Condos for cars now available in Rochester
Oct. 24—ROCHESTER — Specialty car owners looking for options to store their collectible vehicles for winter have a new option: Roadhouse Motor Condos, the new community of car condos in northeast Rochester.
Two local developers, Steve Penz and Al Ihde, decided to build the car condos — or luxury garages where car owners and friends can hang out — after seeing similar communities pop up in major metropolitan areas over the last few years. The car condo community is on Penny Lane between the Rochester Gymnastics Academy and Tommy's Express Car Wash.
After construction delays pushed back the expected completion date, Joe Chase, Jay Christenson and Loam Commercial Real Estate have two model units ready to show off.
Each car condo is able to be customized to each owners' liking. The condos will be sold as "white boxes," which, like the name suggests, means each condo will be complete with sheetrock walls, a heated concrete floor, fiber optic cables and electrical and plumbing stubbed in.
After that, there's an "a la carte" list from which owners can pick upgrades to customize and finish their car condo.
Both model condos are finished with lofts and entertainment areas, but don't have the most luxurious of customizations inside, including a car lift, which would allow owners to hoist their car up for guests to admire from all angles. If you prefer the look of the model condos, those are available for purchase.
The condos can't be used as a business or a residence, but they are good options for real estate investments.
There are three different size options for the condos: 750 square feet, 1,000 square feet and 1,600 square feet — measurements that don't include any addition of a loft upstairs.
Prices for white boxes start at $179,900 for a 750-square foot spot. The 1,000-square-foot condos are listed for $219,900, and the asking price for one of the two available 1,600-square foot condos is $325,900.
It's not as though a car condo is inexpensive to purchase. So why invest in such a specialized property?
For Chase, it comes back to being in a like minded community full of car lovers.
"It's kind of a show-and-tell thing," Chase said. "They're going to be going from condo to condo, coming up and having a beer, watching a football game or a baseball game or NASCAR, talking about cars. There's a lot of folks in this town that are into really expensive cars, and those cars are going to be worth more than buying this condo.
"It also frees up more space at home. Some of these cars are incredibly expensive cars, over $100,000 or much more. They have kids and grandkids riding the bike in (the garage) and smacking into the car. This is a good way to move your belongings, your passion, your vehicles to a gated, secure facility and have a place to go. This is also a man cave or she shed. You're also developing and creating this brand-new, customized space that you can come to gather, to entertain, to shoot pool or throw darts."
There will be two 1,600-square foot condos available. One, pictured below, will feature two garage doors, while the other has one. A patio area with a canopy sits between the two largest condos.
