by The Editors on April 9, 2008
Being beach dwellers we’ve come to appreciate the fact that the California Coastal Commission has control over anything that happens on the coast. The fact that they make it difficult for developers (and Cities) to make changes near the beach is often a godsend.
Recently, California Senator Denise Ducheny of San Diego pushed forward Senate Bill 1295 with the intension of making it “more difficult for the state Coastal Commission to intervene after cities and counties approve shoreline development, from hotels to homes,” according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
Sadly, Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis was a major proponent of the bill.
It is troubling that just two commissioners can ignore years of local planning, community development and permitting process and can file an appeal, acting as investigator, judge and jury,” Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis argued in a letter to lawmakers.
Luckily, the Mayor’s side lost and the bill has been rejected:
. . .the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee rejected Senate Bill 1295, siding with environmental groups that argued it provides one additional layer of protection for a treasured coast.
Thank you to everyone who helped shut this down.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 9, 2008
City Council, on Tuesday night April 8, 2008, voted 4-1 to increase the the “traffic fee” developers pay to the City for every single family home they build from $1,150 to $3,530, according to a story in the North County Times.
City planners told the council that they anticipate 4,600 more residential units and 10.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space to be built in Carlsbad, adding that the increased development will put thousands more vehicles on area roads. . . . Councilwoman Julienne Nygaard noted that the fee has been in place since 1991 to help keep Carlsbad from becoming gridlocked. . . . “One of the concepts we have always had in Carlsbad is that new development would pay its way,” Nygaard said.
We agree with Ms. Nygaard. Pay their way they should.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on April 7, 2008
He’s only been a resident of Carlsbadistan since May 2006, but apparently Oscar winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has moved to Encinitas and put his Carlsbad home (3,683-square-foot house on Camino Cereza) up for sale for $1.1 million.
Built in 2005, the five-bedroom house has more than $300,000 in upgrades, according to listing information. Features include an upgraded maple entertainment cabinet in the family room, a stone fireplace in the family room, upgraded designer tile and fixtures in all of the house’s four and a half baths, and a kitchen with a Thermador 48-inch professional cooktop, a Bosch self-cleaning double oven with a convection upper, a Thermador microwave, a Bosch dishwasher, a large Thermador refrigerator and granite slab counters, according to listing information.
Why he would leave this beautiful home (photo below) to move south is beyond us. But we’re sad to see him go.
[Link: Big Time Listings via Curbed LA]
by The Editors on March 31, 2008
On January 23, 2008 we told you the story of how home-owner Marty Ummel, 60, was suing her Realtor Mike Little because he “hid the information that similar homes in the neighborhood were selling for less because he feared she would back out and he would lose his $30,000 commission.” Eventually, Ummel and her husband even appeared on NBC’s Today Show.
Here is the update:
Tomorrow, Vernon and Marty Ummel, who purchased a $1.2 million home in Carlsbad three years ago, will try to convince a jury that their real estate agent defrauded them when he failed to inform them that similar houses on the same block were selling for more than $100,000 less than what the Ummels had paid. . . . Jury selection is expected to begin tomorrow morning in the Vista courtroom of Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall.
This should be interesting. Especially for the Real Estate industry.
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on March 30, 2008
The California Association of Realtors just released their home sales number for the month of February and turns out that Carlsbad is number 11 on the top 10 list for cities with the highest median home sales price. Number one was Santa Barbara at $1,150,000 and we came in right behind San Francisco with a median price of $675,000. We were also fifth on the top 10 list of cities whose median home prices grew the most over February of 2007.
Home sales decreased 28.5 percent in February in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 26.2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.
When you look at how the state did as a whole, we’d say we’re doing pretty well here in Carlsbadistan. Indeed.
[Link: Sierra Star]
by The Editors on March 28, 2008
Say good-bye to the classic mid-centuy, tiki stylings of the Ocean Street Apartments overlooking the lagoon at 2303 Ocean Street on Carlsbadistan’s northern border. According to the City of Carlsbad those 50 units are getting demolished so 2303 Investors, LP can put in “35 residential Airspace condominiums” with underground parking.
While neighbors are probably happy to see 50 rental units worth of problems wiped off the face of the map, it will be sad to see the old place go.
by The Editors on March 7, 2008
Sero Propeties, a Los Angeles-based company, has apparently purchased a large chunk of The Island at Carlsbad (that mall up in the netherlands of College and Faraday) from Orange County-based Island Property Partners, LLC for $23.6 million dollars according to story on crefeed.com.
The acquisition includes 39,982 square feet of retail space within the Island at Carlsbad, which was built in 2000. The two-story retail project is located at 5813 Van Allen Way and is currently leased to tenants including Carl’s Jr., U.S. Healthworks, TD Waterhouse, First Future Credit Union, Randstad U.S. and The Islands Oasis Food Court.
[Link: CREfeed.com]
by The Editors on February 27, 2008
This was a little too funny to believe, but desperate times. . . :
Prudential California Realty of Encinitas will host a free bus tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m Saturday. The tour will visit neighborhoods in the Carlsbad and Encinitas areas, giving homebuyers an opportunity to view houses of various sizes and prices. Lunch also will be provided. Space is limited. Reservations must be made by Thursday. For more information, or to RSVP, call Patti Phillips at (800) 680-9133, or e-mail.
There is nothing like viewing defaulted loans from the comfort of an air conditioned tour bus. . .
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on February 24, 2008
For years Highway 78 has been the unofficial boarder between Oceanside and Carlsbad. According to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times, however, there is one parcel that illogically doesn’t fit. Oceanside dips south of the 78 just North of the the Westfield Plaza Camino Real Mall and Carlsbad officials would like that 32 acre chunk. In fact, they’re willing to trade a 288 parcel to Oceanside for it.
Under the proposal, which Carlsbad’s leaders stress is in the very early stages, Carlsbad would be permitted to absorb the 32 acres next to the mall in exchange for Oceanside’s annexation of a much-larger area to the east.
“To me, it’s common sense,” said Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis as he discussed his plan to bring up the issue at his council’s March 19 workshop. “Why shouldn’t we … make a fair trade with them?”
While Oceanside could get much more land in the deal, it’s not as simple as that. For the rest of the story follow the link.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on February 20, 2008
Real Estate bloggers Eve Sieminski and Roberta Murphy of San Diego Previews.com noticed recently that more and more homes in Carlsbad are going “FSBO,” or being put up for sale without the help of a Realtor. Eve and Roberta say:
The vast majority of these Carlsbad FSBO listings are overpriced. Are the owners relying on outdated information from Zillow–or wishful thinking when pricing their homes? . . . The majority of the advertised FSBO’s are in short sale position. In other words, these sellers owe more than what their homes are likely worth. This leads us to wonder: How prepared are these sellers to negotiate with lenders and keep buyers on the line?
We have a little guess for Eve and Roberta: the reason more home sellers are going FSBO is two-pronged: one, they’ve realized that Realtors really aren’t doing all that much for them; and two, home sellers have discovered that in this “down market” most Realtors are more interested in dropping asking prices than they are in sitting in and holding price.
But then, we’re not “Real Estate professionals.” What do you think? Let us know in the comments
[Link: San Diego Preview]
RSS Feed-Posts