San Diegos’ ‘Paradise In Progress’
The Union Tribune reports on the ‘paradise in progress.’ “This is life in downtown San Diego, where the official city tree might as well be the construction crane. Never before have so many buildings gone up at virtually the same time. Many people who live in the East Village, once a low-rent warehouse district, are excited about what things might look like at the end of the all the digging and hammering, whenever that day might mercifully arrive.”
“It’s just that living through the commotion, they say, can be a tremendous aggravation. A woman who lives in the Parkloft condominiums just north of Petco Park says the constant drone of jackhammers is so irritating that she hasn’t opened her windows in two years.”
“If peace and quiet are in short supply in the East Village these days, some residents are concerned about another vanishing commodity: their views. Kevin Albritton and his wife moved into the third floor of the Parkloft complex in 2002. They had nice view of the ballpark. Now, however, that view is being partially blocked as construction crews build an addition to the T.R. Produce building on the south side of the condo complex. Albritton calls the new addition, which will house condos and office space, ‘hideously ugly.’”
“Meanwhile, the Albrittons have taken to leaving on their air conditioning to drown out the noise of jackhammers and cement trucks. ‘Our electric bills have gone up considerably,’ he said.”
“Ian Wendlandt used to live in Chicago. But the rhythmic white noise of that city’s el train, he says, can’t compare to the discordant sounds that assault his East Village condo every day. ‘Here it’s completely chaotic in terms of frequency,’ said Wendlandt. ‘One day it’ll be jackhammers, the next day it’s the pounding of a cement truck.’ He hands out earplugs to some of his overnight guests.”
“Wendlandt lives in the Parkloft development, which at the moment is surrounded on all four sides by construction projects: a 33-story office and condo complex across Island Avenue; a 31-story office and condo complex across Eighth Avenue; a seven-story condo complex one block to the east on 10th Avenue; and the T.R. Produce project immediately to the south”
“A few people who moved into the Parkloft when it opened in 2002 say they weren’t quite prepared for the sheer amount of new construction. ‘I didn’t realize every corner was going to be developed so quickly, and all at once,’ said Barbara Edelson, who lives on the seventh floor. She said she’s kept her windows closed for the past two years to block out the noise. ‘I have beautiful patio furniture, but you can’t sit out there,’ she said.”
“Some folks wonder what the East Village will look like a decade from now. Will the finished neighborhood contain a mix of interesting people, good restaurants and eclectic businesses? Or will it be a forest of sterile, half-empty high-rises casting dark shadows on a collection of chain stores?”
“Gloria Poore thinks it will take ‘realistically, probably another five years’ before the area looks like a neighborhood as opposed to a men-at-work zone. In the meantime, she’s become quite adept at mimicking the noise of cement trucks backing up on her street. ‘Meep meep meep meep meep,’ she said.”
Thanks to the reader who posted this link and also for these DR Horton incentive ads at the Mercury News.
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Whoah, that’s heavy discounting already. 25% discounts really says the outlying areas got overbuilt.
WOW!
WOW! I might want to buy one… on second thought.. I think I will wait till it hits bottom.
I wonder how much these would be with no money down and an I/O loan?
Check out crisp&cole’s new office location on Stockdale Hwy near Cal State Bakersfield. Double Wow !!!
Hmmm…interesting about the DR Horton discount. I think I’ll keep a closer eye on the prices on one of their projects going up here in Dublin, CA.
Speaking of that project (Elan), in their online brochure not all of the prices are posted so I called their office for some that had “Please Call” for price. Well, to say the least, I was not impressed about how unknowledgable the person was who answered the phone. She couldn’t give me any answers at all, except that the one or two floor plans that I asked about were going to be under market value. Hmmm….perhaps a special offering ahead, or for sub-prime buyers? I don’t know, but it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
(Grabbing my notebook…making major notes….wondering what’s up “America’s Builders” sleeve.)
BayQT~
One of the regulars on Patrick’s blog lives in Sacramento. I have posted the link on one of the threads there, and asked her for comments.
I certainly wouldn’t be paying list at DR Horton this weekend :lol:.
Two Comments / Querries on this one:
1) What does that say about the kind of “BANK” builders have been making during the boom years?? (I suspect even at these huge discounts they are still making good money)
2) How are they dealing with CROWD CONTROL? p.s. NOT new buyers lining up to purchase at greatly reduced pricing… but, but, BUT the folks that just bought prior to the reductions? Seems there is going to be some pretty “preturbed” crowd of “new neighbors”
I found the same problem in DC when all of the condo construction in the U street area began. It’s now better than it was, but really decimates your quality of life.
If they think their view is bad now, wait till the projects are scraped and there is a half built structure waiting to be demolished.
I was thinking that too.
I think Vancouver has even San Diego beat for construction. In downtown alone, there are 47 buildings due to be completed in 2006 and 2007, with more planned for 08 and 09. See complete list here:
http://van-housing.blogspot.com/2006/01/supply-watch-january-2006.html
Every model in that ad for DR Horton is 25% or more down than the previous price… Talk about a price reduction!
How funny… I literally just walked the areas discussed in teh article.. and then read teh SD Tribune article.
No, each of the buildings will be completed. Each is no less than 1/2 to 2/3rd done right now… of those in the East Village. Construction workers are at it today too… and it’s a holiday. Well, they all are not there.. but at least 20% of the construction crews are there.
I have been taking pictures each month from an office window to track the metamorphisis over time. I’ll provide a link to the pics at some later time.
new topic “GOOFIEST CONDO PROJECT”
downtown Asheville NC “downtown”?
you cab get a house on a golf course for 400k
why would any nitwit want a condo?
I doubt Vancouver has San Diego beat…look at this graphic!
http://www.ccdc.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/projects.home/category/residential
We do have the same developer though…Bosa, I think!
I tried to count them, got tired (@8000units) before I finished. I think we’re talking 10000+ units here. All in downtown. All expected to sell for 500k to 1M or more? (OK there are 320 rentals in total in the list, probably 4k per month?). Some of these towers have 370 condos.
If anyone has the time, it would be nice to see a breakdown of new condos per quarter.
Well, this ‘condo-mization’ of downtown San Diego is getting ridiculous. There is a great small restaurant at Fifth & Hawthorn across from Balboa Park, curiously called ‘Fifth & Hawthorn’, which may be threatened. Last time I was there, they were handing out cards indicating they would probably be moving in the near future.
Looking at all of the idiotic condo projects in the ccdc.com site, it looks like just the wake from these developments would knock ‘Fifth & Hawthorn’ over on its side.
On the other hand, if they manage to get rid of great restaurants such as this, what’s the reason anyone would want to live downtown?
That is 68 new condo complexs/high rise buildings. Many of the biggest are just now breaking ground! SweeeeeT!
Well, you may have Vancouver beat in the end, but we’re in the same league!
I say: “San Diego condos for EVERYONE!!”
(Except feepness, of course.)
“‘I have beautiful patio furniture, but you can’t sit out there,’ she said.”
Ever hear of Saturday and Sunday? After 7:00pm? What a whiner.
I guess us Chicagoans are made of sterner stuff.
Tip to the Albrittons:
Get a fan, which does as good on the white noise as your air conditioning does, at 1/10 the price, and put the savings back into paying off your neg-am loan!!!
When someone offers 25% off of something, I figure it was at least 25% too high to begin with.
Exactly!
THIS JUST IN…
Apparently, in the evolution of condo development, a brand new evolutionary step has just been documented.
A living, breathing condo was spotted walking down the 5 Freeway, desperately clutching the railing. Some observers say it may have been leaving downtown, and looked strikingly overraught.
“I’ve never seen a condo walk before,” says one San Diegan.
“I guess it was the next logical step. I mean, they’ve been doing everything else for us humans in the last five years. They’ve worked for us and paid our bills, right?”
“Maybe it just got tired of the way it was being treated, and got up and left?”
Latest reports from San Diego Police say the condo is heading down I-5, toward the Mexican border.
“Maybe he’s trying to flee the country? We just don’t know yet,” said one of San Diego’s Finest.
Speculation runs rampant over the destination of this overworked, desperate, walking condo. Many experts say it may be heading to a Mexican port city, to catch a ride on a freighter, to take it to Tahiti for a long overdue vacation.
Just saw a freeway sign down on SB I-5 near Telelgraph Canyon road: