They were put up for sale and gone before the coffee could get cold.

Pilothouse Real Estate says it sold all 75 of the units in Tridecca Developments' 258, a 16-storey condo tower on Sixth Street, in record time Saturday.

"All the homes were purchased in what I think has to be a record of 42 minutes," said Craig Anderson, project manager with Pilothouse.

The sell-out happened at almost double the speed of Pilothouse' last local development, Eight West, which sold 152 units in as many minutes.

Pilothouse offered a unique way of marketing the units in 258: In-Real-Theatre, an empty room rigged with computers and projectors to show life-sized floor plans and viewscapes from the condo's various types of units.

Anderson said the theatre became an "invaluable sales tool," when showing the yet-to-be-built units.

"It took all the guess-work out of purchasing," he said. "These people came in and were really comfortable, really quickly."

Anderson said the company plans to make improvements to In-Real-Theatre for future developments, possibly by including the ability to add colours to the floors and maybe even experimenting with holographic-like images broadcast on sheers to simulate walls.

Anderson said the neighbourhood at 258 Sixth Street will have a "blend" of new owners. The biggest noted demographics were investors who wanted to buy homes for their children to live in while keeping them close to home; couples in their mid-to-late 20s who are first-time buyers; and snowbirds who have sold off a much larger home, and want something smaller for the months of the year they spend in Canada.

He said there was also a growing trend of Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese buyers coming into the city, whereas they traditionally would buy in Richmond, Burnaby or Port Moody, something Anderson credits to the direction city hall and other developers are taking the city in.

Anderson said, based on his meetings with the new owners, there are no off-shore buyers planning to leave their units empty.

"I just don't see any. These are end users here," he said.

Construction on the 258 building is expected to start in the spring.

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