Granby Tower

[urbanfan]

of course now that the thing is lying on the ground you can tell.

You could also tell earlier when the service crane pulled the hammer out of the pile driver.

[cpeakesqr]

You could also tell earlier when the service crane pulled the hammer out of the pile driver.

I must have caught the lull in between...

[lammius]

I think this is the most closely watched patch of ground on the planet right now.

[vdogg]

I see equipment moving on the webcam. I've watched one of the pile drivers in operation since yesterday. Anyone else notice it.

Welcome to the forum.

on the contrary. Looks to me that they are dissasembling one of the three pile drivers as i'm typing. What optimism?

Yup, this project is as dead as a doornail.

[spiker3]

Crane Taken Down on Granby Tower Site

The sheer gall of this man is horrifying sometimes...

Workers this week began disassembling one of three pile-driving cranes at the Granby Tower site, even as developer Buddy Gadams pledged that construction on the $180.5 million luxury condominium project would restart "very, very soon."

Construction stopped Sept. 18 after Gadams said the downtown project had lost its financing amid difficulties in the credit markets.

Gadams, chief executive of Norfolk-based Marathon Development Group, said Wednesday that the pile driver was no longer needed and was being taken away as part of the original construction plan. Work will resume with two pile drivers, he said.

So apparently the original construction plan was designed to sit vacant and idle for two and a half months and then be taken down....riiiiight

And if we didnt think it was in trouble before, when the Lebanese Mafia starts showing a little skepticism.....

[vdogg]

That pile driver was never used. Not once.

[urbanfan]

That pile driver was never used. Not once.

I agree. Two pile drivers in such a small vicinity is crowded. Three is just stupid. Think about it. For every pile driver, you need a crane to provide support and piles. Three's just too much. Breaking down one pile driver isn't significant news. Now if they start breaking down another one then that's news.

[vdogg]

the $180.5 million luxury condominium project would restart "very, very soon."

So has anyone done the math on this to see how many months/very there are? I'm trying to work out a rough timeframe.

[rusthebuss]

So has anyone done the math on this to see how many months/very there are? I'm trying to work out a rough timeframe.

within the next decade!

[Padman]

I still think that there is some chance that the project will be built, but the statements that we are getting seem consistently evasive. I don't understand why with a need for new financing this project can't be redesigned to meet a changing market. I would think that an increased office component might make good sense, along with a shift from condos to apartments on some levels. And I still think that a common area on an upper floor would help to sell units on lower levels. I'd definitely keep the basic exterior design and the height intact.

[skylinefan]

I still think that there is some chance that the project will be built, but the statements that we are getting seem consistently evasive. I don't understand why with a need for new financing this project can't be redesigned to meet a changing market. I would think that an increased office component might make good sense, along with a shift from condos to apartments on some levels. And I still think that a common area on an upper floor would help to sell units on lower levels. I'd definitely keep the basic exterior design and the height intact.

By changing the composition of the building, adding apartments and businesses and reducing the number of condos help in solidifying financing? I know here in DC there have been many condo conversions that have instead been turned into apartments and it seems to help the developer get financing from banks.

[Sky06]

Nothing in this article leads me to believe this project isn't still going to happen. (But you gotta love the headline and the implication it makes. Typical Virginian Pilot.) I'm no expert, but what else can Gaddams say until things are finalized? Not a rhetorical question; I really am wondering. Clearly, this is a vey sensitive subject, and parties involved in a legal process have to careful about leaking any details until the names are signed on the dotted line. Gaddams may not be the most forthcoming, but maybe that's just his style. Besides, is the lack of details really affecting any of our lives? (Now that was a rhetorical question.) It's nice to know what's going on, but in the meantime life goes on. Even for those who have plunked down a deposit.

[Telmnstr]

Come back down to reality. The real estate market is totally blown up. You know how Gaddams can't get financing to build the tower? The same thing is happening to the people that might try to buy the units. Credit is tightening heavily for people trying to get home loans, because so many of them are going (and will go) bad. Every day there is some bank or mortgage company that just lost a billion or more bucks. Look at E*Trade, they just sold a huge chunk of collatoralized debt or something for 27 cents on the dollar. The market said, those home loans you made (3 billion dollars worth) are worth 27 CENTS on the dollar. That isn't good, but is happening all over. The boom of the past few years was all a scam, and now it's time to pay.

I can't see any way Granby Tower would be built.

I just saw in the news today that one of the large condo projects in Miami, the type that projects like Granby Tower take after... 40% of the unit purchases were fraudulent. Attention is turning now to all the fraud that was going on.... there are a bunch of tricks that seem to be popular. The neat thing bout one of the articles was it really mentioned what the end result of the fraudulent transactions is, and that is rapid appreciation in price values and high taxes.

I notice that every article about Granby Tower now mentions that Decker has a couple of units in it.

[Padman]

I don't believe anyone really knows the depth of the real estate sub-prime loan crisis. There are lots of opinions and you hear conjecture that there is much more to come. My guess is that the problem is indeed widespread, the ramifications are international and effects will continue to creep into other sectors of the economy. But I doubt that this will be especially problematic in the long term (say three years out). Financial institutions are in the business of survival at any means, and most of them will clean up their lending practices and adjust. Some will fail. Furthermore, housing is a necessity, not an option. Demand for housing at a reasonable price is pretty constant over time. The market fell into what I think was at least a double trap. One fat, financial bubble burst and money naturally gravitated to housing. The other aspect was the exaggerated notion that we were supposed to become an ownership society, as if possession of material goods bestowed some sort of moral virtue on people. So, many people who had no business wrestling with mortgages, condo maintenance-fees and expensive repair bills were coerced or courted out of the rental market. There are probably other factors, such as a weakened dollar and perceived demographic shifts, but those two seem pretty significant to me.

[lil-bear]

So the best thing to do with Granby Tower is to make it mixed use?

Does anyone think that it might become condo/apartment and office/shops?

I think that the ground floors should be shops, lower floors of the tower should be offices, the townhouses should be apartments, and the upper part of the tower should be condos.

Wouldn't that be more financially fesable?

[Padman]

Mixed use is probably the best bet for the next two years. Of course, even that could get overdone. Wachovia is a great precedent, and a smart project. I guess that Granby could probably go with as many as 200 condos, given that we probably won't see too many other condo projects start up soon.

I'd like to see something nice planned on the North side of Brambleton across from Granby Tower. I was hoping for a new main library, but that's a ways off. A contemporary art museum spinoff from the Chrysler would be really cool there--expand the existing arts and culture district.

[kjice2]

In my opinion I believe Granby Tower would be built. Lately for the past couple of weeks I been watching the web cam. There has been a constant activity on the site. Today, there has been trucks rolling in out, and hard hats everywhere. So, some what I am now hopeful for this proj ect.

[kjice2]

I spoke with Joann today, which is the sales manager for Granby Tower. She informed me that, there would be a closing on the loan with in two weeks, and they are now planning another activity to celebrate the sign off of the loan. The tower is 45% full also. She also said that, there was a descion about a week ago, to allow site work to continue, with pile driving actually starting in a week or so. Like I said before, I have high hopes now for this project, because it seems things are now falling into place. There has not been this much activity on this site since September. (A DAY FULL OF MOVEMENT). I will be exciting to see all the construction going on around that area. The new hotel, and the soon to be light rail. Lets hope for the best, and ..... hope this thread would become a progress thread instead of stalled.

[vdogg]

I will take this with a grain of salt, only because i've spoken to some of these same people b4 and things don't always pan out the way they say it will. Also, as much as I may take flak for this (flame retardant on ) I don't think that resuming pile driving at this point is a good idea. They need to wait and make sure they have money in the bank or they may find themselves in the exact same position they did back in September. As it stands, I won't have any confidence that this project will be completed until I hear "financing has been finalized" from the lender themselves. I'm guardedly optimistic to be sure, but as you know, we've been here before.

[kjice2]

I completely agree with you vdogg.

[Chesapeake Pirate]

I spoke with Joann today, which is the sales manager for Granby Tower. She informed me that, there would be a closing on the loan with in two weeks, and they are now planning another activity to celebrate the sign off of the loan. The tower is 45% full also. She also said that, there was a descion about a week ago, to allow site work to continue, with pile driving actually starting in a week or so. Like I said before, I have high hopes now for this project, because it seems things are now falling into place. There has not been this much activity on this site since September. (A DAY FULL OF MOVEMENT). I will be exciting to see all the construction going on around that area. The new hotel, and the soon to be light rail. Lets hope for the best, and ..... hope this thread would become a progress thread instead of stalled.

Two weeks from the date of the above is Christmas Eve. Positive news about a loan closing would certainly make for a great holiday message. Many are understandably skeptical that another lump of coal may come instead. Hopefully there is motivation for the lenders to close in December and we will not be offered up a "wait til next year" message. We have no choice but to wait for the report.

[vdogg]

LOL. I just looked at the webcam, and the 2nd pile driver has been taken down. I don't know what this entails, but it certainly isn't the direction I was hoping they'd move in.

[vdogg]

Maybe they have to break it down to move it to the other side of the lot?

[vdogg]

Workers this week began disassembling one of three pile-driving cranes at the Granby Tower site, even as developer Buddy Gadams pledged that construction on the $180.5 million luxury condominium project would restart "very, very soon."

Construction stopped Sept. 18 after Gadams said the downtown project had lost its financing amid difficulties in the credit markets.

Gadams, chief executive of Norfolk-based Marathon Development Group, said Wednesday that the pile driver was no longer needed and was being taken away as part of the original construction plan. Work will resume with two pile drivers, he said.

Can't wait to see what the next article says...

[Alpine757]

Can't wait to see what the next article says...

How about that....the previous article lied...on this project...well, I never...