SmellyCat

It's still listed on General Growth's website as a future development, although I would be surprised if it gets built. My guess is that GGP's eyes are still glued to the performance of Northlake, which has shown mixed results so far.

Unfortunately, Colonial is usually not in the business of developing for sale properties. It is a publicly traded REIT who owns and manages apartment complexes and some retail and office. This type of for sale product is done by its taxable subsidiary and is a one-off project, so the company's probably not too concerned about reputation risk compared to say a Blvd Centro. Maybe their inexperience here has something to do with the way they are handling this situation.

Glimcher really has done a poor job with this sale. Their original price expectations were far too high for what a "B-/C" mall in a blighted area could ever fetch. The lack of execution is definitely reflective of the quality of its management, as, not surprisingly, their stock performance has badly trailed other mall REITs over the past several years.

407 sq ft? Wow, I thought they only had those size apartments in Manhattan!

I think they definitely missed the mark with that store mix. Putting Marshall's there is a joke. Perhaps they'll add a Family Dollar and Value City Furniture as well.

Yesterday, they added brick and stone cladding along the base of Court 6. It's plodding along....

I wish they would break ground on this sucker already!

The Whitewater Center got a writeup in the NYTimes (may have to register): The Great Outdoors, Tailored to Your Needs Good attention-getting writeup, even with the Times wondering "...in the maufacturing of an outdoor experience, is something lost?"

I would argue that not allowing people to flip does not necessarily keep the value of a building up. Sure, it may initially prevent flooding the market with units, but it also hinders after-market liquidity. And if the market has declined by 2009 when the Vue is done, and/or borrowing rates have risen to 8%, many flippers will simply walk away from their 10% deposit rather than be stuck with a unit that has fallen in value by 10% or more since they went to contract. This will happen regardless of whether there is a 1-year restriction in place or not, so it could still leave plenty of units for the developer to re-sell into the market while you are forced to hold onto yours. I would suggest that those buyers might want to check the very fine print of their sales contracts, because if I have learned anything over the years it's that what a real estate agent orally tells you and what's written in the contract - well, those are often two totally different things.

So you're saying that there are no restrictions to flipping a unit after closing? You can sell it immediately at any price to any buyer?

This may have been posted, but I heard that the Vue has an option to buy any unit that an owner attempts to sell within 18 months after closing, at the BUYER'S ORIGINAL COST. And there are no early hardship outs (like medical emergency, job relocation, etc.) So as an owner, you can essentially be royally screwed if you want to sell fairly soon after closing. Is this true? If so, assuming completion date is mid 2009 (which is looking likely), you may be married to this place until 2011.

I haven't been to Northlake in quite awhile. What kind of demographic does it appear to be attracting? Lower to middle income?

The Vue has been running full back page ads in the CBJ every week for the past year or so, it seems.

major bummer.

Excellent call. Great food and inexpensive. And now, for something completely different...try Big Ben on Providence Road in Myers Park. The service can be hit-or-miss, but the traditional English breakfast (served with tomato, mushrooms and English bacon and bangers) is awesome and the fish-and-chips dinner is the bomb. So are their desserts. The food is better than most I've even had in the UK (okay, not exactly a high bar to eclipse) The interior gets an A+. The decor is as if you walked into an authentic London bar just off of Oxford Street.

Welcome to Charlotte. I presume most of those same people also think Ballantyne is utopia...

I seemed like construction had ceased, but now it appears to be going on again. They are installing the rounded corner of the building that faces 6th & Davidson.

I never heard about that one, so I looked it up. In that crash, 71 of 82 people lost their lives because the pilots were discussing politics rather than the plans for their approach to the airport in foggy weather. The plane was flying too low and pilot error was given as the reason for the crash. After the crash investigation, a new rule was established to prevent "non-essential pilot chatter" below 10,000 feet. The flight was coming from Charleston and it happened on Sept. 11, 1974.

Charlotte Cotton Mills apartments (now changed to Camden Cotton Mills, unfortunately) has exposed unpainted concrete ceilings. I lived there for 2 years and most people, except for older people like my mom of course, found them to their liking. Definitely has a very loft-like feel. Not for everyone, but it definitely was the polar opposite of what you'd find in Southern Living, which was my objective.

I attended a General Growth investor meeting today, and they had a slide with Bridges listed as a future project. No timeline was given, however.

so i guess they're gunning for a 2009 completion.

Congrats! When are they telling you ground is supposed to be broken?

Exactly. Not too hard to figure out why they can't unload it.

I just saw an analyst's report that stated Eastland was on the block for $50 to $60 million, but he thought the asking price was too rich.

only $6m atlrvr? wow, that seems remarkably cheap, even for Eastland.