San Diego Airport Landing - 06/24/08 01:54 PM
As many of us sometimes do, I found myself surfing on Youtube and came across this interesting video.  We do so much blogging on the state of the Downtown San Diego Real Estate market and statistics, so I thought this blog entry would be for pure fun.  Everyone who lives in Downtown San Diego loves the fact that the airport is so close.  Once you land, it is really only a $5.00 cab ride home.  From most of the high-rise complexes, you can sometimes see four or five planes lining up approach.   As the planes approach the runway, they come within … (0 comments)

Canine Surf Competition - 06/24/08 01:53 PM
This weekend is the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition.  Spend this weekend at the beach while helping raise money for a good cause.   Saturday, June 28th See Spot surf during the Loews Dog Surfing Competition - the nation's original surfing competition for man's best friend. Last year, 47 surf dogs took to the waves and more than 1,000 spectators gathered to watch the dog surfing event unfold. The competition garnered national and international media attention, and more than $10,000 was raised for a great cause. This year's event should be even better.
Schedule:9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. … (1 comments)

Italian Planner looks to San Diego for Smart Growth ideas - 06/24/08 01:53 PM
 
I recently read an interesting article in the Union Tribune titled Italian planner marvels at San Diego's smart-growth tenets.  It was fascinating hearing a European's point of view on San Diego's city planning and development.  It is very popular for American architects and planners to travel to Europe to study how the Old World built cities, but Claudia Trillo did the opposite. Trillo is a Fulbright scholar, city planner and assistant professor at the University of Naples and spent the last six months in San Diego to see how this Southern California city battles sprawl with smart-growth principles.  Smart growth … (0 comments)

Progress in the Neighborhood - 06/24/08 01:52 PM
What was originally going to be a block with an additional 300-some condos to add to our market is now becoming a boutique hotel, Hotel Indigo and a luxury apartment High Rise, Strata. The cranes are up on both sites and concrete is being poured. Our skyline is improving yet again!

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Green Port Program - 06/24/08 01:51 PM

The Port of San Diego was formed in 1962 to serve as a sort of steward for San Diego Bay.  The Port of SD is in charge of managing the Bay's valuable social, economic and environmental resources.  If you live in San Diego, or have even briefly visited us here, you understand the importance of the Bay on our economy and quality of life.  So thus enters the Green Port Program.  Look, I get tired of all the slogans, footprint this or that, but it's a reality we can't deny, and we need to be proactive about cutting back on certain … (0 comments)

Urban Living…The New American Dream? - 06/19/08 03:10 PM

In this blog, we talk about the concept of "New Urbanism":  Creating sustainable and dense neighborhoods focused around mass transit and walk able distance to work, live, and play.  In Downtown San Diego, the concept of New Urbanism is alive and well.  The development and revitalization of Downtown San Diego starts and finishes with the CCDC (Centre City Development Corporation).  This organization has insured the well balanced development of Downtown with a commitment to the infrastructure growth of distinct core neighborhoods( Marina, East Village, Gaslamp, Columbia, Cortez Hill, and Little Italy).  This provides a San Diego "Urbanite" choice and diversity.  … (0 comments)

FHA Financing Just Got a Little Easier for Bank Owned property Buyers - 06/19/08 03:09 PM

Many of you have called and written info@92101urbanliving.com with questions about the low 3% down FHA financing that is currently available.
In the past, FHA financing criteria have excluded bank owned properties for 90 days as well as certain communities that were not "FHA approved" from eligible for FHA financing.
FHA financing just got a little easier for bank owned property buyers.
For one year, the White House temporarily suspended the rule that imposed a 90-day waiting period before foreclosed homes can be sold to receive government loans.
FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said "A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes … (1 comments)

East Village’s Cowboy Star - 06/19/08 03:08 PM

Ah yes...another genius business now in the East Village...Cowboy Star. This will be the first restaurant in the East Village to be servin'-up a contemporary American-Western cuisine. The atmosphere is urban-sheik-cowboy, with exposed beam ceilings, cowboy accents and a kind of modern, contemporary saloon exterior. The 92101 team went to lunch there the other day. We walked past a couple of empty establishments to find that Cowboy Star was packed for a Tuesday lunch? I guess the word of great food travels fast. All of us were very happy to be sharing Sarsaparilla Sodas. It felt like a drinking lunch. … (0 comments)

Little Italy Mercato - 06/19/08 03:07 PM

Beginning this month on the 7th, every Saturday morning, year-round from 9am to 1:30pm, Date Street from India to State will be closed to through traffic so organic fruit stands, seafood, cheese and olive oil purveyors, bread bakers and chefs can sell their goods to downtown resident's and visitors. There will even be a dog walking service so you can leave your dog with Fetch Pet Care and concentrate on your shopping. Welcome to downtown!!!
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Beautifying Our Streets - 06/19/08 03:05 PM
This week Little Italy becomes the inaugural site in a series of beautification plans for Downtown San Diego.  400 brightly colored planters and hanging baskets began to line India Street.  The project is aimed to provide a softer urban feel by adding more color and life to the streetscape.  "Great urban environments throughout the world feature plants, flowers, and other decorative foliage.  It is a way to engage and beautify a city and to connect spaces while enhancing the pedestrian experience," said CCDC president Nancy Graham.  San Diego is no doubt a perfect place for these kinds of projects with the … (0 comments)

Trolley Removes fare Zones - 06/19/08 02:57 PM
An article in today's paper talks about an increase in trolley fares, along with bus fare as well. It will now cost $2.50 to go through Downtown as opposed to $1.50 however... the zone has been removed. So you just pay $2.50 as opposed to $1.50 then $3. Check out the article and hop on the trolley and come on down to Downtown!
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Bragging about my ‘hood - 06/19/08 02:54 PM
Have you seen the new Toyota commercials? Huh? Have you? They are awesome! Ya know why? Because they show Toyota's driving around our awesome downtown neighborhood and it clearly shows my Loft!
The killer orange paneled building is called Fahrenheit, and it is awesome and that is where I live. Never leaving. Ever. It also shows another cool building called ICON. You should DVR this commercial, paste it on your desktop alongside all the other goals you have in life.
Being down here is like winning. Period. You're done, it's over. You live down here and you win. It's that simple. … (0 comments)

San Diego's New Central Library on YouTube! - 06/19/08 02:46 PM

The above link will take you to a YouTube video featuring Rob Quigley, design architect for the new downtown central library. The library will be located east of 11th Ave between J & K streets.Mr. Quigley provided a quick update about the status of the library this Friday morning (June 6th) during a "Coffee with Nancy" CCDC update hosted by the Children's Museum this morning at 8 am. Mr. Quigley added that the library is now only less than $17 million away from being a reality and to "feel free" to support this initiative by considering making a generous donation … (0 comments)

Location Location Location? - 06/19/08 02:44 PM
San Diego County is filled with such diversity.  There are over 90 sub communities that make up the Real Estate Residential Market.  Each individual sub market performs based on its specific price points and location.  I guess it should stop surprising me that performance of high-end product and very average product are continually generalized together.  Investors who made bad choices buying average real estate in average locations broke the most basic of all value rules: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.  Investors who made good choices buying quality product in desirable locations "weathered the storm" quite well. 
Alin Nevin of Marketpointe Real Estate Advisors … (0 comments)

How expensive are we compared to other destination cities? - 06/19/08 02:44 PM
In an article in Yahoo Finance today, it discusses the cost per square foot of the top ten most expensive cities in the world. Guess who is not in the top ten? San Diego.
Coming in at the number 1 spot is London, at a whopping $6,191 per sq ft. A $1.5 Million price range will have you living atop some of Downtown San Diego's finest buildings.  However, this will only get you a small studio in London, Courchevel, Monaco, Manhattan & Hong Kong to name a few. I'm pretty sure we pale in comparison at around $512 per sq ft.
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Live Green…Live In Cities - 06/19/08 02:42 PM
In  this month's issue of Wired Magazine, there was a very interesting editorial that I thought I should share.  It is titled "Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What it Means to be Green" .  In the article, we are challenged to examine our preconceived notions of what we think may or may not be good for the environment.  The first suggestion is that it is actually more environmentally friendly to Live in Cities.  Is this true? Could we be doing our part to decrease Global Warming just by living in this great place we call Downtown San Diego?  I was surprised … (0 comments)

New Downtown San Diego Children’s Museum - 06/19/08 02:41 PM
It is great to be parents living In Downtown San Diego!  We took our girls to the new Downtown San Diego Children's Museum on Memorial Day. It was awesome to see all the kids and families that had come down from all over the county to check it out. Building derby racing cars, painting the VW bug, climbing the climbing walls and engaging in a massive pillow fight will surely get your kids energy out. On Wednesdays, the Museum is closed, and on weekends and holidays it is packed! You wait in line like you would at a night time hot … (0 comments)

Fannie, Freddie scrap declining-market label - 06/19/08 02:39 PM
All properties in 92101, previously considered as being geographically located in a "declining market" since last December by Fannie Mae [1] and Freddie Mac [2], will no longer be stymied with this stigma. 
What does this mean for you? 
If you happen to be shopping for a downtown condo, your lender will no longer have to ease you into the idea that a higher down payment will be required for your loan to be approved under Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan guidelines. According to the May 25th 2008 article in San Diego's Union Tribune entitled Fannie, Freddie scrap declining-market label:  "Starting … (0 comments)

Builders looking to infill - 06/19/08 02:38 PM

So with the state of the market comes the downsizing of a lot of developers. Within this comes the fact that a lot of the developers that were here in the past aren't going to come back when the market corrects again. Today's paper has an article regarding this. It speaks of how urban infill will be the way of the future for development as there is really no more buildable land. Buildable in the idea of an Eastlake or Otay Ranch or Scripps Ranch.
Vertical living is the way of the future. With that in mind, one could view … (0 comments)

Housing Crisis Over?? - 06/19/08 02:37 PM

The Title of the Wall Street Journal Article is "The Housing Crisis is Over". Could this actually be? A well respected national publication is suggesting that there is actually something positive on the horizon for Home Sales in the United States. Well, things are not that easy. I am positive that this topic will continue to be debated for months to come. However, new statistics and historical data regarding National Supply Inventories, Local Market Conditions, and Construction Activity show that the right conditions for improvement are starting to become note worthy. A decline in Home values combined with competitive mortgage … (0 comments)

Tour Our Office - 06/19/08 02:36 PM
View a brief tour of our office here at 92101 Urban Living, and hear what we're all about. Keep checking back as we will be posting more videos on properties, downtown neighborhoods and more!

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Old Police Headquarters Conversion - 06/19/08 02:35 PM

San Diego's Old Police Headquarters resides at 801 W. Harbor Drive in downtown...right across from Seaport Village. The old Police Headquarters closed in 1987 and has been abandoned and neglected ever since. Slated for sometime this summer, the old police headquarters will be receiving some love and will be transformed into a public market and at least two restaurants. San Diego Port Commisioners are currently meeting with a Carlsbad development firmo over what this project will take. It is projected to be completed in a little over two years with a bill of about $40 million. At the moment the … (0 comments)

How many languages should this be written in? - 06/19/08 02:33 PM
appreciate people saying to me that they are waiting for the market to bottom out. I understand that. But here is something to contemplate. There will be nothing new delivered between now and 2012.
It is going to cost $200 per square foot more to build than it did when all this was built 3-4 years ago. As for the distressed market is concerned... if you remove Treo, La Vita and Acqua Vista from the mix you eliminate 80% of the distressed market! Holy cow!
The inventory of 700+ condos will not be inundated with anything new. Stop looking at CCDC's … (0 comments)

The Future of the Downtown condominium Market - 06/19/08 02:29 PM

We know no other condominium projects that will break ground in the next year. As high-rise projects require two years to complete, we do not anticipate the completion of any new high-rise projects until atleast 2011 or possibly 2012.
There are two factors that impact the future supply of condominiums downtown:
First is the near absence of financing and equity capital-a situation abetted by the financial struggles of the major banks and investment institutions. Second, and of equal importance, is the rising costs of construction. The condominiums that are newly completed downtown, like The Mark andf The Legend, were bid … (0 comments)

Inventory Of New condominium Units for Sale: 2008-2001 - 06/19/08 02:27 PM

As noted above, there are only four condominium projects under construction downtown: Vantage Pointe in the East Village and Bayside, Breeza and Sapphire at the Embarcedero. Those projects will be completed in 2009. After that there will be no delivery of new units, recently
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Inventory of New Units - 06/19/08 02:23 PM
Currently, if you were to look at the toatl availability of unsold unit downtown that are in buildings that are either completed or under construction, the total would be 1,696 units. Of that total, 694, or 40% are units in the buildings that are under construction and won't be delivered untill 2009. Another 176 units, or 10%, are in adaptive reuse or conversion projects. The balance, 826 units, comprising half of the inventory is in completed buildings.
From another perspective, if we look at the longer term view of unitsthat will be available for sale in the future, we find the … (0 comments)

New condominium Sales - 06/19/08 02:22 PM
The downtown new condominium market was highly active in the 2002 through 2006 period when there were several dozen projects offered for sale. In 2007, with most of those projects complete, sales slowed dramatically.
To date this year, 62 condominium units have been sold in newly completed buildings and buildings under construction.
Part of thr reason for the slowdown in sales is the absence of a full range of inventory. Most of the units under construction and completed have product priced over $400,000. Although $400,000+ condominiums are an important part of the market, most of the sub-$400,000 product has been long … (0 comments)

Foreclosure Activity - 06/19/08 02:07 PM
Dataquick has released its first quarter 2008 figures for downtown SanDiego. In that period, there were 121 sales, 36 of which, or 29.8%, were foreclosure sales. The foreclosures represent 4/10th of one percent of the downtown inventory.
Most of the foreclosures were in the lesser-priced projects, averging $385,000. The foreclosure sales were generally in the batter quality projects and averaged $625,000.

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Downtown condominium Resale Market - 06/19/08 02:06 PM
The downtown resale market continues to be relatively steady. Ignoring the highly unusual year of 2005, resale condominiums downtown have averaged more than 40 sales per month in the 2003 through 2007 period. These tabulations do not include sales by developers.

Notably, sales countrywide have fallen almost 50% in the 2003 to 2007 period, yet the downtown condominium market has persevered.
In the first quarter of 2008, sales totaled 102 units, compared to 113 sales in the first quarter of 2007 and could match the 40-unit a month total in 2008.
The price per square foot peaked in 2005-2006 at … (0 comments)

The Recent History of Downtown San Diego - 06/19/08 02:04 PM
Since 2000, downtown San Diego has seen the development of two major office buildings, more than 6,000 new condominium units, 3,000 new apartment units and 3,700 hotel rooms, and, of course, Petco Park, the key anchor of the East Village...
Today, there are more than 30,000 persons living downtown and more than 75,000 persons working downtown.
Until the year 2000, the total number of condominiums and rental units downtown totaled 8,303. Of that total, there were 1,311 condominiums and 1,812 market-rate rental apartments. The balance were senior, single-room occupancy and subsidized units.
Since 2000, there have been 77 projects built and … (0 comments)

Nort Embarcadero Visionary Plan - 06/16/08 05:41 PM
A couple months back we did a blog on The North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NVP). This project is so completely instrumental in shaping the face of San Diego, therefore, it is important to have a refresher blog with some updated information. If you are a current San Diego resident, or a potential one, you must check this out. This represents the evolution of Downtown San Diego and in turn values of your urban home.
A major point of this project is to "Green" San Diego's Bay. The concrete and asphalt that dominate the SD Bay waterfront, under the NVP, will undergo … (0 comments)