Condos Go Ka-Boom!
By Silver Springer • Aug 27th, 2007 • Category: Real Estate
Over at the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association group board, one commenter notes some hearsay about the 1200 Blair Mill project, now the the Argent.
According to the poster the condominium project that’s been moving at rapid pace since May, has a come to a crawl because construction workers hit a “volcanic veinâ€.
Larger digger drills were used in the beginning but the $40 million project has been reduced to jack hammers.
Completion of the project was slated for Winter 2008 (not by a long shot) .
The 96 unit project has 12 moderately priced dwelling units in 9 story structure. It will reach a height of 90’feet.
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A ‘volcanic vein’?
And thus, the great gentrification wave of downtown Silver Spring recedes.
“The Leave No Yuppie Behind” approach orchestrated by the real estate developers and the Montgomery County Planning Commission has reached its zenith in Silver Spring.
Wow…if you price condos so a middle-class family or a single-income earning middle class person can afford to live in Silver Spring, you will actually fill those condos with buyers. But no, RE developers drool over that upper-income market. What a terrible loss for Silver Spring.
I just love how the planners on these Silver Spring boards sing praises about building architecture, streetscapes, green space and all. Yet, the planners have no concept how physical structure and the price manipulation by developers affect human beings. There’s no discussion about the psychological and sociological impact of “grand” planning projects on the local population.
Sounds like something out of LOST
>
Actually… we don’t live in the USSR. So condo prices aren’t actually set by the MoCo Planning board, and aren’t even set directly by real estate developers. There’s set by this crazy thing called a free market. Real Estate developers are funded by these people called investors, who require a certain return on their investment, and the developer requires a certain profit to consider the project worthwhile to them. And then there’s this thing called supply and demand… when there’s a limitted supply of downtown urban-esque housing and high demand, the price goes up as has been fueld by the speculators purchasing real estate in the past few years, not the developers. Sure, when the speculators drive up those prices the developers build at an astounding pace, because project that weren’t formerly profitable become profitable.. and when prices get too out of wack and people stop buying the speculators start dumping, prices fall, and formerly profitable ventures no longer are profitable. It’s a simple economic cycle. And sure, places like silver spring become a little more expensive following development because people actually WANT to live there and there’s more demand than there is supply of CBD-zoned land - 360 acres isn’t very much. But that’s just economics, it’s not the planning board on a personal vendetta against you. Governments only regulate development, they don’t create it or price it - if they did it would be called communism. An MoCo regulates it more than most, requiring 12.5% MPDU’s in all new development. So instead of complaining about every new development that comes to town, you should be supporting it… because in a free market there are two ways to drive down prices, increase supply or decrease demand.
The thousand condos of The Argent Empire will descend upon you. Our building will blot out the sun.
Is it me, or did this thing seem to transcend gravity and shoot up overnight?
The irony would have been a 300 unit project.
I’m so looking forward to the upcoming condo glut. Oversupply for the win!
Seriously, the number of condos that are scheduled to go online over the next couple years is just crazy. I think they could be sold if they can drive the prices down to something reasonable (aka, affordable on a normal loan and average white-collar salary), but the days of 400k single-bedroom condos are over, and I hope the builders realize that.
Does it really matter how low the prices go if interest rates keep going up? Maybe next year 1br condos will go down to $200k, but interest rates will be 10%… Screwed if you do [buy], screwed if you don’t.
IHY…you should just change your name to Sisyphus. I bet you’ve never seen any glass as half full, but instead everything is tilted against you. You remind me of that cartoon guy from that old show The Adventures of Gulliver (you’re too young to remember)…no matter what was said to him, his reply was always “We’re doomed, we’ll never make it” or “It’ll never work”.
DMZ…amen! Condo prices in Silver Spring have reached ridiculous levels. It’s time for the developers to take a big bite out the s**t sandwich.
Anonymous:
When George W. Bush is no longer President.
When we get our troops out of Iraq.
When we have government-supported national health care for everyone
When housing becomes affordable for working people who don’t make six-figure salaries.
then I will become Mr. Sunshiny Bright Day.
Sisyphus Rocks!
Comment by IHateYuppies
Made Monday, 27 of August , 2007 at 9:54 am
And thus, the great gentrification wave of downtown Silver Spring recedes.
“The Leave No Yuppie Behind†approach orchestrated by the real estate developers and the Montgomery County Planning Commission has reached its zenith in Silver Spring.
Wow…if you price condos so a middle-class family or a single-income earning middle class person can afford to live in Silver Spring, you will actually fill those condos with buyers. But no, RE developers drool over that upper-income market. What a terrible loss for Silver Spring.
I just love how the planners on these Silver Spring boards sing praises about building architecture, streetscapes, green space and all. Yet, the planners have no concept how physical structure and the price manipulation by developers affect human beings. There’s no discussion about the psychological and sociological impact of “grand†planning projects on the local population.
RE: Once again its the Maryland hating Yuppie from Virginia spewing hatred towards Upscale Development in Silver Spring/Maryland.
Why can’t you be the bigger idiot and admit that you wish for Silver Spring/Maryland to fall into the status of being a Third World Welfare state with continuous Corrupted Southern Democrats dictating Maryland to never recover from poverty and corruption while you Good Ol’ Boy Commonwealth state of Virginia continues to Develop the Northern Virginia region into a New York/LA Imitation full of Tall Buildings, Expensive Subways, Multi-Lane Expressways, $Million Mansions, Multi-Level Upscale Indoor Mall with 300+ Stores, and Expensive Glass Office Buildings housing High Paying High Tech Employment…………
Sorry Paul, your comment was seen as spam.
I wish you’d consider “Rich” (or whoever he is) with his recurring e-mail tirade about Silver-Spring hating Virginians as Spam, especially since he cuts and pastes the entire text of the whatever e-mail sets him off. Does this person have another thought in his head ?
No kidding…he says nearly the exact same nonsensical thing every time!