ElricSeven

That's funny because purchase contracts are extinguished by closing. There must be some special gymnastics they plan on going through to keep that provision alive. I have no idea how they could pull that off. Of course I'm a patent attorney and not a RE attorney. I'm guessing that the provision is also for the Vue's own protection, so that they've got a year to unload the remaining units before all the flippers hit the market with their units.

On the contrary, I think the pro-building attitude prevails on these boards to the point of blindness to realities sometimes. I would think perhaps they are so excited about a project and are such fans of development they have something personal in favor of the Vue. It's 50 stories and very sexy, they want it really bad and any hint it might not happen just sends them into the stratosphere.

right, but the intimation earlier was that the rezonings and failure to disclose were the equivalents to a completely fabricated story

Okay, so you're saying that a completely made-up story is how much weight the actual facts of rezoning to open an escape hatch of a sale of the land to a third party and a lack of willingness to disclose sales numbers should be given? C'mon man, you might not want those things to have any weight, but you certainly can't say they've got the same nonexistant relevance of some totally contrived story. I want the building to get built too, but I'm not going to blind myself to things that cast some doubt over the project. It's fine to say you believe there's little relevance or impact from those facts on the chance the building will get built and provide some analysis why, but don't completely dismiss them as being as unreliable as an outright lie.

Really? When I went by the sales office, they said the lower level units would be able to move in in late 2007.

I concur, although waiting three years to buy one has risk also since one would have to pay rent that whole time any way. Construction costs do go up and it is conceivable that although these people might not make money, they might not lose any (other than transaction costs) either. I live in one already, I'm hoping that if and when a glut occurs, I'll still be able to sell mine for a decent profit and trade up to one someone owns and is under huge pressure to unload. 20% sale at 210 Trade! Wahoo! Alternatively, stuff might not be as marked up right outside the inner loop in the more established neighborhoods.

People buying these aren't typical Uptown office workers. There are a lot of people in this town that earn in the low six figures. If there are two of them, $400 to $500K can be quite afordable. As far as PMI, I don't think anyone pays that anymore. They just get a HELOC which is all deductible interest.

Having rented two things in Uptown in the past 6 months, I can say that the max you're going to get is about $1.70 per square foot. Those at FAP would have to have like 50% down on the place just to break even. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks they're going to buy anything Uptown right now and then rent the place out. My understanding is that the percentage of investors in Uptown condos right now has risen to be larger than those that plan to live in the places. There's going to be some people with loadstones around their necks if the boom doesn't keep going.

Don't forget: Speculators try to resell after closing and take a bath.

Yeah, but under this theory NO building would ever sell out because no building would attract any buyers past perhaps being 80% sold. Every building would stop dead at 80% and receive no further inquires, and no further sales, because all the good units are already sold. The idea that the place is really popular - and hence a good investment - is the number one tactic for driving the remaining sales. This may be even more important at the Vue where trendiness is half the sale. It certainly isn't driven by low price. Conversely, if the Vue's theory holds true, what is the Vue going to do with the people who come in not knowing all the "good units" are sold? Somehow convince them to buy something else? Well, even if they buyer is willing to make a compromise then, they would be much more likely to do so knowing it is an incredibly in-demand building. I bought at Courtside without even seeing a floorplan first because I knew that if I walked away and gave myself time to think, there'd be nothing left when I got back. I really would have bought anything at the time guessing that it would be a great investment. The sense of urgency that comes from missing an opportunity is a far, far stronger motivator that overrides any concern about a lack of selection. Try seeing what happens at Christmas when a certain popular toy is known to be selling out. It starts riots. Over a toy. Scarcity makes people crazy to get on board. So, the Vue sales staff are either really stupid for not advertising how popular their building is, or they're clever like a fox. Spinning their lack of disclosure as being something special because their building and clientele is so special. "Oh (she bats her eyelashes), we don't tell how much have been sold because that would scare everyone away. Our clients are so rich they won't settle for anything but the best!" BS! Might as well have a building on stilts then with only penthouse units because such discerning clientele won't buy anything less than the top level.

Most pedestrian unfriendly has to be 3rd (I think) that goes by Wachovia. Cars going super-fast one way and you have to step into the street to pass underneath the trestle. I've made that wrong turn when walking a few times and have been scared out of my wits by it. Or, am I thinking of 4th? Each time I encounter the situation, it boggles my mind. Caldwell is that way too on one side across from ParkIt. The sidewalk just disappears at one point.

The scare the buyer theory is total baloney. Popularity and success begets only more interest and a sense of urgency. In my opinion, they're covering up slow sales.

At the prices these units are going for, I'm not sure that the developer would be making a good gamble that prices will be going up.

Yeah, but they've got a really high rate of rentals. Most of the population is transient at the beach. Now whether or not they can realize sufficient return on investment to justify what they paid on the condo is another story.

I concur that the more moderate scenario is the most likely, especially if, as we're seeing, the marginal projects drop by the wayside.

Yeah, but the condo boom is starting to die down. I just got an e-mail from an agent I know in Myrtle who said it is now a buyer's market out there due to all the construction being completed. And as a side note, it would be healthier overall if the projectst that are mispriced, poorly placed or lacking sufficient appeal were to never happen. It wouldn't be very healthy to have the bottom fall out all of sudden. Keep up steady momentum over twenty years would be more preferable to a four year boom and then 16 years of people too frightened to buy.

Yeah, I think maybe our sentiment swings a bit too wildly around here. People were so positive before and then freaked when I suggested there was some risk that the project would not occur based on how closed-mouthed they were about progress. Now, we see some plans on their part to have an escape hatch. I hardly think that means the project is dead, it just slides the scale a little bit in the negative direction. 210 Trade looks to be 99% sure and the Vue has slipped a bit in my mind to perhaps 80% sure.

Not that they will, but that it is perhaps more of a possibility than we believed before.

Yeah, why go through all the expense of preparing a request and the risk of possibly tarnishing confidence in your project?

Hah, sounds like they're looking for a backdoor.

i'm having trouble picturing where this is...is it north of NoDa then? Has anyone figured out what's going in where Piedmont Courts used to be? I noticed 2/3 of it is dirt at this point.

http://www.metmidtown.com/home.htm

I wouldn't say "inferior" just less preferred than an Uptown location where you can walk to work and not have to pay $195 per month to park. I've learned from renting units that I own and talking to other Uptown residents that being within a 10 minute door-to-door walk is incredibly important to people. So, I'm hoping that the Metropolitan recognizes that they can't command the top premium of about $350 to $400 per square foot that the Uptown locations do. That being said, yes the project has a lot of things going for it. I just think they'd be doing themselves a big favor momentum-wise to be a little modest on the price. Make it a win-win for them and the purchasers. The tendency lately at FAP and Vue has been to squeeze every last dime the market will offer and ten percent more.

Looks better all the time. I've an appointment to talk with a sales person. Hopefully they'll recognize that the location is not as good as within the belt loop and that there is some risk in buying into the project at this point and discount accordingly. I'm not interested if it's going to be $300 per square foot, unless it has really nice fixtures, finishes and amenities. By really nice, I'm talking Vue nice.

I would still say the weight of the evidence points to there not being a theater, but it is encouraging to see DS say there will be.