapping foundations.
He also spoke at length about his customer focus. “The only thing I have is my reputation.” He doesn’t build cookie cutter buildings; what works in San Diego and SF won’t necessarily work in Seattle. He doesn’t charge for upgrades. Everything comes standard, just pick your color pallet. If you have a problem he wants to hear about it first so he can fix it. I really believed him when he talked about standing behind everything he builds. As evidence he spoke (anecdotally) about the number of people who have bought at his other buildings lining up to buy here in Seattle. He also was proud of the fact that he lived in one of his own buildings and didn’t hide from fellow homeowners.
I left thinking all this was too good to be true. 707 premium condos, built by someone who really cares? We live in a city where nearly every major building has been embroiled in lawsuits and settlements. 2200 for $26 million. Mosler Lofts for $8.5 million. Gallery is going through a lawsuit now. How many developers and builders here have said they won’t do another condo? How many people will buy from Mark Schuster twice? A lot of people in Seattle’s last condo wave got burned badly.
Sure enough a search on Google for Nat Bosa and lawsuit turns up nothing other than some residents didn’t like their lobby so he ponied up $1m to re-do it. So maybe we finally have a standup developer on the side of the buyer and not out to make a quick buck. Nat only has this one parcel in SEattle though he is looking for more.
The grand opening is this Saturday at 2200 6th Ave. Who is going? If you go, let us know in the comments of this post what you think!
Some other things to consider:
- Ceiling heights are a little low at 8’8?
- Requiring 5% earnest money now with another 5% in 1 year with no contingencies for buyers in the Purchase and Sale Contracts (making the full 10% non-refundable)
Disclaimer: Insignia is an Urban Living advertiser.
