The Monthly Cost of Luxury Living

Condo fees fund the daily operations and maintenance of most condo buildings. They cover security, landscaping, cleaning of common area, common area energy use, maintenance, and other key building functions.

With this posting, we are publishing the condo fees of two new ultra-luxury projects, The W Hotel & Residences and the Four Seasons Residences, for the first time. Our previous analysis has noted that he prices in the new buildings that we have looked at are surprisingly constant — they have varied from $0.28 / SF / Month to $0.40 / month — an amazingly tight range. With these two new projects, this is no longer the case. According to our research, the condo or home owner association fees at both buildings are set at $0.61 per month — 50% higher than any other building we have reported on and 85% higher than middle-of-the-road projects like 360. While it should be no surprise that the Four Seasons and W are more expensive than the Hilton, it’s sets a new and unprecedented price for luxury condo living in Austin.

Almost universally, Austin condo fees are calculated on a dollar-per-square foot basis. The rate typically remains relatively constant on all units throughout each building. So, condo fees are not higher for more expensive units, or units with more bedrooms, or units on higher floors compared to less desirable units of the same size in the same building. The only thing that matters is the number of interior square feet. If anyone has numbers for other buildings, send them to us and we will add them to the list.

Here are the updated building-by-building statistics:

Fee by Building – – – – – $ / SF / Month
Avenue Lofts……………..$0.28
Milago…………………..$0.31
The Sabine……………….$0.33
360……………………..$0.33
Plaza Lofts………………$0.33
The Shore………………..$0.36
Five Fifty Five Condos…….$0.40
W Hotel & Residences………$0.61
Four Seasons Residences……$0.61
Average………………….$0.40