Brave Buyers at Barker Block

CurbedLA writes today about the inside scoop on sales at the Barker Block downtown. Apparently, a rep for the developer says business is going well, all things considering—adding that there has been a lot of recent sales activity:

“Barker Block reports very positive sales activity – especially considering the overall economy, what’s happening with some other residential projects, the overall unpleasant news out there, etc. Here are the basics: Over the next 2 years a total of 297 loft units will be offered at Barker Block. The project opened for sales in summer 2007. The first sale was recorded August 2. From that time until today there have been 32 sales, most of these quickly followed by move-ins. Activity has come in waves. There was a burst of sales in October and again recently: Since March 1, 2008, 5 units have closed escrow with another 7 units in contact, just waiting to close escrow. So that means 12 lofts sold in March/April alone.

Currently, Redfin has 5 listings in the building, ranging from $538,738 to $905,508. The recent sales are not yet showing up, so hard to tell what they went for. But last week, I wrote about nearby lofts in the Toy Factory and Biscuit Company that are selling for less (one is a $399,000 short sale). So I am curious who these buyers are at Barker Block—risk takers, clearly, since they are willing to pay fairly high prices for an untested complex.