JonesQC

Am I crazy to be happy that prices will adjust and be move favorable/affordable for those who were originally priced out of uptown? There is a tremendous amount of inventory sitting, add 409 units to the existing inventory and everyone is going to think about slashing prices to get residents to move in. Catalyst, Park, EpiCenter when they get to condo time will all follow suit. Its too early to tell what will happen to The Vue but let's be glad the initial loss is on a an out of town builder, and the benefit will be future Charlotte residents in the 'long term'.

So with the recent news that Novare is having financial difficulty, what are realistic options for Catalyst? Would the banks get the property and quickly sell units while slashing prices? Lower rents to get cash flow? Let the building sit?

Supposedly this is the first week of leasers moving in. Anyone heard how leasing / sales were going?

Yes, but this language was not standard in the original contracts and now is.

THought I might add that Catalyst threw in a non-financing contingency in the new contracts. If the purchaser is unable to get financed all earnest money comes back.

This is what they are doing. Novare will own up to floor 14. Condo sales are floor 15-24.

Confirmed - top half is being sold, bottom half is being leased.

Just for sake of argument, what if they split the building. Novare currently has 70-80 contracts down. 462 units in the entire building split in 2 is 231. This puts Catalyst at 30-35% presold. I think we know this is unlikely though, especially considering the park and AAA Knights in stagnant waters.

Agreed, just sharing what I heard around town. Let's say they do move into 1/2 and 1/2 and do not move forward with Twelve ... this would allow for more permanent parking spaces for Catalyst residents and might get people in there quicker?

I heard they were trying to separate the building: half into rentals, half into owner occupied but this was a few weeks ago before the bond package for the park was tabled.

Nothing official on the refinancing end but we do know the bonds for the park on the MLK side did not pass and are tabled for at least 60 days at the Charlotte Meck County Comissioners offices. I doubt in this economy that kind of money is going to be dished out for a park in uptown anytime soon when the city is more pinched to pay its own bills this year. This is a pretty big blow to the appeal of Catalyst. Speaking for me personally, the price of the units on MLK side are at a premium for the city view and the proposed park. I know the park was speculation but I bet anyone who put a contract down on that side was thinking the same thing and valued the park into their purchase ans unit selection.

News 14 reporting that MeckCoCo will reevaluate the bond package in June at the earliest. Not so good for the uptown arena.

I am wondering what the time line is to start on this park on the logistical side. Consider the purchase is 100% complete, the plans are approved, builder/contractors are in line, etc. I think the city would need to wait until at least The Catalyst is complete in order not to clog up MLK Blvd with two construction fronts. Considering The Catalyst is about 1-2 months behind schedule maybe Bearden Park starts to get underway at the tail end of Catalyst completion. Anyone else care to comment or heard any updates? I would also think as soon as Bearden commences Novare will have an easier time selling condos at Catalyst, leasing office at 220 S Church

Just got an email from Novare. The letter notes they are exploring the option of leasing the units but until a final decision is made they are extending the closing dates by 60 days. Happy Holidays

That is correct to my understanding. The value of an individual unit would plummet if there were 80+% rental units. The contracts state no more than 25% of the units can be leased and this is a protection against the home values. Not to say they wouldnt/couldnt offer this but a big discount would have to be offered. With that said this would be unheard of - Im not aware of any project ANYWHERE or EVER that would do such a thing. The Catalyst office has 15 days to let us know their plans so I'm hoping to hear something before Christmas but not expecting to until the end of the month.

Dec 1st and I have yet to hear from their office, although I have not called myself. I wonder how much of the 30 day notification period they will excercise.

I'm trying to get facts here and I have an update. Okay, not THE update, but I can confirm that Catalyst has stopped advertising using Google AdWords. As of yesterday if you typed in "Charlotte Catalyst" they were paying for paid advertisement spots under the sponsored links. Unless they just temporarily turned it off, this is probably a good sign that they have stopped spending advertising $$$ since they know they will be unable to fill enough units to move forward with Catalyst as a primary residential complex for now.

If they forced those who already have put 3% down into a unit then a couple of things take place. For one, the rental to owner ratio is capped at 25%, meaning, no more than 25% of the units can be rentals per the buyer contract. Basically the more rental units, the lower the value of the primary residential units. So if Novare breaks this then they would almost certainly have to adjust the prices of the units as the values of the primary residential units would be lower. Second, because of a mix of rentals and owned units it would be extremely difficult to price these at a "market rate" due to the speculation of when and how the complex would be converted 100% into a primary residential property. This not only puts more risk at the buyers end but we should also begin to see lenders become mor active in verifying property values before closing and I would speculate lenders might shy away from this. Of course, if you were able to get the condo at a lower price now, then 2 years down the road there are >75% primary residential units, Romare Bearden Park is complete, and the Knights Stadium is complete then the risk would pay off. Decisions.... Just my .02

You are correct, I was thinking of 440 S Church. My reasoning still stands, Catalyst will probably be on the lower entry point of these two projects and they still could hold out 120 days to see if credit begins to thaw. Not that I need names or numbers, but what source are you going off here? Im wondering if we are all going on hunches or anyone has more factual reasoning behind Catalyst moving to rental.

Im in full agreement here but if Catalyst can't sell the units then TWELVE is going to have, in my opinion, a much more difficult time getting contracts down. Im going off a hunch here but of the 70 something units sold at Catalyst I would wager a majority of them are on the park side. This is a HUGE amenity and value creator for the Catalyst. If I were to transfer my down deposit to TWELVE my view is either the back of Catalyst or facing the Wachovia tower, neither of which IMHO come close to looking over Romare Bearden park. In a perfect world Novare would go ahead and announce Catalyst as a rental property but they built in few protections to the contracts to buy themselves a little time. 1) "Seller shall also have the right from time to time by notice to Purchaser to extend the Outside CLosing Date for up to two (2) extension periods of up to sixty (60) days for each extension period. The closing shall take place at such specific reasonable time, date, and place as shall be designated by seller at least seven (7) days prior thereto. Seller reserves the right to schedule the closing date before the Outside Closing Date. I know Novare is reputable and probably dosent want to tick off those 70 something who have contracts down but it is at least possible that they extend the closing dates 4 months and keep folks like myself hanging on a thread. What is even more complicated is in the Mortgage hunt, lenders will only lock a rate for so long. I know this is a lot of speculation but when you have your own $$$ down you def start thinking of the possibilities.

Just to be certain, this was only an approval for the 3rd Ward Park (Romare Bearden) and not for both the 3rd Ward Park and the AAA Baseball Stadium? I'm assuming these are moving separately - 3rd Ward Park moving forward, AAA stalemated because of litigation via Reeses Cup?

Do we know when the county comissioners will be voting on this? I know I'm going to call their offices and recommend they absolutely do vote for it or they can count on me voting Democrat next cycle. I can see why Charlotte could put the baseball stadium on hold but what the heck is fundamental opposition to 3rd Ward Park? Not to mention both cancellations of these projects would be aweful for The Catalyst and other condos going up.

Youll need to go into the sales center to get most of the pricing info but units looking over the amenities deck start in the low 180's (possible to get in the high 170's if you use your buyer credit towards hte price of the unit and not on upgrades). HOA is $0.33 per square foot I believe. Anyone have an update on how many units they have sold? Last month I went in and they were still in the mid 60's (64 I believe). If they do not start selling more what are the chances they turn this into a rental complex until the market turns around? Or, what are the chances that they discount the units, even though they are pretty low per sq/ft compared to a lot of similar units in uptown?

Your right. When sales opened the economy, especially the banking part, was very uncertain. However, I'm not sure one of the sales agents would tell anyone whos coming in to purchase a unit that they are worried about the pace of sales.

Great question. Looking at my contract there are two contingencies: 1) Catalyst must sell 150 units 90 days prior to closing (they can extend closing twice though if needed) - if not, the buyer or seller can opt out of the contract and get the earnest money back. So, I was mistaken - not 50%, but 150 by 2) In the event that Seller enters into a contract prior to closing date that lowers the List Price of increases incentives on a similar home as defined below, the base purchase price shall be reduced by the sum of the amount by which the list price is lowered and the incentives granted on such contract for any similar home exceeds the incentives granted to Buyer.