Anyone been watching the Towering Inferno at Marquee Place?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
About the Santa Ana highrise off MacArthur, last time we were there was summer 2007,the buildings were going up, about 4 floors were done, have no idea how much progress if any has been done since then, but I do remember whistling at the prices, how high they seemed, for an "urban highrise condo" where you couldn't walk to anywhere remotely interesting.
 
morekaos,

Trust me, the foreclosures are coming to this lovely project. I know of someone who owns a few of these "luxury" condos, and $1200 a week went up his nose. Needless to say, things are not going so well, and it looks like the bank will now be a proud owner of a penthouse in Irvine. And, judging that anywhere between 10%-20% of these units are behind on their property taxes, then I would imagine things are not going well for many of the those "owners" too.
 
I can just imagine Tony Montana (John Mcgonogal, Gary Watts, Mozillo, insert your favorite villian) hold up in the penthouse with a gawdy globe fountain that says "The World Is Yours" in lights rotating around. Head burried in a mountain of white powder mumbling to himself "Say goodnight to da last of da bad guys!!!"
 
I work in the Irvine Towers complex, the former home of New Century. I get to watch all day as they build the housing development that couldn't (Central Park West). What an astonishing monument to the housing bubble. As if an "urban lifestyle" is do-able in the archetype of suburbia Irvine. Try walking down to Michelson to the airport if you think it is so urban-pedestrian-friendly. Ain't no sidewalks as you get past that new office tower (now only partially occupied by Wachovia). Gotta trudge through the mud and sod or walk in the streets. Plus John Wayne Airport ain't friendly to pedestrians either, you must then cut through the parking garage, no clear right-of-way. The corner of Jamboree and Michelson is no mini-Manhattan. Not by a long shot. And now the foreclosures come.

So the story is plain: a developer built Marquee at a lucky time, when fool flippers grew on trees. They infested and swarmed the towers whereupon it was sold out. Johnny-come-lately Lennar says he can do it too but unfortunately the timing was off such that "central park west" is to be mothballed: Fools. There can be no bottom, there is no going back to such insanity. So now Lennar's fingers are stuck in the cookie jar: only their future BK trustee can extricate them.
 
Foreclosure in the sky.

Walter Hahn, a real estate economist in Irvine who has followed the project since its development, said he is not surprised about the foreclosure because builder Bosa Development did not prevent or cap sales to investors. Hahn said he believes many of the original buyers were speculators,who hoped to resell quickly.

"I expect more of them to go into foreclosure," Hahn said.

And that will put downward pressure on prices, since the owner of the loans on the foreclosed properties will try to get rid of them quickly, he said.

OMG! I never thought I would say this, but ever since Walter pulled his head out of the sand, he sounds a lot like a bear.

Veronica Hicks, head of brokerage Condos etc. in Newport Beach, said she is marketing a unit on the 16th story of one of the towers for $950,000 to $1.1 million, which is less than the debt owed to the bank. Such deals are dubbed "short sales."

Hahn said the market is showing very limited demand for high-rise living. Orange County residents prefer traditional housing, he said.

Developers who try to prevent investors from buying have a tough time policing their policies, said Dennis Serraglio, director of sales and marketing with Bosa. For example, some developers require that buyers live in the units for at least one year. But he said the contracts allow for job loss or other hardship, which can be difficult to verify.

He said Bosa has had a few foreclosures in some of its other properties – the company builds in San Diego and Vancouver, British Columbia, where it is based – but the numbers are small.

"I don't think we will see any big numbers in terms of volumes on short sales and bankruptcies," Serraglio said.

Eventually interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve coupled with a highly anticipated government boost in the conforming loan limit should spark housing sales, he said.

"It's definitely a buying opportunity right now. It's very rare that you have prices come down and interest rates as low as they are," Serraglio said.

He said the big question is when consumers will feel confident enough to start buying, whether in three months or nine months.
 
Eh, i'd take a west facing unit on one of the upper floors for 400k. Seems mighty inconvenient, but the view *might* make up for it.
 
New requirement for the ridiculous HOA...

On Friday nights, there must be an open bar happy hour, from 5pm to 9pm, for residents with up to 3 guests, with only premium alcohol (no well crap, and gawd forbid grey goose), and cheap, but tasty tapas. Hey, if the towers in SF have the same high HOAs, but with chefs like Michael Mina and Gary Danko, then I expect the same here in OC. I mean, all the bulls like to compare OC to SF, so then the amenities need to match, if not exceed what they have there.
 
the problem with the south or west facing units is they get really hot from the afternoon sun beating on the glass, plus the light shows all the dirt on the windows. These units would require shades most of the day, preventing one from really enjoying the view. A north or east high rise view stays cooler and the windows appear cleaner and you can leave the shades up to enjoy the view during the day. Unlike a house, highrises just have views in just one or two directions. Just my two bits worth of observations from living in a highrise for a year.
 
I know it is a bit out of the area but here are some a similar luxury condo tower in downtown Long Beach that are seeing 100-200 grand drops in prices. I imagine this is coming to the Marquee soon. Burnin down the house!!!

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1373865

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1439488

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1500176

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1304829

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1255187

http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/printable-listing?listing-id=1500192
 
morekaos, thanks for the links....but Aqua is not a luxury condo. It was cheaply built, the cabinents are low grade....the whole place is CHEAPO! Nice location though....but nowhere near worth the listing prices. It also looks like a 2nd "condo fee" (special assessment?) has been tacked on... I recall the building to the East flooded (went unnoticed for a weekend) a few months prior to completion. They had to rip out 15 floors of drywall and carpet and start over. Could it be a mold problem ? Hmmm..... I do like the views though.
 
No doubt, I just wanted to post a taste of what is going on elswhere. There are 2 other projects in that area that seem to be blowing up. These few listings show how much the pain has set in. Marquee listings only show 1 out ouf 19 or 20 purchase prices in order to compare where the original buyer sits. Probably alot of presale buyers so we don't really know what they paid. The LB Towers are a bit older and the price tracks are still fresh in the snow
 
Also the dues in these units runs $525 a month. Not 1200 at marquee but as trooper says with a second "condo fee" added it is up there still. What a joke. Tower living cannot be worth all that
 
Many Highrise development in OC enlisted John McMonigle as their selling agent hoping to borrow his image and branding to promote the lifestyle of rich and good taste.
 
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