Comments on: Transformation

By: david ball

david ball — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:16:49 +0000

given some of the above comments, i’m beginning sense how new yorkers felt in the bob moses era, particularly the later part…

By: Octo Mayano

Octo Mayano — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:06:56 +0000

Bottom line…it’s improvement. Is it what you would do? Maybe not. But it sure looks like it’s going to be nice. Seems to me like SandRidge considered the community and not just themselves. I wonder if they have any job openings???

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:21:21 +0000

Ok. I still don’t see the tea leaves your way but that’s not what this blog line was about anyway so lets just agree to disagree.

By: Steve Lackmeyer

Steve Lackmeyer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:15:32 +0000

Further comment: Sieber and Park Harvey are doing great. All of the downtown apartment projects are running at or near capacity. It’s the for-sale housing that’s dragging, and that’s due to pricing, a restrictive mortgage environment and concepts that don’t totally match up with market demand.

By: Steve Lackmeyer

Steve Lackmeyer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:13:52 +0000

The Cline is empty because they’re still renovating it into apartments. The Osler is empty because it was purchased at a price that doesn’t easily cash flow as a residential development and it’s requiring more number crunching. The Marion is empty and boarded up because the developers aren’t ready to do anything with it.
The irony here is these comments would infer Bob Howard and Mickey Clagg aren’t doing anything when in fact they’re the only ones moving forward with housing.

By: Jeff M. Bezdek

Jeff M. Bezdek — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:44:46 +0000

I completely disagree with this line of reasoning about housing. Park Harvey, Deep Deuce, Legacy, and Sycamore are consistently full in the high 90′s. People want apartments in the $650 to $1,400 range and they would gladly transfer that to a house/condo payment if the product and financing were available.

“why is the Cline empty and the marion and the Osler projects at a standstill?”- Refer to the developer I would say. All three you reference are with the same people.

Finally, look to the national freeze on lending by banks for the majority of the answers about new projects.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:07:05 +0000

Wasn’t “The Triangle” a TAP project? Perhaps I’m thinking about that. Didn’t something happen to that partnership? If I have misspoken I certainly need to be corrected.

Jeff, I guess my question would be if the market could handle more apartments, why is the Cline empty and the marion and the Osler projects at a standstill?

Steve may know this but what are the occupancy % at the Seber, Park Harvey, and the lofts at Maywood? Are these considered “High End?”

I wonder if Anthony McDermid would look back on events in 2008-09 and thank his lucky stars Anadarko cancelled the deal? Interesting thought.

By: slackmeyer

slackmeyer — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:54:17 +0000

TAP isn’t kaput. It’s a thriving ongoing architectural firm. An architect from the firm, Anthony McDermid, was part of a team trying to do the renovation, and they were on the verge of getting building permits when Kerr-McGee cancelled the deal due to their acquisition by Anadarko Petroleum.

By: Jeff M. Bezdek

Jeff M. Bezdek — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:44:54 +0000

Jeffrey, I completely disagree with you about there being “plenty of downtown housing options.”. There is plenty of “high-end” housing options but a severe shortage of reasonable and median priced housing that is marketable. We could even handle more apartments.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:07:07 +0000

That’s true, 4-5 years ago TAP was going to take a chance on Kerr/Mac. Now TAP is kaput and there are plenty of downtown housing options, while Kerr/Mac has sat empty for another half-decade. And all the folks that wanted it so bad are probably thanking their lucky stars they didn’t get off the ground with this project. I still think it would be very difficult for this building to ever be profitable due to the huge amount of up front cost to bring it up-to-date.