Buyers To “Appreciate The Urban Lifestyle For What It Is”
A housing report from the Washington Post. “Urban hipsters have shown a knack for dropping up to $1 million for condos in the heart of the District. But will they spend that much to live over a church that feeds the homeless?”
“The development company envisions 140 condominiums at 10th and G streets NW. As part of the deal, the developer will build a new sanctuary for the church, with eight floors of apartments above, along with balconies, a swimming pool and a fitness center.”
“When the new building opens, the church will occupy the first two floors and continue serving breakfast and dinner daily to several hundred homeless people.”
“One-bedroom apartments would sell for between $400,000 and $500,000, while two bedrooms with a den would go for about $1 million, said David DeSantis, PN Hoffman’s vice president of sales and marketing.”
“DeSantis said the company is well aware that some home buyers may blanch at the prospect of living above a homeless service center. But he said the developer expects to attract buyers who ‘are fully aware of the urban lifestyle’ and will ‘appreciate the building and the neighborhood for what it is.’”
“Charles Klein, a broker in the District, said so many condos are on the market that buyers have many choices. More than 18,000 condominium units are under construction, planned or proposed, according to the Washington DC Economic Partnership.”
“‘You don’t need the soup kitchen to make it a tough sell,’ Klein said. ‘It’s a tough sell because it’s a condo, and if there’s anything we need less of now, it’s condos. It’s like overkill. There must be five years’ worth of supply in the pipeline.’”
‘Alliance Bankshares Corp., a banking company located near Washington, D.C., said on Wednesday it will close its Alliance Home Funding LLC unit, the latest financial institution to slash or eliminate mortgage banking operations amid a soft U.S. housing market.’
‘Our business results over the past several years have fallen short of that objective … As we enter 2007, with a continued modest outlook in the housing sector, we felt a radical change was necessary,’ Chief Executive Thomas Young said.’
‘Amilcar Guzman left El Salvador at age 18 in 1999 and landed in Manassas. Soon he had $15-an-hour jobs cutting lumber, driving nails and running a Bobcat loader. Then sometime last year, Guzman said, the rush began to go bust, little by little, month by month. The contractors stopped hiring. The phone stopped ringing. Washington, it seemed, had all the houses it could hold.’
‘So Guzman got a plane ticket. On Jan. 20, he is taking his family back to El Salvador, with plans to open an auto repair shop with the money he has saved. ‘There’s no work here anymore,’ he said, having spent the past month unemployed.’
Senor Guzman may be leaving but there are probably a few thousand members of MS-13 who’ll be hanging around NoVa after he’s gone. Gangs don’t really seem to follow economic trends. Once they’re there, they’re there. They don’t do “day labor” because they’re not up during the day. They like to work nights:>
Because Senor Guzman was a member of MS-13…the strange branch that saves money, raises a family, then starts legitimate businesses.
With all the immigrant bashing on this blog (some deserved no doubt), it’s interesting to observe that the Salvadorian Guzman is indeed doing a JOB no AMERICANS want to do — SAVING MONEY. And now he is thinking of starting a business. What part of the American Dream didn’t he get? Money should never be used for savings or starting businesses. it should be spent before its made and the only investment one needs is buying as much house as you can lie your way into with an IO loan.
no welfare = no problem
what was “unemployment” in 1776?
Flatffplan posts ” no welfare = no problem
what was “unemployment” in 1776? ”
It was the same as 1930 when we had a president of the same caliber of GWBush….no job you children grew up with crooked bones if the lived.
“…with all the immigrant bashing on this blog”
Not quite. I haven’t seen any bashing of legal immigrants. It’s the illegal aliens that are deservedly taking the hits.
A soup-kitchen for the homeless under overprice condo’s doesn’t really seem like a bad idea..
Just think, after you’re foreclosed, you can still get free food down below!
-Richie
Or get free food so you can make the mortgage payments. Or could save more money living in a homeless shelter and paying for your own food while keeping a white collar job.
Who the heck will buy these condo’s except speculators and they are all gone.
every day I think Ive heard it all and then its a new day with a new even more amazing line of BS. I want to meet the investors backing this project and pitch them on my new fat free chickenskin and bacon burritto. Its gonna be the wave of the future.
jtcc: you are not alone. The bs that we have seen and heard recently is staggering. Seriously, who would capitalize this project? Stupid condo proposals are nothing new, but over a homeless shelter? I want to say this one takes the cake for stupidity, but there are always tomorrow’s headlines.
I can see all those yuppie scum entertaining themselves by heating coins with cigarette lighters and dropping them to the winos below. Not that I’ve ever done anything like that….
Sammy better ask if they can break a hundred… you do know you are sick…. I will give you props! Your S/N is fair waring.
Look at it from the developers perspective. He lives in wealthy gated community in suburb. So to him ALL condos are horrible crap for the ‘poor’ people. The people buying the condos are only 1 rung up the ladder from the homeless (and 2 floors).
at 400,000 to 1 million Iwouldnt consider the potential buyers
poor
they will be house poor after they buy one of these condos.
I know people who have lofts in Marina Del Rey. HOA fees are a hefty $900. They each have 2,000 square feet and incredible views and huge balconeys. I’ll bet no one wants to buy those now, but I think all the bloggers here would change their tune if the prices of those lofts were 50% of today’s price (unless HOA dues don’t go down 50%).
LMFAO
10th and G… someone correct me, but that’s right on the edge of where DC gets really sketchy, right? West of that is OK, east is Chinatown but north of that is pretty rough IIRC.
Naw, it’s alright. Nothing to worry about on 10th and G, except falling condo prices, of course.
dead honkey
10th and G is still core central business district, right next to the Martin Luther King library, a couple blocks away from the spy museum and the Verizon (formerly MCI) center. The location overall is pretty darn good — but the closest supermarket is at 10th and O. Lots and lots of good restaurants nearby (which may or may not include the soup kitchen).
Thanks, Dupontguy. I don’t think Flat’s been to DC in a while.
To paraphrase the late Rodney Dangerfield, “You buy a condo like this I’ll bet you get a free bowl of soup.”
But it looks good on you though
My other favorite Rodney quote is:
I bought a “two” story house. When you’re BUYING it they tell you ONE story, after you OWN it well……that’s a whole OTHER story! I tell ya’ it’s rough out there.
HA! I’ve never heard that one.
love caddyshack
“it’s easy to grin when your ship comes in and you have the stock market beat” judge smells
Well, remember the story about that flipping scam in Tampa, FL that used a homeless guy’s identity (later found dead)? Here’s the link. If the REIC can make funny-money loans to homeless people, why NOT build condos over a homeless shelter?
It is an excellent marketing strategy, targeting the homeless. Afterall, they need the product. Moreover, the developers can also gin up some type of church OR government downpayment subsidy. Heck, they can even give them the 12 month no payments special and tell them after 1 year they can refinance into something more affordable. Everybody wins!
Now, there’s the ticket.
You can sell out the entire project by going downstairs and signing up everyone standing in line.
It’s like the good ol’ days…..everyone standing in line to buy a condo………HAHAHAHHAHA.
David Liar on CNBC!!
He was definitely lying - his lips were moving
CNBC needs to call DL back on his 06 predictions. Then the public will realize these people can’t and should not make predictions as his 06 predictions where off.
Or hold up Liereah’s book on real estate investing, and ask him about it. That would pretty much expose to anyone watching what an idiot he is.
even though lereah has been discredited, he’ll always find a forum on larry kudlow. just glassman, mr. dow 36,000
Lereah’s Books: They changed covers.
http://tinyurl.com/tn6ll
“DeSantis said the company is well aware that some home buyers may blanch at the prospect of living above a homeless service center. But he said the developer expects to attract buyers who “are fully aware of the urban lifestyle” and will “appreciate the building and the neighborhood for what it is.”"
I love how real estate hucksters make what is clearly a NEGATIVE … i.e., a soup kitchen that means you are guaranteed to have homeless bums loitering outside your home day and night … into a POSITIVE, i.e., it’s all part of the “urban lifestyle” that “affluent hipsters” will gladly pay $1 million to be a part of … Who is this guy kidding?? With hundreds of condos available in prime locations throughout D.C. in the $1 million range or less, why in the world would anyone in their right mind, with that much to spend on a condo, choose the one directly on top of a homeless center and soup kitchen?!?!
Its all a scam, eventually the church and kitchen will be relocated at the “cost” of the condo association. The money will come from selling the now vacated property into more condos. They are just picking the politcally correct way of getting it built and then later will get rid of the dangerous and unbathed.
Hello MDMortgageGuy,
Is there a way I can talk to you about some mortgage questions via email?
Thanks,
elweedz
@
yahoo.
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If by ‘loitering’ you mean taking a piss. I’ve had my share of ‘urban experience’ in a number of cities. If all your homeless people are doing is loitering, you’re not getting the true experience. There’s a reason most such buildings have the hose at ready — the sidewalk and building must be ‘flushed’ periodically or the smell of ripe excrement and urine will truly reach the top floors!
That kind of “lifestyle” is why they created suburbs.
The 400,000 condos only get to experience the soup kitchen, the million dollar buyers get to experience robbery by crackhead, at knife point, as an “upgrade”.
It’s kinda like that move “The Game”. You people just aren’t Kool….
this place in dc sounds similar to many of the “luxury” condo’s in brooklyn ny. big glass houses surrounded by
lovely gentleman who will whistle at your wife as they
drink their 40oz beers at 10am on a monday morning
urban living at it’s finest
I can hear the wife now, “I don’t mind the whistling, honey. Buying a condo is a great investment.”
Something similar has been going on in downtown St. Louis. Almost every building in the old warehouse district is in the process of being converted into loft condos, many of which are quite expensive. However, a self-proclaimed activist for the homeless operates a large and somewhat poorly regulated “center” for his flock right next to the redeveloped zone, and has resisted all attempts to relocate him. Furthermore, a small park between the central library and the loft district has become a de facto Hooverville. The result is that there is a sizeable homeless population permanently camped or loitering right next to the redeveloped loft buildings, with all that that entails regarding petty crime, “sanitation”, etc. At night, the area resembles a street scene from Escape from New York, parts of which were actually filmed in that area when it was still derelict.
The boosters for the loft developments constantly whitewashed the homeless issue as just a minor inconvenience of the “urban lifestyle” etc., the prevailing assumption being that once the loft district began to fill up with residents, there would be pressure on the authorities to address the situation. However, what many people buying into the lofts apparently didn’t know is that the last time the St. Louis Police Department conducted a thorough sweep of the homeless in that area, the city was successfully sued for civil rights violations, paid out a hefty settlement, and is understandably reluctant to try again. Consequently, there’s little chance of the homeless population being moved away anytime in the foreseeable future, no matter how successful the loft district becomes.
The same thing is going on in Los Angeles - they are building lofts like crazy in downtown L.A., which is filled to the brim with homeless people, drug addicts, dealers and other criminals, people getting out of the L.A. county jail, and problem people that the cops and ambulances from other areas of the county actually drop off here. This problem is not going away.
There are numerous homeless shelters and missions in downtown L.A. that will litigate to the ends of the earth before they are moved, with the full support of the ACLU and numerous other organizations with the resources to fight. You can’t park a car on the street at night here without it getting broken into, you can’t walk down the street without fending off aggressive panhandlers while hopscotching over urine, feces and broken glass crack pipes on the sidewalk, and yet the condo sellers gloss over the problem entirely and pretend that it’s nothing, or that it’s been getting better and is going away. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The city has tried outlawing sleeping in the streets but got sued and lost, and is now allowing people to camp in the street. The police have tried to patrol skid row a little more, but this has only resulted in the group spreading out, with fun outcomes like drug transactions being conducted in broad daylight in the middle of the business district.
To those considering the “urban” experience, I strongly recommend you stay down the street in a hotel for a month before buying one of these places…
DL says a 2007 bottom and stabilization is in the bag!
His book called for a top in 2010… now he is calling a bottom of the same market in 2007…
He seems to have a knack for foretelling the future of the RE market…
A bottom in 2007 is very likely an accurate prediction in most markets. However, prices could stay at that bottom until 2010 and thus secreasing in real terms as general inflation marches on outside of real estate.
One who buys right away at the first sign of such flattening could be in for a real loss. This assumes that interest rates don’t change.
Thanks for the update, drentztroll.
That’s a bit harsh, eh Stucco? It’s not uncommon for RE, after experiencing material, nominal declines to go sideways for years, letting inflation take back the rest of the gains. In my neck of the woods, it would not be surprising to see 25% nominal declines by the end of next year, followed by…nothing, until 2012 or so.
Remember, a 25% nominal decline takes back half a 100% gain.
Sounds like Stucco has some previous acquaintance with drentzel (?), maybe that explains his knee-jerk suspicion. Scenario described by DC_Too seems at least possible, and I am sure DC_Too is not a troll.
Exactly.
Hey thanks, AZ. I don’t think it’s “very likely” the bottom is ‘07, but it is possible, nominally. There is an awful lot of speculative inventory in DC. Those guys panic in the spring and, whoa…
it would take years of flat prices and inflation for this market to return to normal. meanwhile, each month of non-appreciation means more investors, with barely any savings, are going to have to dump properties. we haven’t even felt the effects of a recession and job loses yet.
this one will be bad.
contact gary watts immediately
he’s in the bag
HB stocks all rally on DL comments. What a crock of sh*t!
only the bad news is priced in on the hb stocks
bad news=no decline in stock price
good news=rise in stock price
There’s alot of denial out there. But the spin and happy talk and slick attempts at sales suggests and underpinning of fear.
This is almost as good as that plan to turn a grain elevator into condos. I think we’ve just about seen it all now.
It’s actually not too uncommon in areas where the local grain elevator is a big historic landmark to see it redeveloped. They’ve been working on that in Tempe (AZ) for years, although with no success so far, and I’ve heard of it in the midwest.
“‘You don’t need the soup kitchen to make it a tough sell,’ Klein said. ‘It’s a tough sell because it’s a condo, and if there’s anything we need less of now, it’s condos. It’s like overkill. There must be five years’ worth of supply in the pipeline.’”
In a few years, that soup kitchen will remind many fools of the folly of investing in condos.
““When the new building opens, the church will occupy the first two floors and continue serving breakfast and dinner daily to several hundred homeless people.”
I know that some said California RE market is crazy, but this one really takes first prize..
“I know that some said California RE market is crazy, but this one really takes first prize…”
That’s what this reminded me of. Living in SF when you’re paying $3,000/mo rent on a place in SF and you have some bum living on your front stoop.
There are a lot of liberals in DC, even under the current administration. The soup kitchen could be a plus !?!? BUT the liberals who wanted to pay $500K for a 1BR condo have already done so.
There’s a lot of Liberals everywhere these days, AZ. Did you hear about the last election? At least the newcomers next year will get a discount on that condo….
Liberals don’t want to live next to the homeless, they want to take money from the rich and give it to them slowly through huge government programs that provide many salaried positions to sociology and psychology graduate students and paid internships for campaign aids.
Suzanne posts ” Liberals don’t want to live next to the homeless, they want to take money from the rich and give it to them slowly through huge government programs that provide many salaried positions to sociology and psychology graduate students and paid internships for campaign aids. ”
Hey! you should change your S/N to “Hillary I reserched this!”…LOL but what you say is true.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. What the hell else are all those college graduates going to do in this economy? Assuming they don’t feel patriotically motivated to live up to the yellow ribbon on mom’s SUV and sign up to “support the troops” in Iraq.
Wasn’t it Arlington that had a church built on top of a gas station? Condos on top of a church don’t seem much more incredible. Except for the fact that anyone is still building condos now.
yep, in Rosslyn. right across the street from Turnberry Towers demolition site.
This has been done in Boston. The Ritz Carllton Tower condos were built 5 years ago over the St. Francis House, a food service for the homeless. The towers take up the whole block and the Ritz Hotel and Condo entrance is on one side and the homeless kitchen is on the other side.
Mandarin in dc is next to a homeless ramp
I was living in NYC on the Upper West Side back about 20 years ago, when it came out that the building diagonally across the street from us was going to be converted from a rental into a facility to house and help teenager girls in crisis. The neighborhood was pissed. There was much concern that crime would increase, that property values might be affected, and lots of other hand-wringing NIMBY-ism.
Guess what? None of the predictions came true.
So — the DC condos. Overpriced, to be sure, but don’t assume that social services necessarily mean doom.
Are you talking about West End Ave and 83rd Street? Live around the corner on Riverside. Aside from teenage girls using the last remaining public phone on the corner, you’d never notice that building. Quiet and well-maintained.
I’m actually happy that DL came out and called the bottom of the RE market for 2007. This means that just the opposite will happen. If we’re lucky, maybe Gary (”15% - It’s in the Bag”) Watts will grace us with his prediction for 2007.
“‘You don’t need the soup kitchen to make it a tough sell,’ Klein said. ‘It’s a tough sell because it’s a condo, and if there’s anything we need less of now, it’s condos. It’s like overkill. There must be five years’ worth of supply in the pipeline.’”
This inventory could last much longer than that with DC now among the cities seeing a mass exodus of jobs into less expensive exurban locales. FEMA, the military and the FBI are just a few of the agencies relocating operations 50+ miles outside of Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500637.html?nav=rss_business
You know, when the “owners” upstairs go upside down on their mortgages, the homeless downstairs will have a higher net worth.