Condo Living: Buyers' Big Turn-On

IN A CONDO MARKET IN WHICH hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances come standard, sellers need something dramatic — yet practical — to make their properties stand out.

Welcome to the age of the flat-panel fixture, when 42-inch plasma televisions are included in the price of property.

High-definition televisions typically retail for about $2,000, which is "a big chunk of change," or a month's mortgage, says Kevin Gray, a sales associate at Logan Station (Loganstationcondos.com). The Bogdan Builders property, located on R Street in Logan Circle, has 62 units that come standard with 42-inch flat-panel televisions. "By offering a TV, it's one less decision the purchaser has to make."

Suddenly, TVs have become selling points and showpieces. It's as if condo owners, who miss out on the bragging rights a manicured lawn can bring, invest in a game of "pimp my entertainment center," tripping out their TV sets with toys from a burgeoning decor market.

Not only do these flat-panel televisions give sellers an edge — and a trademark — in a competitive market, but they also make things easier for buyers. The skinny, often gigantic sets can be costly to mount and destructive to walls. So, people are selling their high-end entertainment pieces as part of their condo units rather than dismantling the setup and potentially leaving gaping holes where the next resident will likely want to secure his or her own television mounts.

"A lot of people are going to leave a TV and just opt for upgrading when they move," says Steve Gerber, vice president of production for Bogdan Builders, which also developed Belmont Vista (Belmontvistacondo.com) near Adams Morgan. All of the 28 condo units at Belmont Vista come with flat panels installed either above the fireplace or in the living room.

"It's gonna have to be bolted to the wall, it's gonna make marks, it's gonna have to be weighted," says Gray. "You can set a giant television on a table, but it will dwarf the furniture."

Bogdan Builders typically hangs the high-definition screens above fireplaces, which means it also incorporates a design feature into the mantel to protect the plasma television from heat.

"Subconsciously, the buyer thinks: ‘If the builder's attention to detail includes that, they've probably taken care of other details like electrical wiring and soundproof walls,'" Gray says.

"There's a little bit of a mind play," he says. "If they put in a TV, they probably dotted their I's and crossed their T's."

Condos with flashy TVs may spare buyers extra expenses and hassle, but they're also creating new decor necessities. A cottage industry has sprung up around the movement to replace family portraits with futuristic televisions as living room focal points.

Plasma Window ($14.95-$22.95; Plasmawindow.com) introduced DVDs that loop like computer screen savers for the TV. Options for those who abhor a blank screen: Virtual aquariums, a crackling fire or a modern art painting, are broadcast in high definition.

"I bought a plasma TV, installed it and realized there was a lack of any artwork. It was like an empty picture frame on the wall," says Plasma Window creator Chris Gordon, a producer for ABC television in Los Angeles. "My first idea was for an art DVD, where different works would play every few minutes. We started adding images for relaxation, like ocean and waterfall scenes."

Gordon, who started the company four years ago, is currently shooting a virtual window series around the globe. He's using high-definition video to capture the view from a Paris window of people and their shadows passing the Arc de Triomphe. The "Cityscapes" DVD also will include panoramas from windows in London, St. Petersburg, Rio de Janiero and other cities across South America and Asia.

"If you have an apartment in Washington and you don't have a view, turn your 50-inch television into a window," he says. "It's different than a 20-inch tube TV; you'd hide that in an armoire or in the corner.

"But you wouldn't hang an empty picture frame on the wall," he says.

It used to rank among the highest sins of interior design — planting a television in the middle of a room — but today's sleeker models look almost like modern art themselves."

In its summer catalog, Pottery Barn Teen introduced the flat panel-friendly Stuff-Your-Stuff Platform Bed & Plasma Footboard, which makes no apologies about its television idolatry, either.

"The television has gone from an eyesore to a showpiece," says Sarah Plamondon, a spokeswoman for PBteen. "Now it's a focal point."

The footboard, which costs $599 for a full-size bed and $699 for a queen (the platform bed itself goes for another $1,099 for the full and $1,199 for the queen), lends itself to tight studio spaces. It holds a 37-inch flat-panel TV, conceals the cords and swivels for different viewing positions throughout the room. It can even double as a tool for type-A personalities: The back side has a cork board for notes and a calendar.

"Everything has a function; everything has a purpose," Plamondon says.

Plamondon said Pottery Barn surveyed teens to get a feel for what they wanted to add to their rooms. The No. 1 request? Incorporate the TV.

"Rooms are everything to teens. It's the one space in the house that is all theirs," Plamondon says. "Parents are letting teens have more creativity and input in their rooms. It's where they study, sleep and have friends over."
Pottery Barn expects to incorporate more technology into future collections, such as a proposed nightstand that doubles as an iPod or cell phone charging station, Plamondon says.

In the meantime, it seems the larger television screens become, the more likely the fixtures are to be left behind with the front-loading washing machines and top-mount freezers — the home amenities that can make or break a sale — when someone moves.

"People by no means search for new condos that include a plasma TV; it's an added perk," says Gray, at Logan Station. "You rarely find people who say, ‘I wouldn't want that TV' or ‘I wouldn't want HD.'"

Written by Express Contributor Josie Roberts
Photo by Lawrence Luk/Express