Baltimore Grows

LiveBaltimore.com now has a Neighborhood compatibility matching feature on their website.  Maybe this will help reduce the effort it takes for new citizens to find the right match. 

For instance, if you’re single, spunky, and colorful, then you’re best suited for a neighborhood like Hampden or Pigtown.  If you are a conservative and traditional family, then you better stick to Blythwood or Homeland.

Are you living in the right neighborhood for your personality?  See for yourself.

http://www.livebaltimore.com/neighborhoods/neighborhoodmatch/

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com

I came across this really great story in the Baltimore Citypaper.  This further reinforces the point I made in an earlier post that many of the home foreclosures in Baltimore are greedy investors that got in over their heads.  While it’s great that these houses may ultimately be put to good use, stories like this across the nation have contributed to the financial crisis and will cost the rest of us taxpayers dearly.

This story in the Citypaper is about the owner of Caesars Forum Hair Salon (George Agelakis) located at the corner of Fleet and Patterson Park Avenue in the Canton area of Baltimore.  Apparently him and some of his cronies had conspired to by several properties in the area…mostly shells…through a mortgage game of financing one property to cover another.  When the bottom fell out, he foreclosed on millions of dollars worth of loans over several properties…which probably will end up as part of the bailout being covered by our taxpayer dollars.  I for one am outraged.

The story is a long and convoluted one, but a great representation of how America got into this mess anyway.  I suggest if you have a few minutes you read it!  I’m interested in hearing any comments anyone might have.

Click Here to Read the Article

The Ritz-Carlton Residences in Baltimore, Maryland recently began welcoming the first homeowners. The project is being developed by New York based RexCorp, after changing hands because of some legal troubles during the construction process. The Baltimore project is the first ever condo project with no hotel component that will be branded and operated by the Ritz-Carlton.

“Baltimore has never seen anything like this,” said Kurt Hornig, sales consultant at the upscale development. “It’s like living in a Ritz-Carlton Hotel without all the guests.”

View of Ritz-Carlton Residences from Harbor East neighborhood

To read more CLICK HERE

Interesting article today on the Washington Business Journal. According to some the government’s planned takeover of $700 billion in bad mortgages will eventually lead to an increase in the area’s economy. They point to the post-911 response and savings and loan crisis of the 80′s, as other major events that spawned increased government spending and local jobs. As most of us know the Baltimore-Washington area is often lumped together as one metropolitan area. The economies of the two cities tend to be linked as they share commuters from local counties, and even from within the city limits. So in theory, what’s good for the macro DC economy is also good for the Baltimore metro area’s economy.

David Kessler of accounting firm Reznick Group P.C. had this to say – “It’s going to create a whole new industry of services for all of us, for the banking sector, for commercial real estate, the advisory and brokerage sector, legal and accounting…” “We’re going to see a boost in the local economy as a result of that.”

We’ve been wanting to add a forum (aka discussion board) to Baltimore Grows for a long time.  I finally found some time to do the work. I’m not sure whether anyone wants another forum or not.  But it’s now there just in case.  Perhaps people are more willing to post to a forum rather than blog posts.  If you do end up using it, please keep it relatively clean and simple.

Baltimore Knows Forum – www.BaltimoreGrows.com/forum

The future Legg Mason / Fours Seasons project will command the highest rent of any property in Baltimore; likely $40+ per square foot. Prices at the current Legg Mason building (100 Light Street) are in the high $20s. It’s not surprising because the new Harbor Point project is should be pretty pimped out.

Once Legg Mason makes it’s move across town 100 Light street may have a hard time filling the 21floors vacated. Tenants may be looking for some more modern accommodations, which is why the building owners plan on some upcoming upgrades. But i’s hard to beat the location and views of 100 Light Street.

Read more on the MD Daily Record site

414 Water Street is a 31-story condominium near Baltimore’s inner harbor that was built above an existing structured parking garage owned by Baltimore City.? The building was recently completed and is about 50% sold and occupied according to McWilliams|Ballard, who is handling the condo sales.? The Bush Companies, developer of the project, worked out a long term lease with the city to reserve the top floors of the 9-story parking deck so residents can lease parking month-to-month.

414 Water Street offers one-bedroom, one-bedroom with den, two-bedroom, and two-bedroom with den floor plans.? Sizes range from 654 square feet for the smallest one-bedroom to 1,460 square feet for the largest two-bedroom with den.? Select units offer balconies and the views looking south to the harbor and across to Federal Hill are stunning.? Prices start at $217,900 for a one-bedroom and $339,900 for a two-bedroom.? Click to read more and view price sheet at CondoAuthority.com…

The sales prices of condominiums and coops appear to be holding up better in Baltimore than many might think based on our recent analysis of thousands of transactions entered into the multiple listing service. We exported and analyzed every condo and coop transaction from 2000 through July of 2008 from MRIS (Metropolitan Regional Information System), which is the multiple listing service used by Baltimore area real estate agents. The jurisdictions included in the data analysis were Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Harford.

While everyone knows prices are not increasing like they were in the first half of the decade, sales prices for existing condominiums in and around Baltimore are not declining much on average.? The average sales price for condos in Baltimore City was $278,482 in July of this year, which is basically unchanged from $278,417 in July of 2007.? The prices used for this analysis are net of any seller subsidy (closing cost contribution, etc.). While the average sales prices can be somewhat erratic from month to month, the general trend is pretty flat.? Even the metro area including the counties mentioned above has only shown a decline of 4.3% year-to-date through July compared to all of 2007 and this is mostly attributed to declines in Howard and Anne Arundel counties.? And, this is after a 4.4% increase of the average metro area price in 2007.

View the full article including graphs and tables HERE

Yesterday’s article in the Baltimore Sun on the proposed Westport development was interesting.? It was a good article about the city’s push to include moderate & low income housing in the new project.? What I found funny was the accompanying artist rendering of the project? which features a Porsche, BMW (I think), Starbucks, Westport Bistro, and Whole Foods.? Perhaps the low-income residences are tucked just out of view around the corner.

This is a story about a house.? This is the house next to mine in Canton.? When I bought my home two years ago, the house next to mine was also on the market.? It was listed for about the same price as mine and it sold shortly after I put the offer in on mine.? I moved in and anxiously awaited my new neighbors.? However, the house just sat…and sat…and sat.? No one moved in.? It became obvious that the house had been bought by a speculator.?

It’s estimated that thousands of houses in Baltimore are owned by real estate speculators.? Speculators are often criticized for perpetuating urban blight and lack of community development, especially in severely depressed neighborhoods.? Often times speculators are waiting for others to make an investment or the first move in order to sell their property for a profit.

Then something strange happend to the empty house next to mine.? Late notices started overflowing in the mailbox and foreclosure notices were posted on the door.? Pretty soon, the house was back on the market…this time advertised as a “bank owned” property.?

Long story short, the house was sold, and a young woman moved in.? She just graduated from medical school and is starting her residency at Hopkins Hospital in Urology (the best program in the country).

The point of this story is that while many unfortunate people are losing their homes to foreclosure, there are many more speculators and investors who got in over their head expecting to make a quick buck.? Instead of these properties remaining vacant, many people are finding great deals on their first home by picking up a foreclosed property which is being sold by the bank or at auction.? A lot of these people are young doctors, artists, engineers, lawyers, writers, etc. that will help Baltimore continue to grow and become great.?

So while some people have had to sacrifice due to the housing collapse, the silver lining is that Baltimore will continue to remain an afforable place to live.? Cities like San Francisco and Washington D.C have gotten so pricey that most of the young people are relegated to the suburbs.? This ultimately? will create? a vacuum in the city, devoid of activity generated by fresh blood.?

The more empty houses in Baltimore that can be put back to productive use, the better for our city as a whole.

jeffcantonite@yahoo.com