TOPICS
* Growth of Population
* Apartment Condo Conversion Craze
* The Mercury Condominium

Koreatown was the first neighborhood our family moved to when we immigrated to the U.S. From then and now, Los Angeles's real estate market boomed like no other market.



Originally posted on 25th August 2006 - 10:18 PM in the Resource forum.
Koreatown Multifamily Housing and Mercury Condo Real Estate Boom

The apartment to condominium conversion peaked in fall 2005 at around September when multi-family units were being converted into condominiums. Yikes! Where would all the tenants move to since they can not afford the mortgage.
The property owners would not care where the tenants move into because the condominium conversion will help them profit with a great return on their investment.

Cities nationwide were going facing condo conversions, which ultimately would affect the real estate market, nationally and locally. Keep in mind the market is really a local market and the prime rate is not the main factor that controls the market.

Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Orlando, cities with a vast amount of real estate got in the bandwagon. Cities with a tight rent control like New York City (not likely to happen; actually condo-conversion did take place in NYC) did not have a problem but Los Angeles took part of the bandwagon ride. Fortunately, not all cities in the Los Angeles County are rent-controlled and the city permitted with the conversion.

Apartment-condominium conversion was a win-lose situation. Apparently the property owners won because a "successful sale of condos can generate cash-on-cash returns of between 15% and 30% or more in a matter of months for converters, the trend also enables apartment owners to cash out at the top of the market. In addition, conversions create more affordable housing in areas famous for steep single-family home prices." <http://www.nreionline.com/property/multifamily/real_estate_condo_conversion_craze/>
15% to 30% return within a short period of month is astonishing and imagine the calculating the ROI once the property is sold at the highest value (above the market value).

Apartment->Condo->Reconvert to Apartment
Converting a rental multi-unit property into a condo is not a guaranteed profit. The following article clip is only a speculation.

How catchy that phrase is. I signed up for their mailing lists couple months ago and every time I get one of their newsletters on the upcoming open house (they call it the "sales event"), the product marketing impresses me.

The professionally designed website, digitalized photos of what your condo 'could look like' (and don't forget the rooftop view), it does a great job trying to lure new homeowners into buying one of their condos.

Under the Location link, it describes its location as "It's a chip shot from Beverly Hills. A hop, skip to Downtown. A short trek to the beach. An elevator ride to Koreatown. Located directly across the street from the Wiltern Theatre and just steps away from the Metro Red Line, The Mercury is home to a location like no other. At the intersection of Wilshire and Western, The Mercury is perfectly surround by LA – the pulse of city living, right smack at the center of it all." <http://www.themercuryla.com/the-location/city-map.php>

Despite the attractive location and luring marketing media, don't you think the 'low $400,000s to over $1 Million' is ridiculously expensive for an up-rise condominium? Don't fall for its' marketing b.s. and I'll tell you why.


1. Traffic Congestion
Honestly, the traffic congestion is very heavy during the daytime, after all, it is in the smack middle of Western and Wilshire Boulevard. I really don't know whether the traffic lights will be heavily monitored during the business hours because it will be a traffic nightmare once the residences are open to the public. Let alone trying to make a left turn in any one of the four ways takes a while too.
I personally have only driven by the streets and can not recall where the parking entrance is located. If I remember correctly, the ground level is blocked off due to construction so I might have missed the entrance. Nonetheless, the entrance should be located somewhere on the opposite side of the boulevards because I doubt the city planners would permit another route.

Did you know the famous Wiltern Theater had been bought by a group of Korean-American investors at a nearly $19 million closing costs? Incredible. I truly hope the best in their business ventures. With the opening of the Mercury condo and a string of upcoming concerts and reservations for the Wiltern Theater, they don't need my luck.

A two (or was it three) story parking structure is available right next to the Wiltern Theater and I believe the theater owns the parking structure and leases to Ralphs grocery supermarket (or vice versa) ad Denny's restaurant. The Wiltern theatre is not much of a problem because most if not all the concerts and events take place in the evening after the traffic jam and not during daytime. So not much problem here.

I bet it would take more than 15 minutes starting from the entrance of the parking to getting into your condo. You will need to find a vacant parking space, walk few yards to get to the elevator, wait for the elevator to arrive, wait a bit as the elevator makes different stops (hopefully it is not shared with the office tenants), and walk few more yards to get to your apartment room, oops, I meant your condo. Oh no, you forgot your grocery, time to head back down to the parking lot.

You see my point? A high-rise condo is not a spectacular idea but nowadays, luxury condos in Las Vegas and other premium locations are continuously building despite high increase in construction material and labor costs. If there is a demand, investors need to supply them, just hope they know their market very well.


2. Value
Let's talk about starting costs. The target market audience for the Mercury are Korean-Americans and Caucasians. Prospects are mid-income, college graduated, working in a professional field, loves trendy settings and material goods, drives a modern and luxurious sedans, and lives a busy life.
The starting price according to themercuryla.com is $400,000 and that is for the one bedroom one bathroom floor plan. There are four floor plans to choose from, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms plus living/dining hall that will be close to $1 million depending on the floor location. Not sure if the single bedrooms are limited and price bidding will or have taken place since a waiting list is a possibility so let's assume it now starts at $500,000.

That is a large sum of value for a single bed/single bath condo. However, hopefully for the condo-owners, the appreciation is highly probable once all the condos are sold. Investors and primary residents must've purchased the condo due to its prime location. The location is the only pro for the Mercury condo especially for those that live and work in Koreatown. The amenities like the fitness center and swimming pool, those are a given in a luxurious condo and even apartments.


3. Alternatives
I know the prospective buyers have looked into other alternatives to buying the Mercury condo. There are much more options to choose from around the same price range.

• A house outside of Koreatown but inside Los Angeles County
• Low-rise condos in Koreatown, away from the traffic-happy boulevards

It is not difficult to see "Condos For Sale" banners plastered outside of many apartments within Koreatown. Wise multi-family property owners saw the benefits of converting their apartment properties into a condominium and quickly proceeded. Now they probably made a big bank out of their investments. Good for them. These condos I see in Wilton Street and Sixth street should be priced lower and you will be saving alot compared to the Mercury LA. You might not have certain amenities and a rooftop bar, you can always go to a nearby bar and subscribe to a five year membership at a local fitness center with all that money you've saved! After all, you are still living in Koreatown.

Personally, I recommend you move out of Koreatown and look into Orange County. Better neighborhood and the property appreciation is as good as Los Angeles city.

I recently learned that Donald T. Sterling Corporation, (founded by Donald Sterling himself) owned many apartments in Koreatown. Apparently, the real estate mogul who also owns the Los Angeles Clippers own many condos and apartments in Los Angeles City and aggressively acquiring more Class-A apartment properties.

A news topic arised in Los Angeles Times about certain housing agencies and tenant complaints against Donald T. Sterling Corporation being biased against certain ethnicity.

I wonder if The Mercury will be a target of a future discrimination lawsuit. Basically the entire marketing campaign is trying to lure Korean-Americans with the overemphaziation of the keyword Koreatown. The target market is apparently Korean-Americans. It would be a big mistake for the property managers to refuse leasing to other ethnicity groups (Hispanics and African Americans). Such parties that think they were denied the condo sales because of their racial background will not hesitate to contact the appropriate agency and wallah, headline news about The Mercury.

A Daily Journal article about the Koreatown real estate market is posted on Sperry Van Ness' frontpage titled, "Brokers, Investors Banking on Koreatown's Growing Attraction" written by Keeley Webster, CREJ Staff Writer.