Green With Envy - UPDATE

We first profiled 825 N. Kings Rd in our "Green With Envy" post, where we speculated about the pricing of this relatively new construction, as well as the fact that it looked like there might be shadow inventory in the building.

Now, a couple updates:

After the first post, some commenters mentioned having seen the building and being impressed. Indeed, your friendly blogger missed this NY Times article from Jan 2008 praising the concept and architecture. Some very glowing reviews of the building, and this excerpt is telling - although we were talking about different times even in early 2008:

Mr. O’Herlihy and Mr. Loring were clearly right in gauging the pent-up demand: Most of the condos, which range from 1,270 to 1,900 square feet and average $1.1 million, sold during the two years of construction, largely on the basis of architect’s renderings posted online and on visits to the unfinished units. The penthouses have sold for $900 to $1,00 a square foot, according to Mr. Loring, among the highest prices ever paid for condominiums in West Hollywood.

“The prices probably wouldn’t comp out,” said Grant Leavitt, 27, a real estate developer and another member of the new generation who has bought an apartment at Habitat 825, for just under a million dollars: a bridge-like space, supported by oddly canted poles, that links two parts of the cement-board wing. “But that’s O.K.,” he continued. “There’s really nothing like this out there.”

So, have many of these types of buyers gone away given the changed economic climate? The residents profiled seemed to fit the celebrity/well-to-do young & hip clients that would fit this building. Any distress in that demographic?

And our second update, from the MLS recently ... Unit #11 was put up for sale at $995,000. This was one of the units that we suspected might be in the "shadow inventory", but after some digging and putting the pieces together, it looks like this unit last sold for $925,000 in pre-construction. Again, much different market now, but an increase over the price paid?

Will be interesting to see if unique buildings like this can hold onto their value as we see others, particularly new construction, continuing to track downward.