Vista View

Investors own many of the 190 suites at Vista View Condominiums, mostly operating them through a rental pool, but there are also some resident owners. All residents must be over age 18 and no one is allowed to keep pets. Built in 1981 as a rental property, it was condominium subdivided in 1986. A majority of suites still appear to be held by one or two corporate owners as suites rarely come onto the resale market. The 12-storey building is concrete with brick cladding, offering some terrific views south across the Bow River Valley and north to Nose Hill Park.

Suites at Vista View have no in-suite laundries, but of course there's a large coin-op on site. The building also offers a games room, party room, gym, saunas, a tennis court, and parking can be rented for RVs. The condo contributions include everyone's in-suite electricity use and also cablevision service. Under the building and extending right out to all four property lines is a single-level in-ground garage with enough assigned common-property parking to allow one stall for every suite.

There are eight floor plans of one and two-bedroom layouts in standard square or rectangle shapes, varying little right through the smaller two top floors. One-bedroom suites start at 560 square feet, up through 735 square feet, while two-bedroom homes start at 825 square feet through a more spacious 927 and there's a single suite on the main floor of 1,044 square feet. There are no larger floor areas in suites on upper levels.

Exterior windows and doors at Vista View are common property for maintenance and their eventual replacement. I keep the Condo Plan on file.