{ August 22nd, 2011 }
A Tale of Two Cities
Spent some time last week looking at townhouses in Sandy Springs. Inevitably, I hit up a few developments that were conceived pre-bust. A few of them haven’t seemed to get their mojo back yet:
These are two separate developments, probably less than two miles from one another. Not easy on the eyes, especially for those of us that are rooting so heartily for a real estate recovery. To protect the innocent, I’m going to keep the name of the developments and developer to myself. Think you know where these pictures were taken? Email me your guess- if you’re right, you’ll win an AisForAtlanta prize pack.
To the southwest a couple of miles in Vinings, a radically different picture:
Yes, that’s an active construction site! Not only that, but a staffed sales center, where I was told that the units under construction have already been pre-sold, and that additional construction will begin soon on the remaining available units.
The difference between the two developments? Exhibit A is still owned by the original developer. They’re sitting on dozens of lots that were purchased, developed and financed pre-bust… which means that the townhomes are priced accordingly.
Exhibit B, on the other hand, was purchased post-bust. The current builder bought the lots from bank at a steep discount, allowing them to build and price their townhomes accordingly.
The market, obviously, appreciates the difference.
