Luxe Market May be Slow, but The Ritz Residences are Chugging Along

Just as in Scrabble, where the two highest-point tiles are Q and Z, buyers talking to Sharon Quist about the Ritz Residences also score big. Quist, along with co-listing agent Kathy Myers, is fresh off her record-breaking sale of the Trevor Rees-Jones Ritz penthouse, last listed at $7.5 million.  Quist was not only co-lister but buyer’s agent on the deal. At over $1,200 per square foot, it’s the highest price paid for ANY condo listed in the Dallas MLS … EVER.  That’s how you roll when you’re “Sharon of the Ritz.”

Who’s the new owner of the penthouse?  A neighbor.  It’s what I’ve been telling you all along, if you’re a happy high-riser, you often just bounce around your building like pinballs until you’re happy or die. Quist herself is already on her second Ritz home.

But now that the penthouse has sold and the resulting thunder of champagne corks has died down, Quist has a new listing to tempt us.

Unit 1802 is a 4,390-square-foot unit listed for $4.13 million.  There are a lot of things that make this unit … well … ritzy … but having just one bedroom has to be the cake-taker.  I suppose being at the Ritz, all units actually have 218 spare rooms for guests.  I mean, who needs in-home guest rooms when you live atop a hotel? Further evidence that this is a “we” space and not an “us” space can be found in the one full and two half bathrooms. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.  The enjoyment of guests without the dedicated guest space has an appeal. Truth be told, even before the current owner tinkered with the floor plan, this “Plan B” configuration was always only a two bedroom.

The two towers of Ritz residences came online in 2007 and 2009.  Unit 1802 is in tower one. It was originally purchased pre-construction as a shell, but due to life changes, was never finished out.  The unit was sold to the current owners who finished it out in 2015.  So e-v-e-r-y-thing is new.  It definitely had that “new house smell” during my tour.

The foyer has custom inlaid stone floors that are not found in a typical Ritz finish out.  After all, when years pass from the initial construction and it’s a shell, you can up-class the Ritz. The foyer leads to a long hallway that contains his-and-hers offices that on the original plans were an office and media room.

“Her” office is in the former media room.  Because of the layout of the rest of the 18^th floor, they were able to enclose a service hallway running along the back of the photo.  This gave the owners extra closet space and about four feet of added depth to the room. It also doubled the size of the utility room.

The “his” office, decked in full sports regalia, has ample space … for a pinball machine.  It was enlarged from the original plans, taking space from a connected bathroom. The custom millwork and wood flooring seen in the rest of the home is the perfect mid-shade of stain.  We all know that the fashion of wood darkness or lightness seem to change with the seasons. This home has a well-thought balance.

The hallway opens to the grand living room and its wall of windows.  At 21’ x 23’, it’s large enough to make a large number of guests comfortable.  All the shades and lighting are electrically controlled for easy privacy or mood lighting changes.

As you saw in the owner’s office, sports are a big deal.  The living room houses matched TVs to simultaneously watch two games.  If you count the TV in the family room (out of shot to the right) it’s actually possible to see three channels at once from the sofas.  Now that’s a sports fan! Behind the TVs is the kitchen area and towards the back you can see a hint of the dining room.

And like all Ritz kitchens, this one doesn’t disappoint.  Attached to a less formal family room and breakfast area, the kitchen boasts ceiling-height cabinetry and an acre of natural quartz counters (the good kind). Book-matched Sub Zero refrigerator/freezers anchor the space.  I like the one level bar/island.  It makes for more usable space and it’s not like a sink being in the kitchen is so shocking it needs to be hidden.

As you can see, the jumbo fridge setup is matched with an equally party-sized double-ovened, dual-fuel Wolf range. Above that fire breathing range is the required vent hood, but the owners again cleverly didn’t waste any space.  The center door above the range houses the vent mechanics, but the cabinets on either side are available for storage.  Most times a vent that large would hog up the whole space.

Between the kitchen and formal living room is the dining room which at 15’ x 25’ can accommodate the largest of families.  You may have to go to Fearings to get a larger dining room at the Ritz.  Devotees of bling will want to hug the chandelier that looks like crystals hanging from tree branches.

Another shout-out to the floors.  In the main living spaces the rooms are bordered in a herringbone pattern.

On the other side from the living room is the master retreat.  I say retreat because … well, you’ll see.  The bedroom has two exposures of windows giving sweeping views from the Crescent Court to downtown Dallas (electric shades, of course). In the corner is the second fireplace for a little winter ambience.  Although I always wonder … is it odd to see a roaring fire 18 floors off the ground?  Maybe it’s just me …

As mystified as I am about high-rise fireplaces, I certainly “get” high-rise bathtubs centered in a window.  Now I can’t recall the last bath I took … not in Dallas and that’s been nine years (I shower, smartasses) … but I can definitely see myself jumping in and enjoying the views on a lazy Sunday. I might even fill it with water.

So where’d that extra bedroom go, you ask?  Here.  This is the “hers” closet … all 360 square feet of it.  See those handbags and shoes waaaaaaay in the back?  That’s the part of the originally planned second bedroom closet.  It also has a wall of windows behind where the photographer is standing. In the foreground you can see more splashy quartz and a mile of cabinets to house … well just about everything. No ball gowns you say?  Around the corner there’s a secret cubby for hanging extra-long frocks.

I’d show you the “his” closet, but after this, you’d weep from the gender inequality.  It’s not quite a bent wire hanger and a bare bulb, but at 110 square feet, it’s a third the size.

Need some air? There’s nearly 400 square feet of covered and protected patio space.  Because of architectural changes on the upper floors of the Ritz tower one, the patios on this side on these floors are not only covered, but recessed to cut some of the windiness.  If you didn’t know, the higher off the ground, the more the wind whips up.  In fact, it can be dead calm on the ground but quite blustery just a few floors up.  This patio protects any “movie toupees” from flapping in the breeze.

Whether you’re buying or selling at the Ritz, Quist is an agent in demand. So far in 2016, she’s the sales volume leader in Uptown, Downtown, Oak Lawn, and Turtle Creek (area 17 for those in the biz). Maintaining that spot for the rest of 2016 shouldn’t be tough, after all she was the volume leader for the area in 2014 and 2015 too!  How much is that?  This one agent accounts for just over 3 percent of all sales in this prestigious area. Want Quist to work some magic for you?  Invite her out for good barbeque … with a side of slaw.

As part of my Ritz tour we trundled over to The House to see another of her listings.  Wait and see … wait and see.

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a CandysDirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016, my writing was recognized with Bronze and Silver awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].