The other day, on the way back from Jack’s Diner for lunch, I walked past Carlyle’s Watch at the corner of Third and Gay Street in downtown Columbus. The signs outside showed that the building was open for viewing, so I decided to check it out.
I love the look of the building from the outside. It’s got a cool random pattern of dark, painted blocks on the south side, and greenish-blue windows facing Third Street. It definitely stands out from its surroundings.
The main model unit was just under 1,500 square feet, the largest layout except for the two penthouse units on the top floor. I did like the floor plan which had a long hallway ending in a living room/dining/kitchen area by the windows. The cabinets were cool, but were made of laminate rather than real wood. You would think that if you were asking somebody to pay $430,000 for 1,475 square feet that you would get top of the line finishings all down the line.
Here are some pictures of the model from Meyers Welsh architecture who developed the building.
Unfortunately, the actual furnishings in the model do not look like those in the picture. They weren’t nearly as modern or cool. One thing I found a little comical was that on a posterboard inside the model it was advertised that residents get a 10% discount off of food from the Subway on Gay Street. That’s a nice perk I guess, but is that really worthy of being advertised when spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a place?
I managed to tag along with an older man who was looking to buy one of the $750,000 penthouse units on the 7th floor. It was a pretty cool layout, but I have to say that I was a little scared by the windows. Maybe it’s because I live on the third floor with a balcony at the Buggyworks, but once I was in a few feet of the wall on windows at Carlyle’s Watch I got the feeling that if somebody bumped into me, I would crash through the glass and end up flat on the sidewalk. Spooky.
One thing to look forward to in the area is the Gay Street renovation on the way. Gay Street is currently a one-way road with restaurants and shops lining each side. Renovations by the city plan to make the road a two way with a grass median between the two lanes. (There’s the Subway where you can get 10% off!!)
Back to the condos, I found it weird how few parking spots each unit gets. Only the 3-4 biggest units out of 50+ get a spot for 2 cars. When viewing the rooftop deck, the realtor pointed to a 7 or 8 floor parking garage across the street where I could get an additional parking spot if I wanted to pay for it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the parking lot underneath the building. It’s a motorized parking system where in order to get to your car, the spots rotate up and down and around until your car is before you. I really wish I could have seen this, but I didn’t have enough time. I was told that it was the only parking garage of its kind in Ohio.
All in all, I liked Carlyle’s Watch, but wasn’t in love with it. The outside is awesome, but the inside didn’t live up to my high expections set after seeing the exterior.
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