San Carlos weathers the housing storm

Run Date: September 12, 2009

By Shaun Bishop
The Daily News

CONDOS AT 1001 LAUREL DEVELOPMENT SELLING IN RECESSION

In the nearly two years it took to construct a new four-story condominium complex in downtown San Carlos, the housing market took a nosedive.

The developer behind the project at 1001 Laurel St., didn’t know how well the condos would sell when the 90-unit building opened just over a month ago.

“We were all very concerned,” said John Baer, senior vice president of development for The Matteson Companies.

So far, though, Baer said he is pleased that the company has purchase agreements for 17 condos and hundreds of other potential buyers on the interest list, despite the recession.

“We think we’re early in the positive cycle,” he said.

The project is just a couple of blocks from the heart of the city’s burgeoning downtown, a feature local Realtors and city officials say has helped the housing market in San Carlos remain relatively strong.

“I think San Carlos is pretty unique because their downtown is easy to get to,” said Tatum Clark, a Realtor for Intero in San Carlos. “Pretty much anybody who lives in San Carlos can walk there within 10 to 15 minutes.”

Condo sales have been booming, according to senior vice president of development for The Matteson Companies John Baer, who stands in the courtyard at 1001 Laurel St. in San Carlos on Sept. 3.

The median price of condominiums in San Carlos was $545,000 in the first six months of this year, down about 9 percent from the same period in 2008, according to the San Mateo County Association of Realtors.

That was a less severe drop than the county as a whole, which had a median condo price of $410,000 in the first six months of 2009, down 22 percent from last year.

The median price of a single-family home in San Carlos was also relatively resilient, about $918,000 in the first half of 2009, down just 10 percent from that period last year. Countywide, the median price of single-family homes was down 28 percent to $635,000.

David Young, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in San Carlos, said the lack of subprime buyers in San Carlos resulted in fewer foreclosures, so there was less downward pressure on prices.

“I think the prices have trickled down, not fallen off the table like in other areas,” Young said.

Local officials and Realtors also cited high-quality schools in the San Carlos area as a selling point for families looking to settle on the mid-Peninsula.

However, 1001 Laurel is targeted at empty-nesters, young professionals and single people, Baer said.

Starting prices range from $449,500 for a one-bedroom, one-bath to $753,500 for a three-bedroom, three-bath. The one bedrooms average 700 square feet in size while the three bedrooms average 1,400 square feet.

One of the first buyers is Art Wong, 86, who purchased two adjacent condos in one corner of the second floor and plans to knock out a wall to combine them.

Wong decided to move out of Los Altos Hills after living there for 46 years, saying he wanted to be able to easily walk to stores and restaurants.

In Los Altos Hills, “If you don’t drive, you’re stuck,” he said.

San Carlos City Manager Mark Weiss said the city heard concerns from some residents during the construction of 1001 Laurel that the building looked too imposing. But he said he hasn’t heard any complaints recently.

“It seems to be much more accepted and well-received in the community now,” Weiss said.

Downtown shops and restaurants trying to get by in the recession will welcome the new customers from the condo development, said Sheryl Pomerenk, CEO of the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce.

“(Those are) people who will mostly get everything done downtown, which is great,” she said.

Photo credit: Kat Wade/Daily News

Huge San Ramon development nears finish line

Run Date: September 4, 2009

By Blanca Torres
San Francisco Business Times

‘NOT EVERY BUILDER COULD PULL THIS OFF’

With only 150 homes out of 5,170 left to sell, development of the Windemere master-planned community in San Ramon is in the home stretch of a process that has stretched more than 30 years.

The community has established a suburban enclave of homes for an estimated 15,000 people nestled among rolling hills that were once dotted with cattle ranches. The 2,300-acre site still maintains a sense of open space, with undeveloped hilltops thrusting out of the landscape.

The team: Mark Kaushagen, Pulte; John Ryan, Brookfield; Brian Olin, Lennar; Kevin Pohlson, Brookfield.

If the views from Windemere can be stunning, views of Windemere remain divided. For the three builders — [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest.

You can watch up to ten companies at a time.

] Lennar Homes, Centex Homes and Brookfield Homes — that formed a partnership to take on the massive project, it is a bedroom community situated perfectly to serve the East Bay job centers nearby. For some urban planning activists, it is the sort of car-centric suburban sprawl that is driving the Bay Area in the wrong direction.

“Our goal was to provide housing for an area that has one of the largest job concentrations in the East Bay: Bishop Ranch and Hacienda Business Park,” said John Ochsner, who worked on Windemere for Centex Homes, which was recently acquired by Pulte Homes.

John Ryan, president of Brookfield Homes, said he expects the development to be completely sold out within a year despite the current downturn in the real estate market.

Prices on homes in the development have come down somewhat, and buyers continue to sign contracts. Windemere offers a variety of home styles from condos and townhomes to large, detached houses with prices ranging from the $400,000s to just over $1 million. Ryan said most of the homes sold when the housing market was booming.

“We hit the upstream on the way up and the downstream on the way down,” he said. “Our sales are still doing well.”

Construction on the first homes started in 2001 after decades of planning that began in the 1980s. The three companies came together in the 1990s and worked to have the project approved, which took several years.

Developers have yet to sell just 150 of 5,170 in the Windemere development in San Ramon.

“For the Bay Area, it was a rare opportunity and the three companies fortunately had the vision to see it,” Ochsner said. “Not every builder could pull this off because of the size, magnitude and cost of investment required. … It was better as a joint project because the risk profile was too great for one builder.”

The builders had to install infrastructure such as roads, sewage systems and electricity. They invested $235 million into building two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The high school alone cost $160 million, has a capacity of 2,200 students and features an outdoor athletic pool and modern performing arts center. The community also has a child-care center, a 26,000-square-foot community center and a branch campus of Diablo Valley College. Windemere also includes 18 parks.

The project faced opposition from preservationists and residents of neighboring cities who did not want to annex the community, which was originally part of unincorporated Contra Costa County. San Ramon has gradually annexed portions of Windemere as they have been developed.

Brian Olin, Bay Area division president for Lennar Homes, said he calls the site “in-fill,” considering its proximity to major business parks and the few miles to the Interstate 580 and Interstate 680 freeways and BART. Windemere also provides an option for families who might otherwise move farther east to the Central Valley.

“It’s a good balance,” Olin said. “There’s absolutely a need for housing. As a builder, you want to be responsible about what you’re building.”

Groups that opposed the project from the start, however, say that Windemere is outside existing urban boundaries and is simply unrestrained growth in the wrong place.

“This project represents an era of unsustainable growth that must end,” said Christina Wong, who handles East Bay development issues for the Greenbelt Alliance.

Another site the size of Windemere will probably never come available again in the Bay Area, Ochsner said. Nonetheless, while Windemere finishes its build-out, another development team, FT Land LLC, has proposed a mixed-use development called the New Farm Project on 771 acres along Camino Tassajara, just a few miles east of Windemere on unincorporated county land. That proposal would require an amendment to the Contra Costa County General Plan to allow for residential development on areas currently used for cattle grazing. The Greenbelt Alliance opposes that proposal as well.

“We need to build in a more climate-friendly, affordable and economically competitive way,” Wong said. “We need to reinvest in our urban neighborhoods and suburban downtowns.”

Photo credit: Spencer Brown

Big Mission Bay complex fills up faster than expected

Run Date: August 28, 2009

By J.K. Dineen
San Francisco Business Times

Urban Housing Group’s new 192-unit Strata apartment complex in Mission Bay is fully leased, a milestone that was reached 45 days ahead of schedule, according to the developer.

Rents on the complex averaged $3.02 a square foot, about 15 percent less than the $3.50 a square foot the developer had originally hoped to collect, said Dan Diebel, vice president of development for Palo Alto-based Urban Housing. Strata opened in mid-March.

“We are very pleased that we leased up that rapidly in this economy,” said Diebel. “We had a lot of science people and tech people and 15 percent of our renters came from out of state and were moving to San Francisco for work.”

San Francisco rents dropped 2.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to RealFacts. James Devincenti, a multi-family specialist with Marcus & Millichap, said rents declined 10 to 15 percent since the height of the market. He said tenants who signed deals in 2007 and 2008 are still seeking and receiving rent reductions. He pointed to a tenant in a Russian Hill studio who recently had his rent chopped from $1850 to $1650.

“It feels like rents have stabilized, but I can’t say we have had a full-blown reversal,” he said.

The Strata was one of two significant new apartment complexes to open last spring in Mission Bay. The other, the 260-unit Avalon Mission Bay III at 355 King St., is 60 percent leased, according to Senior Vice President for Development Stephen Wilson.

“It’s been very well received in the marketplace,” said Wilson.

HomeAid shoots for the moon with trap shoot on Sept. 17

Run Date: August 27, 2009

Silicon Valley Mercury News

HomeAid Northern California is targeting a lofty fundraising goal of $150,000 when its Eighth Annual Trap Shoot takes place on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Livermore-Pleasanton Rod & Gun Club. The event is largely supported by the Northern California homebuilding industry. Everyone is invited, from beginners to sharpshooters.

Since the inaugural HomeAid Trap Shoot in 2002, HomeAid has raised more than $1 million to help fund the construction of shelters for the transitionally homeless throughout the Bay Area. These shelters are located in San Jose, Livermore, Antioch, Hayward, Novato, Santa Rosa and Fairfield (under construction).

The 2002 Trap Shoot a five-person team competition was such a booming success (raising about $75,000) that in each successive year it has grown in popularity within the homebuilding community. In 2005, its best year, the event netted nearly $250,000. Despite a challenging new home market in the region, homebuilders, suppliers and vendors are again stepping up to support the HomeAid Trap Shoot. In addition, HomeAid has redoubled its fundraising efforts, recently receiving sizable donations from the San Francisco Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank, Union Bank and Google.

HomeAid is currently providing significant funding for construction of Mission Solano’s Bridge to Life center in Fairfield, the second largest HomeAid shelter built in the United States.

Activities for the Trap Shoot will include team competition as well as trophies for best male and female marksmen. All participants can enjoy a delicious barbecued lunch, entertainment and a post-event party.

Cost for entrants is $200 each or $1,000 per five-person team. All skill level entrants are welcome, from beginners to sharpshooters. Non-shooter tickets are available for $50.

Trap Shoot participants include builders, sub-contractors, manufacturers and suppliers. Leading homebuilders such as DeNova Homes, Pulte, Brookfield, Standard Pacific, Shea and Ponderosa Homes are already registered, and many more teams are expected to join the fun.
Established in 1999, HomeAid Northern California is a non-profit organization supported by the Home Builders Association of Northern California. Its mission is to build or renovate shelters for temporarily homeless individuals and families.

Need a Foreclosure Game Plan? Find it on KCBS.com’s “The Real Story With Colleen Edwards”

Run Date: August 27, 2009

By Amy Kennedy
Silicon Valley Mercury News

With a daunting array of foreclosure issues, trends and topics in today’s housing market, there’s a one-stop, go-to solution for those seeking a comprehensive source of information to help in the decision-making process: KCBS.com’s The Real Story with Colleen Edwards.

Edwards offers podcasts and interviews with industry thought leaders committed to providing insights and perspective on the ever-evolving real estate world. As a veteran of more than 30 years in the new home market, Edwards also offers a blog, addressing a variety of compelling subjects to those interested in buying, selling, investing or remodeling.

With regard to foreclosures, Edwards recently interviewed Chris George, president of CMG Mortgage and secretary of the California Mortgage Bankers Association. Here are some topics they discussed:
Consumer confidence is the key to a economic recovery, and it’s increasing slightly a baby step in the right direction.
A wave of adjustable rate mortgages will reset in the next few months, causing more havoc and more opportunity.
If you’re facing foreclosure, be proactive about suggesting a workout plan to your lender.
Foreclosure doesn’t benefit anyone including the bank.

Edwards also talked with Lota De Castro of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage about these issues:
The Three P’s of buying a foreclosure: patience, preview, perseverance.
When buying a foreclosure, how do you know you’re getting the best deal?
The short sale is a long and complex process.
Buying a foreclosure comes with many potential frustrations.