LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by lasteph

btw, the sales figures is not from the salesperson but is a guesstimate by looking at the units reserved on the price list..... it could be less, or more...... maybe someone knows the exact number?

OK, here's another reason why I'd fully understand it if you were skeptical about where I was coming from. If I wrote the words posted above, you'd probably expect me to say something like "the person who visited the sales ctr last night gave me a guesstimate, & I asked him (or her) what the exact number was but he couldn't tell me for sure".

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by lasteph

I'm pretty sure if I said "park fifth is cancelled!!", you would not question the source but respond like "I knew it, it won't pencil in "

to be honest, yea! But since the devlpr of the parkfifth has been described as working on his proj for over 30 yrs without success----& based on someone saying here several wks ago that a sales rep for the South Group mentioned their 4th condo tower, originally known as Jardin, is having problems getting financing----at least somewhat more plausible.

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by citywatch

[/b]
OK, here's another reason why I'd fully understand it if you were skeptical about where I was coming from. If I wrote the words posted above, you'd probably expect me to say something like "the person who visited the sales ctr last night gave me a guesstimate, & I asked him (or her) what the exact number was but he couldn't tell me for sure".

ok then, next time I'll go to the sales cntr, check the list and count off each and every unit and give you the EXACT count..... every other post where people give these numbers are all guesstimates also.... I'll even ask if the developer and title company can send you daily updates on the exact numbers sold so that you know that noone is "goofing" with you......

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by citywatch

[/b]
to be honest, yea! But since the devlpr of the parkfifth has been described as working on his proj for over 30 yrs without success----& based on someone saying here several wks ago that a sales rep for the South Group mentioned their 4th condo tower, originally known as Jardin, is having problems getting financing----at least somewhat more plausible.

to be honest, the sales cntr is open and they have been selling the units for a while now..... not sure how much more "real" you need this to be......

[citywatch]

^ Again, their web site says their sales ctr won't be open til fall. It originally said it would be opening in late summer. How else do you want me to react to all these mixed signals?

btw, at least you've gotten a good debate going on this proj. if it weren't for you, it wouldn't have gotten much beyond "is parkfifth's billboard going to be reinstalled?" Actually, maybe not even that. A forumer (sodha) mentioned seeing a sign on parkfifth's site a few days ago & no one seemed all that interested in that bit of info, or at least bothered to respond to it immediately.

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by citywatch

^ Again, their web site says their sales ctr won't be open til fall. It originally said it would be opening in late summer. How else do you want me to react to all these mixed signals?

btw, at least you've gotten a good debate going on this proj. if it weren't for you, it wouldn't have gotten much beyond "is parkfifth's billboard going to be reinstalled?" Actually, maybe not even that. A forumer (sodha) mentioned seeing a sign on parkfifth's site a few days ago & no one seemed all that interested in that bit of info, or at least bothered to respond to it immediately.

true, atleast we keeping the thread going for today....... either way I think your too negative, any positive news gets you riled up...... believe it or not, news doesn't always hit these forums first. I don't think developers post their news here so if you hear 1st or 2nd hand accounts on things it just might be true

[JDRCRASH]

How is being a resident of the valley relevant to lack of knowledge of the economic outlook of projects in Downtown Los Angeles?

Anyways, as long as "Protesting Traffic Babies" don't interfere, Park Fifth will go as planned.

Another factor that will come into play late this year is the "PARANOIA" of investors about the Housing Market on Wall Street.

I know this may sound a little random, but thanks in part from the media for blowing the soon expected reccession out of proportion, the American economy has become way too sensitive, and quite frankly its heavily costing our Local Downtown Boom.

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

How is being a resident of the valley relevant to lack of knowledge of the economic outlook of projects in Downtown Los Angeles?

nothing really..... it's only relevant to the general outlook due to the lack of having any 1st hand accounts in the hood.....

[PeterJ]

You have to be skeptical when looking at these projects. There is so much fluff out there.

And anything that comes within a hundred yards of a sales staff, you have take with a pound of salt.

That is why I appreciate Citywatch trying to dig a little deeper into the numbers. Some of the info reported on here could be people trolling and some of it could well-meaning people reporting sales fluff or sales pitch as fact.

As an example, I was told, 2 and half years ago, that Kor was going to put a Whole Foods in the basement of the Eastern Columbia. A week later, I was told by a different salesperson that the space was too small and that there'd be no way to ever have a Whole Foods there. A week after that, the original salesperson went out of her way to talk up the Whole Foods in the basement again. I had to tell her that I knew that was BS and that she needed to get her fibs straight with the other sales staff.

So when I hear this...

"btw, the sales figures is not from the salesperson but is a guesstimate by looking at the units reserved on the price list..... it could be less, or more...... maybe someone knows the exact number?"

I'm skeptical. Not because the poster is being nefarious, not at all, but because the numbers are coming from Sales. There are a number of things that could be going on.

1) They have reservations on 50% of units.

2) To create the illusion of demand and scarcity of supply, they are marking units as reserved when they are not.

3) To create the illusion of demand and avoid flooding the market, they are releasing the units in stages. They may be reserving or holding back 50% of units to release them next year.

Given how much posturing, wishful thinking and sales chicanery goes on in the real estate biz, it's good to know the provenance of a report or rumor. It's no disrespect to the poster. It just helps tell the whole story.

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by PeterJ

You have to be skeptical when looking at these projects. There is so much fluff out there.

And anything that comes within a hundred yards of a sales staff, you have take with a pound of salt.

That is why I appreciate Citywatch trying to dig a little deeper into the numbers. Some of the info reported on here could be people trolling and some of it could well-meaning people reporting sales fluff or sales pitch as fact.

As an example, I was told, 2 and half years ago, that Kor was going to put a Whole Foods in the basement of the Eastern Columbia. A week later, I was told by a different salesperson that the space was too small and that there'd be no way to ever have a Whole Foods there. A week after that, the original salesperson went out of her way to talk up the Whole Foods in the basement again. I had to tell her that I knew that was BS and that she needed to get her fibs straight with the other sales staff.

So when I hear this...

"btw, the sales figures is not from the salesperson but is a guesstimate by looking at the units reserved on the price list..... it could be less, or more...... maybe someone knows the exact number?"

I'm skeptical. Not because the poster is being nefarious, not at all, but because the numbers are coming from Sales. There are a number of things that could be going on.

1) They have reservations on 50% of units.

2) To create the illusion of demand and scarcity of supply, they are marking units as reserved when they are not.

3) To create the illusion of demand and avoid flooding the market, they are releasing the units in stages. They may be reserving or holding back 50% of units to release them next year.

Given how much posturing, wishful thinking and sales chicanery goes on in the real estate biz, it's good to know the provenance of a report or rumor. It's no disrespect to the poster. It just helps tell the whole story.

he wasn't questioning that. He was calling la311 and my post about the sales cntr being open lies..... and you want and exact number? 50% isn't exact.... so all the people here who post about sky lofts or any other project still having 10% or whatever remaining units unsold is not exact either. Why is their credibility not in question? perhaps citywatch likes the negativity and anything positive he tries to expose, which is a form of trolling.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by PeterJ

You have to be skeptical when looking at these projects. There is so much fluff out there.

And anything that comes within a hundred yards of a sales staff, you have take with a pound of salt.

Thanks, PeterJ, for saying it better than I could have. And your descriptions of personal experiences with salesppl, if not devlprs in general, is the reason, lasteph, I may come off as "too negative."

And when I have to deal with stories like the Medallion, which was supposed to have started construction (or at least broken ground) several Sundays ago, but DIDN'T, & which still hasn't even caused the parking lot it's to rise on to be mostly shut down, at least as of a few days ago, my motto has to be:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by lasteph

anyways let's just move on.... like it or not things are looking up!!!

I'll go with that! And, believe it or not, but I think we're both on the same page when it comes to following these various projs & hoping for the best. I'd say it's the ppl who are apathetic about the hood who are more likely to say things like "parkfifth? who cares about the details! Whether it breaks ground this yr or next, or opens mostly vacant & unsold, I have better things to think or worry about!"

[lasteph]

Originally Posted by k3d

^
^
^
^
C'mon people, this is really getting ridiculous.

sorry, let's move on....
anything new on concerto???

[LA311]

JEEEEEZZZ....Just to clarify...They are currently working out of temporary offices up on the 33th floor...sharing various offices with other people, while their permanent sales gallery down on the first floor is complete! Anyone can make an appointment to come in and check it out...although (at least a month ago or so) they didn't have much to show prospective buyers.

10,000 down gets you a reservation on your unit until sometime next summer, when they're scheduled to go into contracts...and ask for a total of 5% of your purchase price at that time...

[k3d]

Originally Posted by LA311

JEEEEEZZZ....Just to clarify...They are currently working out of temporary offices up on the 33th floor...sharing various offices with other people, while their permanent sales gallery down on the first floor is complete! Anyone can make an appointment to come in and check it out...although (at least a month ago or so) they didn't have much to show prospective buyers.

10,000 down gets you a reservation on your unit until sometime next summer, when they're scheduled to go into contracts...and ask for a total of 5% of your purchase price at that time...

This reminds me of how things change from what they originally say. I was going to buy at Roosevelt and they originally said 25K down (raised from 10K a few months earlier). Once we were ready to go to contract they wanted a full 10% to sign. This would have been fine if they had told me up front but since it was disclosed just as they were getting contracts we decided not to move forward. There were also many different descriptions of terms regarding the non-deeded parking spaces as well. Nice building though.

[Kev in L.A.]

On a different note...The Nokia Theater will be selling tickets to their opening concert starting Mon. Aug 13th. Anyone planning on going to see The Dixie Chicks and The Eagles on Oct. 18? I dont think I'm going but its still exciting to know it's only 2 months away! They have a seating chart of the place on the ticketmaster website too

[JDRCRASH]

^ ^ ^

Heard about it on the Radio of 93.1 Jack FM......
Its supposed to hold 7,100 people.

I guess I might go.....

probably look over the green fence to do a little snooping along Chick Hearn Ct. and see progress with the rest of L.A. Live, and maybe take some pics.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by k3d

^
^
^
^
C'mon people, this is really getting ridiculous.

Truth! I almost want to take him up on his offer to not share anymore information with us. It's just not worth it.

I'm not necessarily gonna believe everything that I read on here at face value. There are a few people on here that have shown themselves to be reliable with inside information that has not been generally reported. Outside of that of that I'd like to see some sort of link or corroboration before I accept it as fact.

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by LA311

Anyone can make an appointment to come in and check it out...although (at least a month ago or so) they didn't have much to show prospective buyers.

I've been hoping that someone, anyone, who either has personally visited that office, or knows someone who has, will give us an eyewitness description----even if it's one person removed----of what was seen & heard.

I'm guessing that the opening of parkfifth's sales ctr has been delayed for several months because of problems with the contractor? If so, I hope that slowness in getting interior work completed on things like model units isn't a hint of bigger delays in the future.

Originally Posted by lasteph

anything new on concerto???

If you know about the drawn out, dragged out nature of early work on that proj----where concerto's site sat dormant for several months----& all the guessing that went on about it, you'll have one more explanation of why skepticism (or I'll say caution) is in order when it comes to unverified comments & rumors about various new devlpt & proposals.

The devlpr of the Concerto said earlier this yr that highrise type of condo projs had such narrow profit margins that they no longer made as much sense to construct. Then there was gossip that he even had cancelled one of his 2 towers. Finally, around early july, word came out that his devlpt was resuming construction once again, & that the delay had been due to problems in reworking a loan from one of his funders.

It ain't over til the fat lady sings.

[BrandonJXN]

^ All you had to say is that construction had resumed. Sheesh.