3x new 20+ story apartment buildings (Atlanta, Carlton: foreclosure, condos, home sales)

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

Oh good grief! Why not restructure some empty condo buildings into luxury apartments before venturing into new construction? That's win-win for almost everybody (except perhaps the 1-2 actual condo owners in these nearly abandoned buildings).

No kidding! Was wondering the same thing myself.

[testa50]

Again, what nearly empty buildings is everyone talking about?

The only ones I know of are the Brookwood and the Atlantic. All the ones actually within Midtown are pretty full or filling fast. Maybe the one on top of the Loews is mostly empty?

[tonygeorgia]

^^^^ The only one that i know of is the one sitting on the old vision nightclub property

[Bullbear]

I love when the Real Estate people comment here as if the market is healthy. Sorry folks: IT AINT!

What about 1010. Tons of units unsold. Exactly how many I have no idea. Must be between 500 and 600 remaining in the Brookwood and Atlantic alone. Buckhead? How about the Ritz Carlton, which hasnt sold much, while Astoria is nearly empty. The very high end Buckhead buildings that went on the market AFTER it burst still have lots of unsolds left. Then consider all the units being resold, well, there are near thousands of (high rise) condos and townhomes just waiting for an eager buyer in Atlanta. Its going down more before it starts going up.

Note: According to The National Association of Realtors, housing sales fell 9.6% from Jan to Feb, the largest percentage decline since July.

Compared with February 2010, sales were down 2.8%. The median price dropped 5.2% from last year to $156,100. That is the lowest since April 2002.

[testa50]

And so the backpedaling begins...

Nobody said the market is healthy; just that there isn't tower after empty tower within Midtown proper that could be converted to apartments. Your only example is a half-full building that would be impossible to convert with so many owners, and a couple buildings that are close to Midtown, but not within it.

[mike7586]

1010 Midtown is about 40% sold now, and converting the rest to apartments would hurt all the people who bought in that building. Most buildings only allow a certain amount of rentals to protect values. It makes no sense. The only "empty" condo buildings are The Brookwood and The Atlantic, and they are starting to sell now.

Atlanta needs more high rise apartments. Other cities like Chicago and NYC have numerous high rise apartments - they aren't all condos - so I don't see how this would be a bad thing? This definitely makes more sense right now.

[BringBackCobain]

I did read that the Brookwood has sold a lot of their units recently after they slashed their prices. I don't think the Atlantic will ever sell as condo units--they may as well convert that building to section 8.

[newbluemoon1965]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

I did read that the Brookwood has sold a lot of their units recently after they slashed their prices. I don't think the Atlantic will ever sell as condo units--they may as well convert that building to section 8.

Then the welfare mamas could really be pimpin'!

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by testa50

Which of Novare's buildings still have a ton of unsold units? Their main Midtown developments--Metropolis, Spire, and Viewpoint, all seem/look pretty much full. I don't know as much about the ones in Downtown and Buckhead. And even if there is a 20% sold building or two, it's not like you can just leave a letter on existing owner's doors letting them know the other 80% is going to be filed with renters.

Don't know if this is directed at me or Bullbear, but I was thinking more along the lines of Novare or whoever making an active bid on condo buildings that are near empty to restructure them as luxury apartments. Wasn't this done with Mezzo in Buckhead? I don't know how this gets done if there are already buyers in the building, but it can be done. (And yes, I had the Atlantic in mind specifically.)

Also, homeownership is great and everything, but having more renters around isn't a bad thing. It's not like NYC and SF don't have massive numbers of renters (and owners) in their prime areas. More residents (renters or owners) means more people walking around, more businesses around, fewer businesses failing, more eyes on the street, and a more livable Midtown for everyone.

Agree completely. And an increase in renters tends to diminish the available housing supply, putting upward pressure on rental pricing, making buying housing comparatively more attractive. In other words, the renter's market can have some helpful effects on the buyer's market.

[Bizurko]

i just want to see more it at least gives the opportunity for people to move closer to wherever they work. Because of the people who work inside the perimeter but live outside and are not in any way serviced by public transit or aren't serviced well with the public transport that is available. More density, less sprawl please.