SMDC Grace Residences Updates: Tower 1 Turnover and Site Pictures

Got some good news and not so good news.  A few weeks ago we went to the construction site of Grace Residences to check out progress (see here for our previous update). Also got word from our agent that Tower 1 Orchid, has already started turnover to unit owners as of March2016, which is within its revised timeline of 1Q to 2Q2016. That’s the good news.

As for the not so good news…

The agent assigned onsite, named Gerald, was kind enough to give us a tour of the Orchid tower to see what it looks like, as well as some amenities so below are some more pictures. When asked if Tower 2 – Lily is within schedule of 4Q2016 turn-over, he said that it might be safe to expect it by Jan2017. Sigh.

 

But we’re hoping the next 6 months is enough to do all these since individual unit owners also need to add their own constructions and fixtures etc.Tower 2 will take longer to turn-over as expected because it has so many units (all 20 floors) whereas Tower 1 had mostly parking and less than 10 floors for residential which they had to furnish. No towering cranes seen in Tower 2 so our hunch is that the construction is now focused on the inside (wiring, walls of individual units, semi-furnishings, fixtures, painting etc).

Was hoping to grab some lunch in the commercial stores in Tower 1 but it’s still undergoing construction. We asked Gerald what stores will be available, but he said he’s only sure about Save More. I hope there are nice dining places in Tower 1.

Gerald was kind enough to give us a tour of Tower 1 so above is their lobby, to the left is the receptionist and guard desks so there’s already a property management group catering to Tower 1 residents.The lobby is decent, with elevators going to the parking floors. Residents have a separate lobby and elevator leading to their units.

Above picture shows the outside hallway in 8th floor of Tower 1, where the far end shows you the view seen in two pictures above. The doors to the left are amenities such as gym, and another waiting area for elevators with a mini-lobby (with aircon and couch). Meanwhile to the left (not in the picture) are said to be function rooms for use of owners. Looks like it will be fun to make tambay in Tower 1 common areas.

The amenities have presentable labelled doors, such as above. We saw the gym too with the new equipments but it’s not yet operational.

As for the other amenities, not sure when the construction will be since exterior of Towers 3 and 4 are still ongoing finishing, and the swimming pools will be situated in between these towers. Basketball court near tower 2 is also non-existent as of this visit.

We forgot to ask when the amenities will be available, like do we have to wait until all towers have been turned-over, or can we enjoy the amenities already while Towers 3 and 4 are still being furnished? Maybe next time we’ll ask.

As for the countdown, we’re keeping it at 4Q2016 for now since there is no official word yet on the revised timelines. We’re hoping that Gerald was just managing our expectations, and that he didn’t want to overpromise. But January 2017 won’t be so bad compared to Dec 2016. Still, the earlier, the better.

God’s grace in God’s time. Hopefully soon!