The economy and its effects on Charlotte

[monsoon]

^No issue with anything you said including the unlikelihood the local government might do such a thing here though it does remind of when the USAF used to house airmen at the MBAFB in ocean front condos because there wasn't enough base housing. I did notice the building was in Brooklyn but that really points out what I have said all along on this site about the vanity condo market.

It does point out the folly of an economic system that could build a multi-million development such as that, and we are talking about planning, zoning, city approvals, engineering, architecture development, construction, sales and marketing, which was totally and absolutely unneeded. i.e. no rational thought went into it.

[HopHead]

I did see an article in the Charlotte Biz Journals on converting the Park building to an affordable housing facility... Apparently Mayor McCrory (of all people) sees the Park as a perfect opportunity to create some. I actually like the idea. The structure is already there, you just need someone to finish it off...

The Park as Affordable Housing? (preview article)

[JayGee]

^No issue with anything you said including the unlikelihood the local government might do such a thing here though it does remind of when the USAF used to house airmen at the MBAFB in ocean front condos because there wasn't enough base housing. I did notice the building was in Brooklyn but that really points out what I have said all along on this site about the vanity condo market.

It does point out the folly of an economic system that could build a multi-million development such as that, and we are talking about planning, zoning, city approvals, engineering, architecture development, construction, sales and marketing, which was totally and absolutely unneeded. i.e. no rational thought went into it.

[monsoon]

^From that link... "The Park’s condos were marketed at an average of $400 per square foot for units that ranged up to 1,800 square feet. The city is considering contributing funds for six new affordable apartment projects for low-income households. Certain units would be available for families that make less than $33,250, with others for incomes under $19,950."

Well there you are. Brooklyn in Charlotte. I guess I called that one right.

I wonder if they would also consider converting some of the unsold condos in places like The Vue to Section 8 housing for low income people?

[HopHead]

I wonder if they would also consider converting some of the unsold condos in places like The Vue to Section 8 housing for low income people?

[Charlotte_native]

Wonder when they will be resorting to such things here?

[Charlotte_native]

^From that link... "The Park

[monsoon]

I keep hearing that, yet, I don't know what that means. Skyscraper rationalization normally means demand that far exceeds surrounding areas.

The Park remains unsold and is owned by a bank that can't get rid of it even though it has no legal issues now. The previous buyers have no rights to sue that property now, they instead have to go after Verna and his associates. 210 Trade sits there and most likely won't ever be finished. Encore is being converted to apts due to no sales, Wachovia's high profile tower is canceled. (good for the taxpayer that one did not get started), The Vue is very quiet about it's sales which is a sign there are none. I can go on, but the point is made. At some point these developers are going to either have to put it in the court or something like what has happened in that link will take place.

[Charlotte_native]

^Or perhaps these things are a result of a huge national recession.

[Charlotte_native]

Encore is being converted to apts due to no sales,

[tiblerbrit]

He means Catalyst.

[tozmervo]

US Bancorp is starting to make a presence in Charlotte... They tapped some former Wachovia execs to open a Capital Markets and Corp Banking office uptown, leasing some temp space in Hearst before they find a permanent home. I believe the Corp Banking arm for the Southeast will be based here. Right now there are about 100 or so US Bank employees in the area and they are looking to add to that with this expansion.

BTW - didn't know where else to post this so but figured this would work.

[monsoon]

General Motors, probably not unexpectedly, is making widespread cuts in its support of NASCAR racing. It's hitting all of the Chevy based teams many of which are based in the area.

[HopHead]

General Motors, probably not unexpectedly, is making widespread cuts in its support of NASCAR racing. It's hitting all of the Chevy based teams many of which are based in the area.

[monsoon]

I don't think there are any racing teams in Nascar based on Nissan or Honda vehicles. Seems to me the might have come in by now. I might be wrong. I think there might be one Toyota based team however. The vast majority of Nascar teams are either Ford or Chevy. In regards to replacement sponsors, Honda pulled out of F1 racing last year which was quite a shock. I have heard that Toyota has made similar cutbacks on global races.

GM & Ford have provided not only money but engines, technical support, etc towards these teams.

[JayGee]

I don't think there are any racing teams in Nascar based on Nissan or Honda vehicles. Seems to me the might have come in by now. I might be wrong. I think there might be one Toyota based team however. The vast majority of Nascar teams are either Ford or Chevy. In regards to replacement sponsors, Honda pulled out of F1 racing last year which was quite a shock. I have heard that Toyota has made similar cutbacks on global races.

GM & Ford have provided not only money but engines, technical support, etc towards these teams.

[Charlotte_native]

Some areas for comparisons sake (only posting to show some raw data, making no claims one way or another about it) -- data for this year from 1/1/2009 to present, then 1/1/2008 - 5/28/2008 -- snapshots of activity, sales prices, percentages of drops for those two periods from various parts of the greater Charlotte market:

[monsoon]

Since this post the one-a-day condo sales in uptown trend seems to be holding steady with 12 under contract since May 29th (OK, so just under one-a-day ). ....

[Charlotte_native]

^Of course, there are foreclosures all over the county. Why would anyone be surprised at finding foreclosures in any market? This has been going on for over a year or so now and it is national news. Thankfully Charlotte hasn't fared nearly as badly as many other parts of the country.

Of the ones I mentioned that just sold, one is listed as a short-sale, one as a foreclosure, the rest aren't. Uptown is faring no worse than any other part of our market, and actually much better than many parts of our market. Take a peek at luxury properties on the lake or golf courses you'll find a far more dire situation. Regardless, people are starting to buy again and that's a good thing in the opinion of most.

[voyager12]

In what I see as a positive indicator one of my longtime dogwalking clients who was let go last month has been rehired by the same firm but at a reduced salary. Overall, great news for her and I get the assignment back so, I will be a little less poor next month. I keep on telling my new kitty to go get a job to contribute to our little family but she ignores me.

[monsoon]

There was an article in the Observer about a month ago where they interviewed a Emma Littlejohn of The Littlejohn Group. They said there was close to 1000 condos on the market in downtown. This was something like 375 from developers, 300 coming on the market, and 275 resales from owners. I knew it wasn't good but this seems like a staggering number in an area that only has ~9K - 10K residents. There was also mention The Vue was less than 50% sold though you had to look close for that one. The Observer had spun this as good news. Never mind that this is a drop from what was previously reported.

Finally Furman, the guy who developed a number of these highrise places and boldly predicted a couple of years ago there would be 25,000 people living in downtown by next year (helpful to say when you have condos to sell) admitted the Charlotte downtown condo market was not real. Flippers, Investors and cheap credit. I was saying this when Furman was being hailed as one of Charlotte's heros.

[SmellyCat]

^

Flippers, investors and cheap credit. And how is this unique to the Uptown condo market?

[monsoon]

^

Flippers, investors and cheap credit. And how is this unique to the Uptown condo market?

[Miesian Corners]

Emma Littlejohn did the market studies on nearly all of the condo projects in uptown Charlotte and gave them all a big green "GO!" stamp. It didn't matter the project or the scope, her studies told banks to lend money to build them based on what was then a booming economy and housing market.

Regardless, I did a simple Google search for the phrase "(insert city name here) downtown condo market" for Minneapolis, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Tampa and came up with the same result in all cases: the market sucks nationwide. Shock. How is this a Charlotte-only problem?

[HopHead]

How is this a Charlotte-only problem?