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Some of the hottest San Diego condos for sale in 2008 will likely be in Sapphire Tower, whose developers just broke ground on March 31, 2007. The new condos are being planned and developed by Centurion Partners and Avion Development, two companies based in Newport Beach, California. The state of construction for the new condos is still in the early stages of concrete and foundations, but the plans for this downtown high-rise are grand. After completion, Sapphire Tower will stand a full 32 stories tall on the corner of A Street and Kettner Boulevard in the heart of downtown San Diego.

There has been an upswing in the development of luxurious San Diego condos recently, a trend that has been seen in many big U.S. cities. With more young professionals, singles and baby-boomers looking for living spaces that are easy to maintain and still luxurious, condos offer an ideal option. The new condos will feature granite slab countertops, Kohler plumbing fixtures, large wardrobes and private balconies in most of the units. The complex will also offer community amenities such as a sundeck, pool, spa, fitness center, underground parking and ocean or bay views. There will be condos for sale in studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom luxury floor plans. The development companies, with San Francisco-based general contractor Swinerton Inc., poured 3,100 cubic yards of concrete with 390 truckloads of concrete on the first day of construction alone. Excavation of the site took 10 months according to Larry Zimmerman, project executive for Centurion. A whopping 55 workers helped with the concrete-pouring project on the 31st, with 50 to 55 trucks moving the concrete materials to the job site. “You would have to give the whole team an ‘A' for planning and coordination,” said Zimmerman. “This is a very urban site with the building to the property line on all four sides.”

The San Diego condos are far from complete, but they plan on moving into the next phase in July. That will be to pour the street-level slab for the new condos. Sapphire Tower is scheduled for completion by late 2008, at which point the 15 different condominium floor plans will be available for viewing. The new condos are already for sale, though, for anyone who is interested in a pre-construction condominium. In fact, the bottom-level studios and the upper-level penthouses have already sold. There are a total of 97 San Diego condos for sale in Sapphire Tower.