Where the Housing is Almost as Cheap as the Ribs…

OK, I might be exaggerating, but loft prices downtown do seem to be in a free fall – it’s one of the few places in LA where you can easily find under-$300,000 properties that aren’t fixers. You can also find lots of places that, no matter how nice they are, have been sitting on the market while potential buyers wait to see just how low desperate developers will go to move their brand-new vacant units. That’s rough for private owners who need to sell. When it comes to areas in LA-proper (excluding those far-flung spots like Palmdale), downtown seems to be one of the areas hardest hit by the current market.

But that’s not really my point today. My point is barbeque. Ever since the giant Orsini complex started gobbling up the corners of Cesar Chavez and Figueroa, I’ve been wondering what happened to BBQ King – the little joint that was displaced by this development. Oh, how I’ve missed meat cooked in an empty oil drum. Can you imagine my excitement, then, when I saw angelenic.com’s blog about BBQ King’s new 7th Street location, where it’s joined by Showbiz Ribs? No, you probably can’t—which says only good things about your eating habits.

But back to real estate: Downtown is hurting. No shocking news there. But like everything in real estate, it’s all about location, even within this one neighborhood. Because as anyone living downtown will tell you, it’s really multiple neighborhoods with very different feels. For example, The Arts District is only a few city blocks from the Staples Center area, but they attract different types of people and businesses. I think a savvy buyer who understands the lay of the land could pick up a great deal right now, if you’re willing to buy and hold for a few years—but there are a lot of lofts in the less-developed and/or less desirable areas of downtown that I would steer clear of. I think some of the complexes that are in, shall we say, “pioneering” areas are going to see even greater price drops. Here are a few that have been on the market more than 50 days:

• $525,000 in the Toy Factory Lofts. One the market 204 days. There are about a 1/2 dozen lofts for sale at the Toy Factory right now, ranging in price from about $359,000 to $$700,000.
• The Little Tokyo Lofts also have a lot of units for sale (some are short sales), including this bare-bones listing for $299,000 that’s been on the market for 57 days. To get a better sense of what this building looks like, here’s a 1/1 unit listed for $390,000 that’s been on the market for 237 days!
• You can also have your choice over at the Higgins building, but this one looks interesting. It’s a lender-approved short-sale for $275,000 and it’s been on the market for 296 days.