Yeah, in this market, even with all of the incentives, it's going to be difficult to move condominium inventory. I've been waiting for Gillespie to go fully rental at the Stadium District, but he's still trying to move the condos. I wish him luck, and luck seems to be all that we're going to have to hope for over the next two or so years. If the government really allows GM to fail, well, this state (and a good chunk of the country) will have been pushed over the edge.
Dawn Parker and Jeremy W. Steele • dparker@gannett.com, jwsteele@lsj.com • December 2, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
A sluggish housing market has the developers of two area urban condominium projects ready to rent out units that aren't selling.
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For the developers, renting the units at Albert Place Condominiums in East Lansing and the Stadium District building in Lansing lessens the financial burden of holding onto the empty condos.
It also could open the door to a rent-to-own option for would-be buyers spooked by a sour economy.
Stadium District already is advertising a rent-to-own program for nine vacant condos in its Michigan Avenue building. Albert Place needs East Lansing City Council to grant 12 rental licenses, developer David Krause said.
It doesn't suprise me that the developers are trying to do this. I am suprised that the condominium by-laws don't stop this from happening. I know that if I had already bought one of these condos, I'd be angry that they decided to just start renting some of the units out.
Well, as the article references, there is definitely a city ordinance that has to be waved to make this happen. I'm sympathetic to the developers, though. They can only run a for-sale condo buildings with empty units for so long. Given that the economy is going to suck for at least another year, the prospects of turning these doesn't look good, but this is rent-to-own, after-all, so it's not full-on rental.
Rent-to-own is a completely different story than just renting. And as much as I might not like renting outright if I were an owner, it's still better to know that the developer isn't losing money and could cause major problems with the development. The only thing to consider is the lacking of association dues if there aren't enough tenets...that can cause difficulties with upkeep/maintenance.
This also makes me worry about Capitol Club, MarketPlace and BallPark North. As much as I want to see these go up, I can't blame the developers if they don't seem them as viable right now. I guess my hope is that they will only be delayed a year rather than cancelled completely.
After being worried, myself, I've now heard from two or three different sources involved in the project in one way or another that Capitol Club is still very much on, though, it's been reduced back down to 12 floors for the time being. They are looking to have shovels in the ground sometime in February/March, so I do suspect to see this one going up by next year.
The other two were concepts, anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them delayed. If Gillespie is having to force Stadium District to work, I can't imagine him getting involved with Ballpark North (the most residential of the two), in particular, for awhile.
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This also makes me worry about Capitol Club, MarketPlace and BallPark North. As much as I want to see these go up, I can't blame the developers if they don't seem them as viable right now. I guess my hope is that they will only be delayed a year rather than cancelled completely.
The other two were concepts, anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them delayed. If Gillespie is having to force Stadium District to work, I can't imagine him getting involved with Ballpark North (the most residential of the two), in particular, for awhile.