Outside of Irvine - Depot Walk

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
The neighborhood east of the RR is fine.

The neighborhood west of the RR between Chapman and Palm and Glassel (where this condo project is) isn't so nice.

Are we talking about South Central or Afganistan or the Harbor/First neighborhood in Santa Ana? No. But it's not nice enough to justify a $700k condo development.
 
so the project is literally on the wrong side of the tracks. i didn't know such a dramatic difference between just a few blocks existed in that area. nearly 3/4 of a million for that sounds insane. from google maps chapman u is only four blocks away and i know a few friend's kids who are going there. i'll have to check that location out just for kicks now.
 
Orange is a low-crime town. There might be noise issues there but it's not going to be dangerous. It's 4 blocks from the Circle, which is a nice lively walking area. It's not buried in an industrial area either - the model looks out onto residential streets.

My partner and I looked last week and we were very impressed. It's not for us, because neither of us could commute by train, but if we did we'd be thinking about how to get in there. It's really amazing to step out of your front door practically into the parking lot of a train station/restaurant with the downtown Orange shopping district starting only a block away. The likely bear market in house prices wouldn't make much of a difference to us because we're already in a place of comparable value.
 
I am curious, what do you guys think is a loft there, currently sold for 400K, worth in about a year? Do you think it will maintain its value or decline? I kind of like the loft style condo/apartment (not necessarily the train, though), so I just want to see what the general opinion about the price development of such a condo/apartment is to see how much longer I will have to wait to jump in on one ;)
 
Orange is a low-crime town.

It is. It's very nice here.

There might be noise issues there but it's not going to be dangerous.

Maybe, maybe not. The quaint apartment complex across the street to the south and one block east is pretty rough. Look around the neighborhood for the halfway and substance abuse homes. They do an excelent job of hiding them.

It's not buried in an industrial area either - the model looks out onto residential streets.

If they built this project on the other side of the railroad tracks or south of Chapman I'd feel different. I am intimately firmillar with the area and Orange's plan to redevelop it. In a very direct way, this 'redevelopment' caused me to sell my business and buy another one in South County. That's how I know about the 4am wake up call from Orange County Striping. One of the new residents actually sued them for the noise. Everything north of Walnut is industrial, everything surounding it is a mix of auto repair and a mix of 80% high density/low income apartments and small homes built in the 1930's-1950's.

If somebody wants a tour of the place, let me know on Wednesday. In five minutes drive (well, maybe ten) I can show you the hidden gems and the hidden festering sores surrounding the circle.
 
Starting to see alot more forclosures in the Orange Circle area around my business. Going to guess its going to get a bit worse before it gets better. See the sign guys spinning the signs for The Depot Walk on every Weekend afternoon for the last couple years. This place has really struggled to get sold. No matter what, take up Vaseline on his "tour offer" before you buy. Orange is not that bad. Not as far as gangs and poverty and homeless go. Its just very rough around the edges. Its getting old and unless your prepaired for the environment of light industrial , sober living, high immigrant, low income neighbors. You might have a serious case of buyer regret once you get aquainted to the neighborhood around you. And the trains do go by more than 10 times a day and horn is LOUD when you live that close to the tracks.
 
I drove down Glassell from the 22 to the circle on Friday for the first time in about five months.

I was stuck -shocked - by the ammount of vacant office space. You know, those ones that were converted from homes to offices?

It wasn't like that as late as November of 2007.
 
no_vaseline said:
I drove down Glassell from the 22 to the circle on Friday for the first time in about five months.

I was stuck -shocked - by the ammount of vacant office space. You know, those ones that were converted from homes to offices?

It wasn't like that as late as November of 2007.
Click to expand...

Vaseline

All those "Lawyer and Investment" guys are bailing on that street. I go that way everyday to work. A couple places in the Circle are going empty too. The Mens Store on the corner across from the Radio Shack is going out of business. That South Side Market property on Glassell had some sort of auction in front of it a few weeks ago. Its been empty for a couple years now.

IMHO. Old Town Orange is in decline. Even the illeagals are going home. No work and the city is giving them a hard time these days

with all the new laws.

Vaseline. Next time you go that way try the newer Mexican Restaurant next to the Army Navy store. Its called Gabbi`s. Pricy but great food.
 
bltserv said:
no_vaseline said:
I drove down Glassell from the 22 to the circle on Friday for the first time in about five months.

I was stuck -shocked - by the ammount of vacant office space. You know, those ones that were converted from homes to offices?

It wasn't like that as late as November of 2007.
Click to expand...

Vaseline

All those "Lawyer and Investment" guys are bailing on that street. I go that way everyday to work. A couple places in the Circle are going empty too. The Mens Store on the corner across from the Radio Shack is going out of business. That South Side Market property on Glassell had some sort of auction in front of it a few weeks ago. Its been empty for a couple years now.

IMHO. Old Town Orange is in decline. Even the illeagals are going home. No work and the city is giving them a hard time these days

with all the new laws.

Vaseline. Next time you go that way try the newer Mexican Restaurant next to the Army Navy store. Its called Gabbi`s. Pricy but great food.
Click to expand...

That men's store has been going out of business for about a year now.

The South Side Market property has been condemned by the city (I'm assuming for being structurally unsound) and has been vacant for the six years I've been around it to notice.

I ate at that Mexican resturant the second week it was open. It was good, but when I get a sixty dollar dinner check at a Mexican restaurant, it better be for six people. Not just me and the wife. I haven't been back and it wasn't because of the food.

Ying Chin closer to the 22 is my favorite Chinese restaurant on the planet. I'm sure it's not authentic one bit. It is much better if you order family style as opposed to lunch where you order an entre' and it's too saucy (you leave most of the sauce on the plate with the family style serving).
 
BTW, this project isn't four blocks from the circle. It's closer to a three wood from the circle. You can walk there in about two minutes if you jaywalk across the street.
 
Need some advice / insight.

Right now I live in Irvine at an intersection that makes my house shake when trains roll by, I hear the horn blast about 3-4 times a night

It doesn't bother me that much.

I am in my mid twenties, and work near the Irvine Amtrak Station.

I am on the affordable housing list at Depot Walk, and prices were announced at $315,000

I am / was considering buying. When I visited during the day, the area looked fine. They are upgrading the Metrolink station with an underpass.

I just read this thread, should I run away? Wouldn't that side of the tracks clean up over time?
 
Irvinite said:
Need some advice / insight.

Right now I live in Irvine at an intersection that makes my house shake when trains roll by, I hear the horn blast about 3-4 times a night

It doesn't bother me that much.

I am in my mid twenties, and work near the Irvine Amtrak Station.

I am on the affordable housing list at Depot Walk, and prices were announced at $315,000

I am / was considering buying. When I visited during the day, the area looked fine. They are upgrading the Metrolink station with an underpass.

I just read this thread, should I run away? Wouldn't that side of the tracks clean up over time?
Click to expand...

If you hear the horn blast 3 to 4 times a night, then it is waking you up 3 to 4 times a night. That is not a recipe for good sleep, and poor sleep leads to all kinds of health problems.
 
I think this is a project to benifit Chapman College. The parking in this part of Orange is horrible during the school year. The undercrossing opens up the public parking lot west of the railroad tracks, between Chapman and Walnut, opening around 1000 underutilized parking spaces.
 
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