Saturday Afternoon View of the Arts District
October 1, 2007 by Lucas Lechuga
Above, you will see the following developments from left to right: Venetia Condo (completed in 1980), Marriott Hotel, The Grand (completed in 1986), Opera Tower (completion by the end of this year), Bay Parc Plaza (rental building), The 1800 Club (completion by the end of this year), Quantum on the Bay (completion by the first quarter of 2008), Cite on the Bay (completed in 2004) and Paramount Bay (completion by the first half of 2009).
On the northern half of the Arts District we have the following new developments: New Wave (completed in 2006), Star Lofts on the Bay (completed within the last three months), Onyx on the Bay (completed within the last three months), Platinum Condominium (completed within the last five months) and Blue Condominium (completed at the end of 2005).
The following is a close-up of The 1800 Club, Quantum on the Bay, Cite on the Bay and Paramount Bay:
The pictures above make the Edgewater look like a million bucks. It's amazing what perspective can do. The reality is that the Arts District is still an up-and-coming neighborhood. Three years ago you wouldn't dream about walking the streets after dark. The neighborhood has cleaned up a lot within the past three years but it'll be another three years until somebody actually wants to walk the streets at night. The long-term outlook for the Arts District, however, is bright. The views from these bayfront buildings are amazing. In time, the neighborhood will blossom and it will become an attractive place to live. In the meantime, however, newly constructed condos in high-quality buildings are available at prices that don't make sense for the neighborhood. Prices will come down and opportunities will emerge as the new condo supply far outpaces demand in the Arts District.
lucas… i have a 2/2.5 unit (line 4) 1319 sq ft. which i bought in ’04 for $408K. i’m currently renting the unit for $2K/mo. with thought that in 1-2 years market will be stronger. But I’ve been looking at all the different threads here and seems advice is to sell ASAP. Wanted to see what thoughts you had about my specific situation. Thanks.
oh forgot to mention the unit is in Blue.
Steve, What floor is your unit on? There are already 2/2.5 units available at Blue for under $400K. Take a look at my “Deals” link at the top of this site and you’ll see. There are so many condos coming onto the market within the next 12-18 months. If you aren’t prepared to hold onto your unit for the next 3-5 years then I’d sell now. You may need to take a loss but calculate the overall negative cash flow that it’ll take you to hold the unit for 3-5 years and it may not sound so bad.
Lucas …
I don’t see too much info. about BLUE development… can you provide me a summary run down on this building… location, neighborhood, pros, cons, market value, etc… any insight would be helpful… Thanks