Monday, July 11, 2005
Post Article on Ivy City
Yesterday's Post featured this piece on Ivy City. Ivy City is Trinidad's neighbor to the north. It occupies a tiny triangular space that is best known for housing the Alexander Crummell School & Dream (LINK PLAYS LOUD MUSIC) nightclub. The article discusses the recent run-up in developer activity in Ivy City. Of note is the fact that in a neighborhood very recently considered one of the worst of the worst, the developers are not gearing all of the housing to low income tenants, but are adding "luxury" amenities. The article questions what will happen in cases such as this if interest rise & housing prices fall.
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9 comments:
A fascinating article...it was very interesting to hear that developers are writing off Trinidad as being too pricey. That didn't make much sense to me.
I think that lots and lots of properties in Trindad have been fixed up & people now recognize that the neighborhood is overcoming some of the crime & blight issues that have long plagued it. As a result, people start asking for much more money when they sell. By going to an area like Ivy City you are moving off the radar & you don't have pay prices that are based on excitement about what the neighborhood is going to become. Plus, not all developers are particularly rich. It's just cheaper to buy in Ivy City.
I think there is another factor also. All it takes is one wealthy, poorly informed buyer to overpay for a property and BOOM... the "market price" is dramatically increased. In Eckington I've seen this happen, and now everyone expects their modest 3bdrm rowhouse to go for $600K. The dirty secret is that many of them sit on the market for 2 or 3 months without a contract. So, yes prices go up, but so does the wait before a buyer comes along.
Trinidad is not that expensive, but most of the houses are outside of my budget. I wish we had some older condos (or condo conversions) that went for under 200k.
People may be interested in this document, put out by the DC Marketing Center. Of particular note is the figure on the distribution of household net worth (middle pie chart on p. 97)-- it's quite shocking, really. According to this chart, 27.3% of households in the immediate vicinity of H Street fall below the $15,000 mark while another 33% exceed $250,000.
Thanks for the doc. I'm reposting it.
I'm out of the country so just catching up on your blog (could this be the first comment posted to it from Morocco?? :-) That article blows my mind.
Yeah, I wasn't really expecting to see one like that on Ivy City. I think it may say something that this article is about Ivy City, rather than about Trinidad. And I think you probabaly win the distance prize.
Anyone that invests in Ivy City property should be prepared to see unemployed men and women 18 up walk from corner to corner all day long with a beer can in a bag. Be prepared for nightly gunfire. No place to park on the weekend because of The Dream or recently renamed Love nightclub. Oh lets not forget about the loud bass coming from the open outdoor rooftop of the Love until 3am. Then the drun patron filing out of the neighborhood unt 4 am. Constant propostining from the neighborhood prostitutes. Drug dealers hocking whatever in an alley at 1854 Kendall street day and night where the owner of the building does nothing to chase them away. The streets are always strewn with trash. Yes several properties have sold for 250K-499k. in the neighborhood but rest assured you will get no peace worrying about your safety of your belongings whether in your house or parked on the street. Oh by the way there are always investors trying to bilk long term residents out of their homes with far below market value offers for people that own their homes. I know this from from first hand experience. The same ones that build houses for 330k-499k on lots the size of postage stamps. Yet,these same investors want my house with a considerably larger lot for a lowball number. Im in the middle of the block on Kendall. Been here since November 1967. I have no particular love for this area it will never change just taking care of family when thats over im the hell out of here.
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