I think its much easier to not build out some lots and add more amenities than change the designs and add in 3CG. I think a balanced mix of price reduction and better parks and green spaces will really help. Alternatively, they can just lower the prices until they find the point where people are ok with no parks and green spaces but I dont think its in TICs interest to do that.
Laguna Altura in 2011
- Thread starter iacrenter
- Start date
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
@Chitown:
You can probably improve that wall without tearing it down... but I don't think TIC would go through the expense of adding something like a water feature (think The District's water wall on the corner of Jamboree and Barranca).
Toscana is actually priced within the same range as similar sized homes in Quail Hill... I just don't think their floorplans are as good. They can probably fit tandem or L-garages on the same lot but that would be a reconfiguration of the bottom floor. And it doesn't *have* to be a 3rd car space, many will probably option it as another bedroom or whatever, but some of the people who spend that kind of money will appreciate the flexibility of a work room type area in the garage.
I probably should have said they also need to add another bedroom or loft. At over 2800sft, you should be able to put in 5... even 6 bedrooms.
Heck, Cortona could use an extra bedroom too... their 2 biggest plans are also over 2700sft and the smallest one is 2400, but the footprint can hold more and you can even put a 5th br in that amount of space.
Who pays $1mil for a 3 or 4 bedroom house?
You can probably improve that wall without tearing it down... but I don't think TIC would go through the expense of adding something like a water feature (think The District's water wall on the corner of Jamboree and Barranca).
Toscana is actually priced within the same range as similar sized homes in Quail Hill... I just don't think their floorplans are as good. They can probably fit tandem or L-garages on the same lot but that would be a reconfiguration of the bottom floor. And it doesn't *have* to be a 3rd car space, many will probably option it as another bedroom or whatever, but some of the people who spend that kind of money will appreciate the flexibility of a work room type area in the garage.
I probably should have said they also need to add another bedroom or loft. At over 2800sft, you should be able to put in 5... even 6 bedrooms.
Heck, Cortona could use an extra bedroom too... their 2 biggest plans are also over 2700sft and the smallest one is 2400, but the footprint can hold more and you can even put a 5th br in that amount of space.
Who pays $1mil for a 3 or 4 bedroom house?
A possibly simpler option is to create a new main entrance through some of the green space and use the current entrance as a resident only unmanned entrance. They still would need to add more trees and possibly give up a few lots to open it up a bit. Just looking at the interactive village map of LA vs WB or SG or PS or any other TIC community, you can easily sense the crowded feeling and lack of open areas.
I going running through woodbridge occasionally and always admire the lake. Even in the 70s when they built it out, they could have added more homes and reduced the entire price point but its a fine balance. They gave up tons of land for something that would generate more interest and $$$ for all the houses in that area. I feel like they lost that attitude in the last 2 years. WB2 feels desolate and bland and even WB with its commons has many many streets that lack trees and looks barren.
I going running through woodbridge occasionally and always admire the lake. Even in the 70s when they built it out, they could have added more homes and reduced the entire price point but its a fine balance. They gave up tons of land for something that would generate more interest and $$$ for all the houses in that area. I feel like they lost that attitude in the last 2 years. WB2 feels desolate and bland and even WB with its commons has many many streets that lack trees and looks barren.
Not really interested in the area... but decided to stop by for sh!ts and giggles after work... it was late in the day, so i was only planing on driving through the area... low and behold, there was an event for the BIA (http://www.biasc.org/) where they had all the models in the communities open. So I decide to stroll in an check it out.
TIC: "Are you with the BIA?"
me: "Yes, of course, can I walk through the models?"
TIC: "Why sure, here's a brochure, and you can get to the models through the door"
So I lucked out and had a chance to get another peek. First, I'm not sure if there is a real difference, but I SWEAR I feel like they put a lot more time and effort into the exteriors of these buildings. Not only do I think they look nicer, to me, it really looks like they are built better than their WB/SG counterparts. I specifially focused on Cortona (Maricopa's pretty cousin). I did drive the whole community to get a "feel" for it all. Again, even when i look at the other communities, they look a bit nicer. It's almost like "well, the Chinese who will buy in stonegate are more utilitarian and dont care as much, and I think the white people who want to live in wannabe Laguna will want it to look nicer from outside (think of the OC faker housewives)" I'm only speculating here and no, I don't care if I offend anyone.
One thing I notice... um... yeah TIC, you might think the 2 car garage in 2 separate doors "look" is cool... but probably not a good idea for a tiny 2000 sq ft detached condo off a motorcourt.. Because the motorcourts are so frickin narrow, you have to make a 3 point turn to get out. i notice and think "geez... it's not easy to get your car into that tiny little garage door". I have friends who live in irvine apartments, so think of the tiny one car garages in IAC, but with a street 1/3 as narrow. I'm going to laugh at how many houswives are going to take a chunk of garage out trying to park the Range Rover or Escalade in there... lol...
Anyways, back to Cortona... Even though the floorplans are recycled, I think the overall layouts are pretty decent. Cortona 2 (Maricopa 2 + loft) is actually REALLY nice in my opinion. I'm not sure if its standard or just the option, but having the functional sliding doors in the dining room is really great. Nice great room/ kitchen layout w/ walk in pantry... But at $960K plus, I can't see this EVER being worth the price. Plan 3 is nice, but I think I like the big square island in Maricopa vs. the 1/4 wedge of cheese look. I'm not sure if you have your choice... I didnt pay much attention to plan 3 otherwise. because of the overall price range, it's not worth my time. Plan 1.. I walked in and felt pretty good about it. Yes the family/minigreat room isn't much to write home about... But the dining area with the french doors and all the sunlight is great. I like the way they executed the island here vs. Maricopa. Maricopa, you can't seat anyone at the island... here they added seating for 4. You lose storage but gain seating. I like the downstairs laundry in 1 (long explanation regarding not disturbing sleeping children) and the extra room for storage. I dont recall if Maricopa had it, but you also have a nice under the stairs storage closet here... The upstairs has the added tech space which is pretty cool (reminds me of the Campanile Plan 4 with the loft area). Nice added place for a mini den or children's study area. Makes you feel better about the money you are spending that its more of a 4 bedroom "plus" design... At a base price of $855K, it's actually much more reasonable based on the delta to Maricopa. That being said, this is NOT an $855K house, and still in my opinion WAAAAAAAAY overpriced... $750K? we are talking... $855K base? no thanks.
with the additional expenses of a $295/mo HOA and $6000 per year in Mello, it just adds to the fact LA is way overpriced. PV of $1800 per year difference in Mellos of LA over SG is about $28K... so add that to the difference, it is just that much more (let's say $100K for plan 1) for LA. As for the area... from the models, if I looked out the 2nd story bedroom, I get a nice view of some hills, powerlines in the distance and cars zooming by on the 133. If you are outside, you get the "background" noise of the cars travelling. It's not THAT bad. Once you are inside LA, it's not bad. 2 decent parks. Overall, the area doesn't justify the premium. When I was driving down there, I all of a sudden realized that you get some of the backflow from the el toro Y that can slow down your commute home. Once on the 133, I was surprised to see how many cars there were.. also, the avg flow of traffic was about 75 mph when I got on. Many cars + fast speeds = danger. You could of course, drive through QH to get there. It's really kind of weird. Imagine an exit of the 5fwy for "neverland" and that the exit basically led you into a single community. That's kind of the case here. You are pretty much living off a fwy. Hey, who knows... Rossmoor tucked between 2 freeways and people LOVE it... maybe ppl will find the same charm here? I can foresee some traffic issues with people coming home from work getting into the left turn lane to get into the community. Until another center opens up, amenities ARE NOT very convenient here. (personally I think west irvine/ northpark/northpark sq are the best areas for convenience). You drive through QH to go to the market. If you don't like what's in that plaza, you go to the spectrum. I dunno, I just don't think it's the best areas. Overall, i like the general vicinity, and the overall "concept", but for execution and value, the place gets a C+...
TIC: "Are you with the BIA?"
me: "Yes, of course, can I walk through the models?"
TIC: "Why sure, here's a brochure, and you can get to the models through the door"
So I lucked out and had a chance to get another peek. First, I'm not sure if there is a real difference, but I SWEAR I feel like they put a lot more time and effort into the exteriors of these buildings. Not only do I think they look nicer, to me, it really looks like they are built better than their WB/SG counterparts. I specifially focused on Cortona (Maricopa's pretty cousin). I did drive the whole community to get a "feel" for it all. Again, even when i look at the other communities, they look a bit nicer. It's almost like "well, the Chinese who will buy in stonegate are more utilitarian and dont care as much, and I think the white people who want to live in wannabe Laguna will want it to look nicer from outside (think of the OC faker housewives)" I'm only speculating here and no, I don't care if I offend anyone.
One thing I notice... um... yeah TIC, you might think the 2 car garage in 2 separate doors "look" is cool... but probably not a good idea for a tiny 2000 sq ft detached condo off a motorcourt.. Because the motorcourts are so frickin narrow, you have to make a 3 point turn to get out. i notice and think "geez... it's not easy to get your car into that tiny little garage door". I have friends who live in irvine apartments, so think of the tiny one car garages in IAC, but with a street 1/3 as narrow. I'm going to laugh at how many houswives are going to take a chunk of garage out trying to park the Range Rover or Escalade in there... lol...
Anyways, back to Cortona... Even though the floorplans are recycled, I think the overall layouts are pretty decent. Cortona 2 (Maricopa 2 + loft) is actually REALLY nice in my opinion. I'm not sure if its standard or just the option, but having the functional sliding doors in the dining room is really great. Nice great room/ kitchen layout w/ walk in pantry... But at $960K plus, I can't see this EVER being worth the price. Plan 3 is nice, but I think I like the big square island in Maricopa vs. the 1/4 wedge of cheese look. I'm not sure if you have your choice... I didnt pay much attention to plan 3 otherwise. because of the overall price range, it's not worth my time. Plan 1.. I walked in and felt pretty good about it. Yes the family/minigreat room isn't much to write home about... But the dining area with the french doors and all the sunlight is great. I like the way they executed the island here vs. Maricopa. Maricopa, you can't seat anyone at the island... here they added seating for 4. You lose storage but gain seating. I like the downstairs laundry in 1 (long explanation regarding not disturbing sleeping children) and the extra room for storage. I dont recall if Maricopa had it, but you also have a nice under the stairs storage closet here... The upstairs has the added tech space which is pretty cool (reminds me of the Campanile Plan 4 with the loft area). Nice added place for a mini den or children's study area. Makes you feel better about the money you are spending that its more of a 4 bedroom "plus" design... At a base price of $855K, it's actually much more reasonable based on the delta to Maricopa. That being said, this is NOT an $855K house, and still in my opinion WAAAAAAAAY overpriced... $750K? we are talking... $855K base? no thanks.
with the additional expenses of a $295/mo HOA and $6000 per year in Mello, it just adds to the fact LA is way overpriced. PV of $1800 per year difference in Mellos of LA over SG is about $28K... so add that to the difference, it is just that much more (let's say $100K for plan 1) for LA. As for the area... from the models, if I looked out the 2nd story bedroom, I get a nice view of some hills, powerlines in the distance and cars zooming by on the 133. If you are outside, you get the "background" noise of the cars travelling. It's not THAT bad. Once you are inside LA, it's not bad. 2 decent parks. Overall, the area doesn't justify the premium. When I was driving down there, I all of a sudden realized that you get some of the backflow from the el toro Y that can slow down your commute home. Once on the 133, I was surprised to see how many cars there were.. also, the avg flow of traffic was about 75 mph when I got on. Many cars + fast speeds = danger. You could of course, drive through QH to get there. It's really kind of weird. Imagine an exit of the 5fwy for "neverland" and that the exit basically led you into a single community. That's kind of the case here. You are pretty much living off a fwy. Hey, who knows... Rossmoor tucked between 2 freeways and people LOVE it... maybe ppl will find the same charm here? I can foresee some traffic issues with people coming home from work getting into the left turn lane to get into the community. Until another center opens up, amenities ARE NOT very convenient here. (personally I think west irvine/ northpark/northpark sq are the best areas for convenience). You drive through QH to go to the market. If you don't like what's in that plaza, you go to the spectrum. I dunno, I just don't think it's the best areas. Overall, i like the general vicinity, and the overall "concept", but for execution and value, the place gets a C+...
Also add: I hope one parent is a stay at home and can drive the kids places. Because unless they are playing within the confines of laguna alturra, I WOULD NEVER let my kids go out of the community unattended. I have no interest in letting my children basically cross a freeway to get to the other side of the road...
"Dad, can I go play at John's house"
"Where does John live"
"Quail Hill"
"Sorry, no can do... daddy's busy watching football"
"Dad, can I go play at John's house"
"Where does John live"
"Quail Hill"
"Sorry, no can do... daddy's busy watching football"
speak of the devil... still receiving this stupid email...
http://www2.irvinepacific.com/mk/get/LA021?_EC=2YbhLhIR1bALwlgVpm6WlI
"Please pay us $200K more for this house because of the schools... even though with the savings you can pay for a private school education for your family!!!"
http://www2.irvinepacific.com/mk/get/LA021?_EC=2YbhLhIR1bALwlgVpm6WlI
"Please pay us $200K more for this house because of the schools... even though with the savings you can pay for a private school education for your family!!!"
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
E-mail them back and tell them that if they want to sell more homes they need to lower the prices.akim997 said:
Wow! Uni is #8 in the country and #1 in CA? Too bad it is such a long drive from LA/QH to Uni. I wonder if they will ever rezone the LA/QH people away from Uni? I wonder if any QH resident knows someone who lives in Shady Canyon who will let them cut across Shady Canyon Drive to get to Uni?
villiagepeople
New member
Soylent Green Is People said:
maybe this should go in the education thread... but my wife and i prefer public schools (for the diversity... i know some of you may say there is no diversity in irvine, but i'd argue there's a lot more in irvine than the sgv where i grew up and gg where she grew up)... the only thing we care about is the safety of schools, we don't even care about the api of the school.. it's the student that takes the tests not the school admins or teachers...
With the current economic climate and the State cutting public school budgets, I?ve witness many parents pulling their kids out of Irvine schools and enrolling them into private. The premium of paying for an Irvine home to attend an IUSD school is not as attractive as it was several years ago.
NoSoup4U said:
but watch out for dangerous driverhttp://www.ocregister.com/news/police-311639-canyon-shady.html
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
ahbrownell
New member
Any word on pricing reductions at LA? My wife and I were looking into Sienna, but we were turned off by the high pricing + MR.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I wouldn't expect drastic reductions... probably more incentives as it makes their booked price look better.ahbrownell said:
The problem is, I have a feeling these won't sell unless they add drastic reductions.
What is your opinion of Siena? I felt that the master space was too small... both the bathroom and closet were tiny.
LagAlt needs to think about doing some re-designs with their floorplans. In Stonegate, they got rid of the Plan 2 in their San Marcos tract (which is the same as LA's San Remo tract) and replaced it with a modified Plan 3 that has a front entrance instead of a side entrance and an extra powder. I find it interesting they are doing redesigns at Stonegate but not at Laguna Altura (although it may eventually happen).
ahbrownell
New member
Well the two developments that meet most of our wants are sa Mateo and LA -
We want:
Detached SFH
Backyard (we have a dog)
~$600k or less
At least 3 bedrooms
At least 2 full bathrooms
Comparing San Mateo and LA -
San Mateo is cheaper, but the location is less desirable.
LA has a better location, but is more expensive and the lot sizes seemed a bit smaller.
We aren't quite ready to pull the trigger yet (may/June), and we are also considering finding a <10 year old place in WB or WbE. But if laguna altera was = price wise to San mateo I think it would probably work out. Any big issues that people are now aware of? I haven't seen much about this whole development on talk irvine the past couple months.
We want:
Detached SFH
Backyard (we have a dog)
~$600k or less
At least 3 bedrooms
At least 2 full bathrooms
Comparing San Mateo and LA -
San Mateo is cheaper, but the location is less desirable.
LA has a better location, but is more expensive and the lot sizes seemed a bit smaller.
We aren't quite ready to pull the trigger yet (may/June), and we are also considering finding a <10 year old place in WB or WbE. But if laguna altera was = price wise to San mateo I think it would probably work out. Any big issues that people are now aware of? I haven't seen much about this whole development on talk irvine the past couple months.