Quote:
Originally Posted by Echo Park
It's no more or less an exercise in futility than talking about something like City House or Zen.
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That's true too. When ppl, such as forumers, start getting too caught up in the nitty gritty of a proposal like the Titan towers or Zen, I feel they're setting themselves up for a big letdown. It's better to treat some of these proposals, be they new transit plans or new highrises, at arm's length, at least til their funding & timelines can be nailed down.
Even then, it still can be a roll of the dice. For instance, earlier this yr I thought it was almost a sure thing that the Glass Tower proj would be under construction no later than mid 2007. And because of the construction barrier at Flower & 11th Sts, I thought it was almost guaranteed that LA Central would be underway by now.
I'm still hoping the city will get an Xmas gift in the shape of actual work finally beginning on LA Central. But the clock is ticking, & that & any other proposal (if there is any) that may become reality before too long look like their birth yr will be no earlier than 2008.
Sure would be nice if the new federal courthouse at 1st & Broadway finally got underway. That's cuz, as is the case with the hdqrts of the LAPD, the courthouse tower is in a special category & therefore won't be competing with other projs for homebuyers, hotel guests or shoppers.
So right now the only proj on the near horizon: formal groundbreaking on the Grand Ave proj in February.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Affrojuice
Are we losing our middle class and replacing them with low socioeconomic foreigners that come here and start large families. Or are we replacing LA counties poor with the wealthy immigrants who are coming here and buying up real estate? Nothing against immigrants or the poor, I was just wondering.
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I hate to think that it's less likely that projs like parkfifth will actually breakground in the next 6 months, or that Meurelo will be able to start work on a new tower every so many months cuz LA, unlike NY, won't have the advantage of immigrants (or maybe they should be called extended stay visitors) like this:
New York Condos Lure Deal-Seeking Europeans
By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY
Published: December 21, 2007
The sidewalks of Manhattan are crammed this month with European tourists on shopping sprees, picking up gifts that cost far less in the United States than they do at home because of the weak dollar. But they are not just crowding into boutiques and department stores. Some are also shopping for condominiums.
“There’s bargains to be had,” said Kerry Miller, a public relations executive who with her husband, Marty, a disc jockey, was working through her Christmas gift list by buying sweaters at Abercrombie & Fitch and makeup at MAC, as well as touring 32 apartments. The Millers, from Malahide, Ireland, a suburb of Dublin, searched for a one-bedroom condo. They made an offer for $700,000 on one apartment in the meatpacking district and are waiting to hear back from the seller.
While natives remain wary about real estate and worry about bonuses and the economic climate, foreign tourists are keeping brokers busy with their eagerness to buy up Manhattan apartments, which many see as investments.
“The exchange rate is like a gift from God for Europeans,” said Danielle Grossenbacher, the broker for Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy who showed the Millers around. “Everybody is feeling they have an opportunity to purchase a piece of Manhattan.”
These buyers are transforming a traditionally slow month for Manhattan real estate brokers at a time when brokers nationwide are struggling to sell homes. This year, Manhattan brokers are waking before dawn to talk by phone with European buyers about amenities and closing costs and working late advising foreign buyers in town on the best places to shop for gadgets and clothes.
The number of foreign buyers has doubled in the last two years, according to data from the research firm Radar Logic. In just the last 18 months, they have bought one-third of all new condos that were up for sale, said Jonathan J. Miller, an executive vice president at Radar Logic and its director of research.
“We’d have had difficulty absorbing the elevated level of new development coming on the market without foreign buyers,” Mr. Miller said. “They are a key source of demand for new development.”
Donna Olshan, a Manhattan broker, said that in December she typically received calls only from a few Wall Street bankers who had gotten their bonus numbers. This month, she said, a record number of foreign buyers have called, sent e-mail messages and shown up at her office shopping for real estate.
“We’re seeing a flurry of foreign activity from Britain, France and Italy, looking to spend their pounds and euros,” Ms. Olshan said.
Foreign buyers are helping shield Manhattan from the housing slowdown that has plagued the rest of the nation and are providing a ready market for thousands of newly built condominiums. They like condos for the amenities and flexible rules that allow renting the apartments as investments. That many units are in neighborhoods that are not traditionally residential like Midtown and the financial district does not seem to bother the shoppers. They like that those neighborhoods are well known.
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were this not so pathetic. Why do I even bother?
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