by The Editors on February 11, 2009
The discussion over the Bressi Ranch home for autistic men continued last night at the Carlsbad City Council meeting according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. A group of Bressi Ranch homeowners chided the City of Carlsbad for giving a $1 million grant to TERI, Inc. to buy a home in the upscale community.
The group, called The Concerned Homeowners, said it had no complaint with the four to six autistic adults who will live in the group home; the group was targeting the city’s process for awarding the grant. . . . It also said the nonprofit that is buying the home, the TERI Group, misrepresented itself in its grant application. . . . “This is not about discrimination. This not about us fighting the Fair Housing Act,” Dana Matas, a member of the group, told the council. . . . The group gave a presentation to the City Council titled, “Affordable Housing or Resort-Style Living,” in which it accused the city of wasting taxpayer funds.
The City Council, not surprisingly, stood by its decision.
[Link: San Diego Union-Triubune]
by The Editors on February 6, 2009
Carlsbadistan High School graduate and former Baltimore Orioles player Brady Anderson has placed the Malibu house he “redesigned” on the market for $8,999,000, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
The 3,500-square-foot home has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and ocean views. There are vaulted ceilings, glass sliding doors in the living room, a gourmet kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and a terrace off the kitchen. There is an outdoor dining area with a fire pit and a spa observation deck.
Seems like a bad time to sell a house in Malibu, but then again, people who can afford a $9 million house probably aren’t too worried about the economy.
[Link: Los Angeles Times]
by The Editors on January 26, 2009
The City of Carlsbad City Council is getting more and more serious about its opposition to NRG’s proposed second power plant. They’re even planning to vote on something:
The Carlsbad City Council will vote on a resolution finding that the second power plant proposed by NRG, called the Carlsbad Energy Center Project violates key city laws, regulations and plans at the regularly scheduled council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at the council chambers, 1200 Carlsbad Village Dr. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
Sadly, the city has no control over whether the plant gets approved or not, but it’s nice to see them going down with a fight. Follow the jump for the rest of the release. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 19, 2009
They’ve been planning it for a while, but Legoland parent corporation Merlin Entertainment Group Inc. is going to ask the Carlsbad Planning board to make changes to the required parking requirements and let them build a hotel on the Legoland property, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
Plans call for the three-story hotel to include a 14,383-square-foot restaurant, 11,051-square-foot retail space, a 6,364-square-foot bar/lounge, an outdoor pool and a water play area. It’s proposed to be built in two phases, with the first phase containing 175 hotel rooms.
Legoland has been a good neighbor to Carlsbadistan, however, this kind of expansion often results in the “Disneyfication” of the local city. First the attraction is promoted to city leadership as bringing new customers to local hotels, restaurants, and other businesses, then slowly the park builds out all the ancillary businesses itself keeping all the revenue in the park and siphoning the life out the local tourist economy. As anyone who has driven through Anaheim knows, it can get pretty ugly.
We hope the planning commission considers the ultimate ramifications of this request, before making any decisions..
[Link: North County Times]
by Richard J. Riehl on January 16, 2009
Those of us of a certain age may remember “Geraldine,” the late comedian Flip Wilson’s alter ego, who loved to say, “The devil made me do it!” when she did something wrong.
I thought of her when I read about how Barratt American’s president, Michael Pattinson, explained why his Carlsbad-based homebuilding company went bankrupt last month. According to Pattinson, his bank was the devil that made him do it, canceling his line of credit and seizing control of all his North County projects.
“What upsets me is that a company that I was loyal to was not loyal to me,” Pattinson sniffed. “But we’re big boys. We know what goes on in this world, and what goes around comes around. I’ve got my boxing gloves on, and I’m up for the fight. I’ve lost Round One, but there’s 14 more rounds to go.”
Pattinson’s pugnacious vow to rebuild his empire, without remorse over the $10.9 million he owes his 11 creditors in San Diego and Riverside counties, is astonishing.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 6, 2009
Putting a group home for mentally disabled men in the middle of Carlsbadistan’s Stepford Bressi Ranch doesn’t seem like the best idea we’ve heard in a while. But that didn’t stop TERI, Inc. of Oceanside (a non-profit that works with mentally disabled children and adults) from buying a $1 million home at 6205 Alverton Drive, according to a story in the North County Times.
Here’s how ZIllow.com describes the house:
Charming cottage style single story Canterbury model highly upgraded both inside and out. Resort style yard with salt water pool and spa, play area for children, plus additional side yard. Built In BBQ and dining area.”
We would never suggest that six mentally disabled men don’t deserve a salt water pool, hot tub, and a built-in BBQ in their resort-style back yard, nor that anyone would notice six more mentally disabled men in Bressi Ranch. It just seems that TERI, Inc.’s could have done much more for their program if they’d been more efficient with their million dollars rather than spending it on an overpriced four-bedroom track home in one of Southern California’s premiere planned communities.
Then again, maybe TERI, Inc. is trying to make a point and what better place make it than in Bressi Ranch.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 27, 2008
Bank of America says that Barratt American, the Carlsbad-based home builder, owes $79 million and it owes it’s to 20 unsecured creditors more than $21 million. That’s why, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection on Christmas eve.
The company has drastically scaled back operations in the past several months, slashing staff from about 140 employees to about 15. Company President Michael “Mick” Pattinson has been talking openly for a month about the possibility of bankruptcy as the company’s troubles mounted. . . . Pattinson said Barratt will continue to build custom homes and replacement homes for victims of last year’s wildfires while in bankruptcy. The company hopes to reorganize with the aim of starting new home construction again in 2010.
For the whole sad story read the rest of the article.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on December 18, 2008
A Carlsbadistan real estate company, Carlsbad Real Estate Group, LLC has been subpoenaed by The Colorado Division of Real Estate in Devner relating to “loan modification” issues, according to at story in the Denver Post.
Among the paperwork the division wants are documents used for marketing to Colorado consumers; lists of borrowers who have attempted loan modifications and the status of their cases; bank statements; copies of checks; and lists of mortgage lenders or mortgage services the companies have worked with.
While Traci Myers, the owner of Carlsbad Real Estate Group, LLC says she “doesn’t have anybody doing business in Colorado” and that she has “never done a loan modification, never done a short sale,” Colorado officials say it is “illegal to even solicit Colorado residents without being a state mortgage broker.
[Link: The Denver Post]
by The Editors on December 12, 2008
by The Editors on November 10, 2008
A settlement has been reached in the lawsuit that the City of Encinitas brought against the City of Carlsbad regarding the costs of upgrading La Costa Avenue, according to a story in the North County Times.
Originally, the City of Carlsbad said they would pay nothing and that the developer of the Ponto Vision Plan would pay for 27 percent of the estimated $5.34 million the upgrades would cost.
Now the costs have been raised to $7 million and the two cities have agreed to split the costs evenly.
Encinitas Councilman James Bond said this week that he is pleased a deal was reached. . . .”Hopefully it is in fact settled and we have all signed off and walking away with a good agreement,” said Bond, who was elected Tuesday to his fifth term on the council. “For sure, it was a compromise agreement, but it was a lot better than they (Carlsbad) initially offered. I think it is more equitable.”
We are constantly reminded that lawsuits are the way organizations negotiate.
[Link: North County Times]
The discussion over the Bressi Ranch home for autistic men continued last night at the Carlsbad City Council meeting according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. A group of Bressi Ranch homeowners chided the City of Carlsbad for giving a $1 million grant to TERI, Inc. to buy a home in the upscale community.
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