Condos in this stately new-construction building at 4043 S Drexel Blvd in North Kenwood – Oakland have all the ho-hum finishes we hear about all the time — stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, hardwood floors — and one that really sparked our interest. Rubloff‘s marketing boasts of the “spa-caliber” master bathrooms (which include stone finishes, a whirlpool tub, a separate shower with body sprays, and radiant-heated floors). We tend to dismiss such claims as hyperbole, but toss a bizarre extravagance like heated towel rods into the mix and suddenly we’re paying attention.
Is a heated towel rod a luxury or just another superfluous weapon in the condo-finishes arms race? How much of a towel can a heated towel rod heat, anyway? And you have to hope those “spa-caliber” bathrooms have a high-caliber sprinkler system in case those bath towels get a little too toasty.
The development has twelve simplex and duplex condos with two or three bathrooms and 1,500 to 3,200 square feet. Five units remain, and prices range from the $260s to the $280s.