Glendale is safer for prostitutes. How fabulous.

The Glendale News Press reports an upswing in prostitution in Glendale. "The ongoing recession is attracting more out-of-town prostitutes to Glendale and Burbank, which reportedly produce higher-paying clients in safer environments, authorities said." Wow, how much better can it get for Glendale -- first Americana, and now a safer place for hookers! The article profiles several prostitutes, and surprisingly, none are former Realtors.

It's also common knowledge that one of the big bakeries on Glenoaks Boulevard was recently busted for running a prostitution ring from its second floor. Apparently, "I'd like some baklava, please" had a different meaning at the establishment.

Wednesday morning reading from LAT and Burbank Leader

The Burbank Leader reports today that several big condo projects have reduced their prices significantly. These include the Burbank Lofts and the Excelsior project at Glendale's Americana. Well, good. It's high time the prices on these came down. I think they're running at about $400k+ now -- which, in the case of the Excelsior units, is down from $800k! Remember, though, that many banks will not fund loans unless a condo project is at least 50% sold and the builder/developer has turned over to the actual home owner association funds to the actual home owners association.

Next is an article from today's LA Times about home prices and activity in the Southland. Just as I bin sayin' "But Los Angeles County's median home price actually held steady in April for the fourth month in a row..."[emphasis mine]. Is that not a sign that the bottom is here, and has been here for awhile? But here's another significant quote: "The worst may be yet to come for wealthier areas because "we still face two big threats to price stability: layoffs, which can cause foreclosures across the home price spectrum, and possibly a new round of foreclosures triggered by defaults on 'option ARM' and 'stated income' loans used in mid- to high-end markets," DataQuick President John Walsh said."

No Surprise about the Burbank Collection

I posted here several months ago about the new downtown Burbank loft development, The Burbank Collection. It's right across from the AMC theaters and above Ben&Jerry's, the new Barney's Beanery, etc. The complex features almost 200 units ranging from 1 bedrooms to 2-story penthouses and the prices used to be $400,000 to $700,000+. No more.

A BC representative came to our meeting today to talk about the big price reductions the project has just announced -- about 20% across the board. I understood that this due to two reasons. First, the existing units in escrow did not appraise for their sales prices. The buyer of one unit actually received a $200,000 write-down from her original purchase price offer! Second, according to the rep, the lender on the project is breathing down the neck of the developer. No surprise there.

Further, the rep says that the code words for buyers and their offers are "yes," and "Whatever it takes." That's what we like to hear!

Other news from this rep: the development is almost 50% sold. No units can "go" FHA until the 50% mark is reached. And, I asked about a competing development, the lovely and talented Americana. Apparently, Big A is not giving out sales figures. To anybody. Period. No surprise there, either.

Sunday Reading from the L.A. Times

Today's Sunday reading is actually a cartoon by Mimi Pond from the LAT's opinion section. It's about one of our favorite whipping boys, Americana!

Yikes! My Visit to the Dreaded Americana

I visited the dreaded Americana in Glendale for the first time last Saturday. The husband and two friends from West Hollywood were along for the ride. Our friends frequent The Grove, and were interested to see how this new Caruso project stacked up.

First, is it possible that it truly has boosted Glendale? Local restaurants were packed. Far Niente was booked until 9:00 pm and Tam O’Shanter was packed at 5:30.

And Americana was packed, too, of course. Our friends thought the crowd was different from the usual Grove crowd. Not surprising. I thought it looked like a Disneyland crowd with fewer children. Of course, the Cheesecake Factory had a long wait, but traffic in most of the stores was kinda light. I didn’t get to do much poking around in the stores – except for Barnes & Noble -- as I was with 3 guys and my husband’s shopping mall anxiety kicked in pretty quickly.

My take: it seemed much more like Universal City Walk than a mall. I think that once the dust settles, it will be a destination for young people who want to hang out rather than a major retail hub. And as far as the retail outlets go, I think the few national chains like Barnes & Noble and Chico’s will survive, but the high-end local stores like Barney’s Co-Op and Michael Stars may not be the same in a year or so. I think most shopping dollars will still be spent across the street at the Galleria, with its plethora of major retail chains like Macy’s, Target, Gap, etc. The Galleria was still mobbed at 9:00 pm, btw. That’s just my opinion, though.

And the condos, priced from $600,000 to over $1 million. Will they ever sell them all? I just can’t see it at those prices. Again, they are going to have to attract affluent young people who want to live over Disneyland.

I was curious about the decisions to build this, so I asked Patrick Duffy, of MetroIntelligence, a commercial real estate consulting firm, for his opinion. He says “…I'm a big fan of The Grove, and saw how its development helped raise property values throughout the surrounding area …I'm also a big fan of Glendale due to its location, somewhat small-town ambience and mix of uses, but I think Americana will certainly pull retail visitors from throughout the SFV and SGV areas. What remains to be seen, however, is how successful the residential components are, although people have been willing to pay a nice premium (i.e, 20-30%) for living in mixed-use communities such as this. But do people want to live in Disneyland every day? I personally like my quiet, suburban neighborhood…that's still 20 minutes from most things I want to do, and prefer to avoid the noise/congestion/constant activity of downtown Hollywood, downtown L.A. and perhaps large mixed-use communities such as this…”

Thanks Patrick. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

I'm So Sick of Hearing About Americana Part II

Just in case you've been living under a rock somewhere and could have possibly missed this, Americana at Brand in Glendale is now officially open. Talk about p.r.! LACurbed has been taken over with Americana news, there was a full page ad in the first section of the LA Times, and there was even a story about it on NPR. Here's an item from LACurbed about the condos there:

. The 100 units are still under construction, but this is the finished unit they're showing off--it's a 1,700 square foot, 2-bedroom that's listed for $1.024 million. The leader of the tour noted that the windows have sound-proofing to entirely muffle all outside sounds. The tour guide also dropped some more information about that fancy concierge service: Apparently, they will dutifully do such chores as send birthday cards to your family members every year if you give them the dates. (That was the example given.) Overheard #1 on the tour: "Nice, but that's expensive." Overheard #2: "This is like Vegas living." Overheard #3: "The elevator is too small." Wow. Who needs a nice vintage Spanish with a view on the hill when you can get somebody to send your birthday cards for you?