People were wondering about the condo project next to the Poinsettia train station, so let’s review it, and a couple of other coastal projects, that have been underway for the last 2-3 years:
Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
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They built some live/work condos like those in Imperial Beach in the 90’s. They we’re on a main street and 1 house from the sand. Very nice and ended up a HUGE FLOP! When I saw the same thing being built in Carlsbad, I knew this wouldn’t fly. How come people and banks can be so stupid?
I’ve seen these work well – IN BEIJING and SHANGHAI – seriously. But not a low populated areas. So dumb. Whatever.
There’s a condo/commercial development in my town on the Central Coast. Over two years ago, 200 people showed up on the grand opening day. There were commercial (900 sf) spots on the ground level, and then 11 condos @ $699K with some low-income units too. No garages except an underneath parking structure for condo owners.
Two years later, 1/2 of the condos are rented, and only 3-4 commercial spots are sold/rented. Some of the unfinished commercial spots are now beings sold for $249,500.
There hasn’t been one condo sale even though the price has been continually slashed. I heard a few months ago, one of the co-owners of the development went before the City Council trying to work out a different deal with the city. The 5-member council voted unanimously against changing details from the original deal. The Mayor said the city was not here to help with a business deal that hadn’t worked.
My 2 cents? Even though you didn’t have to live/work there, the location was terrible (next to my favorite auto repair place and across the street from cheap motels). Also, there were 18 very steep steps up to the condos, and the view from the kitchens looked out to the poorest section of town.
Really, location, location, location sums it up! I woof every time I drive by it…
2 million seems reasonable for that bridge to me. Almost a bargain!
As for that live/work/play model, we have a lot of those back east. They work where the stores are more national chains or restaurants that can attract people from outside the complex. That one seems ill-conceived nad poorly located. And, like most of those complexs, without critical mass, it fails completely. Its almost a yes/no proposition on success, not degrees of success.
And, you seem to have this fascination with the Coaster. Don’t like it or something?
If it was live/work, wouldn`t that mean you didn`t need to live by a train station?
Similar (I believe) setup for sale in the MB area. I don’t think they are selling well either. At least the MB project is beach close and there is lot’s of traffic for the commercial.
Out of 16 units, only 12 have sold and I believe the ones selling are the cheaper ones and they all seem to go for under asking price.
http://www.sdlookup.com/Building-4151_MISSION-92109-327911725
Twenty-six hundred a month for a one bedroom live/work loft condo in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no business opportunities whatsoever? Are they nuts?
~Breaking News~ From the LA Times “Countrywide Agrees to Pay $600 Million to Settle Shareholder Lawsuits”
In part: “By ending the lawsuits, the accord would benefit a number of former Countrywide executives and directors who were named as defendants in the litigation. They would not have to help fund the payments to shareholders.”
Yep, that includes the “Tan Man”… Angelo Mozilo.
Full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-countrywide-20100803,0,5383116.story
Thanks Susie, here’s an excerpt (no mention of Mozilo making $17 million every five days towards the end):
By ending the lawsuits, the accord would benefit a number of former Countrywide executives and directors who were named as defendants in the litigation. They would not have to help fund the payments to shareholders. The defendants include longtime Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo, former President David Sambol, former Chief Financial Officer Eric Sieracki and ex-board members including former California Treasurer Kathleen Brown, 12-time NBA all-star Oscar P. Robertson and onetime U.S. Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros.
The settlement also would clear the liability of a list of financial firms that underwrote the Countrywide stock offerings and were named as defendants.
The defendants admitted no wrongdoing, and they have contested the allegations in the shareholder suit and other legal actions.
“Countrywide denies all allegations of wrongdoing and any liability under the federal securities laws,” Bank of America legal spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in a statement. “We agreed to the settlement to avoid the additional expense and uncertainty associated with continued litigation.”
How’s about the “Pacific Station” condos at E Street and Railroad Tracks in Encinitas? Should be interesting to see how they price those and if they move.
I’m afraid to say I don’t think you are very knowledgeable those live/work lofts. They are walking distance to a Ralphs and Starbucks. They are also located directly between Poinsettia and Palomar Airport Rd.
These units were taken back by the bank which has decided to rent the units because they won’t sell. If you take a moment to get a tour the units are actually quite interesting and have some pretty nice upgrades.
It doesn’t fit in Carlsbad, but the idea to have something near public transportation with the opportunity for people to have an office below is actually not all that bad of an idea. The bad part was the price point. Selling those units for $500-$600K would have been ideal and they would have moved.
In future if you are going to do a tour of something at least pretend to know what you are talking about. P.S. You point at low income housing, which wasn’t correct. It was further down the street and it’s actually more like middle income housing.
Thanks for your help.
Damn! That’s what I call service – thank you very much for the research, Jim. It was really interesting to watch.