Saturday, June 09, 2007

Terminated

From the Sacramento Bee:

Condo woes: Prospects for the stalled Towers condo project took another hit this week: Its sales office closed.

On Wednesday, furniture was moved out of the office on the ground floor at 455 Capitol Mall, just up the block from the now-quiet project construction site.

"It's sad," says Dan Friedlander, owner of the Limn retail chain that provided chairs, desks and other equipment for the office.

But he's hopeful the shutdown is temporary.

"We'll be right back in there when they figure out what to do," he says, referring to talks under way between project developer John Saca and the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which could end up taking over the high-rise project.

Saca was unavailable for comment on the office closure.

9 comments:

norcaljeff said...

What goes up, must come down. Kinda sums with the RE market over the past 9 years...and it will get much worse folks.

smf said...

They won't be back, for at least a very, very long time. I predicted a long time ago, even when a friend of Saca's father told me the 'demand is there'.

And there are some builders still doing condos and townhomes.

It will get worse.

Rob Dawg said...

CalPERS. Why is my wallet twitching?

Unknown said...

"We'll be right back in there when they figure out what to do."

Hey Dan Friedlander. You win this week's "Unintentionally Profound" award!

Enjoy your Life-sized Statue of St. Joseph made entirely of ground-up granite countertops.

Cmyst said...

dvobell: "Enjoy your Life-sized Statue of St. Joseph made entirely of ground-up granite countertops."

LOL! Thank you. Gawd, I am so sick and tired of granite countertops.

Wadin' In said...

I think it is a shame this project can not get built. I understand how some people are contemptuous of the builder, but the concept is a great idea. Having a world class residential project downtown is an exciting thought.

I hope someone can make it happen in a successful way.

smf said...

"but the concept is a great idea."

Sure it is...but not in Sacramento, and not for the size, and neither the prices.

You have got to understand that speculation hid the actual demand for houses. So while Saca might have thought there were 3000 people willing TO LIVE (not invest) in his condo, in reality only 400 had the means and desire to do so.

His project way overshot his intended market. Lately, the numbers have come up that in Florida and Las Vegas, condo speculation ran as high as 70%. And Saca's project is not the only one downtown, as there are several that are already built.

cole said...

I heard John Saca and his buddy Craig Nazzi are selling condos on the Brooklyn Bridge...cheap...so get in now, before the price goes up...

Dan Friedlanderneederlunger sells modern furniture to the gang bangers over in the Del Paso hood with GRRRREAT success...and pacification of the hood continues in that area...so now one only has to carry an AK47 to that area between noon and sunrise of the next day...

The other Del Paso hood mondernizer, "New Faze" development are current short about a million bucks to El Dorado County as promised in the agreement between those two parties...but have no fear..."New Faze" is in tight with Fargo, Kerridge, Dangberg so it assured that money will be forthcoming from the City/County of Sacramento for this "temporary" shortage...

... said...

Well, instead of investing directly in the Saca project, CALPERS purchases a load of subprime bonds/equity investments.


I know you-all would rather see another Wal Mart downtown than a nice residential hi rise.