30 Responses to “Boston Media Coverage of W Hotel, Condo Bankruptcy” »»

1. Boston Broker
   Comment by Boston Broker | 04/28/10 at 2:38 pm

   Thanks Kevin!

2. John Ford
   Comment by John Ford | 04/28/10 at 2:57 pm

   Err…this one hurts.

3. Randy
   Comment by Randy | 04/28/10 at 3:45 pm

   Good thing those developers listened to Ahearn telling them he could get an unheard of $$ per sf for the units in a short sell out period. Wonder if it helped that all these idiots share the same office at 200 Newbury and chug the same punch. Think that will be an awkward elevator ride?

4. megan
   Comment by megan | 04/28/10 at 5:08 pm

   Must not be in a good nabe

5. John Ford
   Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 1:09 am

   Once again, it appears that the Boston Herald was lied to by a real estate developer. I’m not coming up with 37 units sold or under agreement. I’ll check my numbers when I get into the office.

6. Boston Broker
   Comment by Boston Broker | 04/29/10 at 1:14 am

   “Otis & Ahearn, the Boston brokerage firm that’s been selling the W Boston Residences, is owed more than $41,000, court records show.” why would I want to sell a condo after reading that line from the Herald.

7. MarketMaker
   Comment by MarketMaker | 04/29/10 at 2:49 am

   MLS shows 11 units sold & another 6 units under agreement.

   That said, regardless of market conditions, quality of product, location or completeness of the project (spa), most buyers will avoid any “bankrupt” tainted property until the financial situation is resolved, a new “owner” is put in place or the prices drop tremendously to assuage the concerns of would-be buyers. This hurts the perception health of the market regardless of the fact that the development is in the “luxury” segment.

   Awful news..for all except the team at the Clarendon or 45P.

8. John Ford
   Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 3:22 am

   According to my data 12 W condos have sold and 6 are under agreement. I guess its possible the marketing staff at the W have been busy and just didn’t update their “under agreement” listings on MLS.

9. Anon Ymous
   Comment by Anon Ymous | 04/29/10 at 3:51 am

   I wonder if any of the under agreement condos have a bankrupty contingency. That certainly could be a point for renegotiating the price.

10. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/29/10 at 4:19 am

    Kind of makes us question all of those recent rosy headlines about the “recovery” of the Boston RE market doesn’t it?

    Several months ago I said that you could buy in the old Ritz, 4 Seasons or The Heritage for the SAME price per foot that they were asking for a lot of the units at the “W” – I guess when it comes to the folks who originally priced the units at the “W” all that can be said is “whoops.”

    Tom Adams

11. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 4:31 am

    Here’s the big question: What bank will provide a buyer with a mortgage for a condo at the W? I have placed a call to Cav, a top notch mortgage broker to see if I can get an ans

12. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/29/10 at 5:00 am

    John -

    Do you really think that the availability to get financing will cause more units to be sold – at today’s prices?

    Come on! It seems that the final arbiter – the market – has spoken and its NOT that people can’t get financing, its the prices!

    Do you realize that there are 39 units for sale at the New Ritz?

    Tom Adams

13. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 04/29/10 at 5:06 am

    “Kind of makes us question all of those recent rosy headlines about the “recovery” of the Boston RE market doesn’t it?”

    I have been trying to debunk that noise all along. People have to open their eyes, the Bryant auctioned, The W bankrupt, two sales (at 400k ) at 45 Province this year. Oh by the way when was the last REAL sale at the Clarendon. It’s going to get very, very ugly….

14. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/29/10 at 5:09 am

    “It’s going to get very, very ugly….”

    Mary, what kind of % price change do you deem to be necessary to incite buyers to come forward and buy at the W?

    Tom

15. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 5:13 am

    Mary, The 27th closing at The Clarendon Back Bay was recorded, this week. The purchase price was $1,315,000 and included one garage parking space.

    17th-floor, two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,124+/- square foot condo, approximately $1,169.83 per square foot

16. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 5:14 am

    Tom, I think we will see prices coming down at the W. But not at the Clarendon.

17. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 04/29/10 at 8:52 am

    “Mary, The 27th closing at The Clarendon Back Bay was recorded, this week. The purchase price was $1,315,000 and included one garage parking space”

    John,

    Was this unit ever listed on MLS? if so what was the number? I found the deed but not the listing..

    I also see only three pending, two of which are under a million and one foolish 2008 purchase for 4 million….

18. John Ford
    Comment by John Ford | 04/29/10 at 9:00 am

    Mary, what I noticed about the Clarendon is that they don’t always provide MLS with their sales info even after the sale, like other Boston luxury developments. To ans your question, the unit was never listed on MLS as far as I can tell.

19. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 04/29/10 at 9:13 am

    “Mary, what kind of % price change do you deem to be necessary to incite buyers to come forward and buy at the W”

    Tom,

    Just a guess but I’d think 30% – 50% but who knows with all these projects blowing up. I’d think it prudent for the owner to get out ahead on the price cuts…if you’re going to panic…panic first

20. Mary
    Comment by Mary | 04/29/10 at 9:15 am

    “To ans your question, the unit was never listed on MLS as far as I can tell.”

    Thanks John, you the man…

21. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/29/10 at 9:27 am

    “Just a guess but I’d think 30% – 50% but who knows with all these projects blowing up…”

    Wow!!! Who set the original pricing for these units – how could they make such a large mistake?

    Tom

22. Bob
    Comment by Bob | 04/29/10 at 10:15 am

    The macro environment for the economy is terrible. The ratio of debt to GDP in the United States is very similar to Greece if you include the Fannie-Freddie debt that the government quietly assumed on December 24th but has not accounted for in the deficit.

    Folks are waking up about the stock market. From yesterday’s Financial Times:

    ” The outperformance of risk assets over the past year suggests investors appear to believe that all credit problems have been solved – but nothing could be further from the truth, says Leigh Skene at Lombard Street Research.

    …

    Surprisingly, says Mr Skene, surveys show that the usual investors in major rallies – pension funds, hedge funds and retail investors – have not been net buyers of equities. And he says the most likely explanation for this anomaly in the biggest stock market rally since the 1930s is that major investment banks are the anxious buyers.”

    So we have a stock market rally based on Wall Street Banks buying and selling shares to each other in hopes that thee general public will buy but as of today there has been no such luck. Thinly traded markets can tumble quite easily.

    April is usually a positive month for tax receipts. This month it is NEGATIVE $113 billion and last April it was NEGATIVE $111 billion. To contrast April of 2008 was positive $60 billion and April of 2007 was positive $9 billion. Not only hasn’t the stimulus failed to stimulate tax receipts are going the opposite way. Debt service is fairly important. Even Bernanke has changed his tune and warned the government can’t spend their way out of this problem. Is anyone listening? Yesterday Greece’s 2 year note was as high as 20%. There are warning signs of problems all around us but instead we are being told we are in the midst of a recovery. Go look at a chart of the DOW Jones Industrial Average from 1929-1935 or so…there was talk of recoveries in 1930 and 1931…check out what happened to the DOW in 1932 for a taste of what is to come if we don’t stop the game of extending and pretending.

23. Boston Broker
    Comment by Boston Broker | 04/29/10 at 10:24 am

    Okay Mary, you are on record regarding the W sales: “Just a guess but I’d think 30% – 50% but who knows with all these projects blowing up. I’d think it prudent for the owner to get out ahead on the price cuts…if you’re going to panic…panic first.”

    Speaking of those who make predictions (a guess) where’s Bradley?

24. Laura
    Comment by Laura | 04/29/10 at 1:53 pm

    My only words to Mr. Kevin Ahearn – Oh how the mighty have fallen.

    Looking forward to meeting you and your friend Mr. Hynes.

25. john Ford
    Comment by john Ford | 04/29/10 at 2:00 pm

    Laura, please keep the debate civil and above board and thank you for your participation.

26. condobuyer
    Comment by condobuyer | 04/29/10 at 6:49 pm

    I think only Clarendon will be OK…might take a while to sell all the units but they might pull it out if they have enough cash on hand. 45P is downhill and W will likely go to auction or try to rent at this point. Bryant is still sitting on half their units, activity after the auction has been minimal. Also, when you look at recent sales at older bldngs: Ritz is having trouble; Intercontinental is often selling lower prices than 2006 (new and resale) and Mandarin resellers are usually taking financial hit. It will take a while for this luxury market to stabilize…

27. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/30/10 at 1:33 am

    condobuyer -

    It would seem to me that the rents at the W would have to be extremely high (average per foot) to cover their costs (and the condo fees) ? Do you think that a realistic market exists for renting out the W? I have no idea but it would seem that a hypothetical 1,000 foot “apartment” would have to rent for north of $4,000/month to make sense?

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks.

    Tom

    Tom

28. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/30/10 at 6:41 am

    How can this be reconciled?

    Globe April 16, 2010
    “Four blocks away on the same street, four units at the 28-story W Boston were sold during the first quarter, including a 518-square-foot studio for $345,000 and a $1.9 million three-bedroom unit, according to LINK. Another 19 buyers are under contract to close on W Boston condos this year, said Kevin Ahearn, president of the Boston marketing and brokerage company Otis & Ahearn, which is handling the sales.”

    Here’s a link to the whole article:

    http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/04/16/sales_in_bostons_luxury_condo_market_up_more_than_50/

29. MarketMaker
    Comment by MarketMaker | 04/30/10 at 7:52 am

    @Tom Adams: The challenge is that at that time, it could have been “factually accurate”. For example, some of the buyers could have failed at getting a mortgage commitment, walked from deposits, been warned of the pending bankruptcy announcement and given the opportunity to get their deposits back, etc.

    Since developers aren’t required to put all units in a given development on the MLS/LINK, it will always be up to the representatives to do their best to provide factually accurate data. There is no real way to confirm the figures.

30. Tom Adams
    Comment by Tom Adams | 04/30/10 at 7:59 am

    Marketmaker:

    Thanks!

    Tom

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