Homebuilder Sweeps
Up Awards for Its
Inland Empire Homes
A redevelopment project in downtown National City that includes a mixed use project featuring educational, retail and residential facilities will revitalize 4 & #733; blocks, said one of the consultants on the project.
Southwest Community College is developing the site bordered by National City Boulevard, Roosevelt Way, Eighth Street and Plaza Boulevard.
Nicki Field, project manager for Environmental Business Solutions of San Diego, said the project calls for a 100,000-square-foot education center and 38,000 square feet of retail space. There will also be 32,800 square feet of residential, said Field, whose company is doing a site and environmental assessment on the property.
The assessment has already turned up contaminated soil from several existing auto repair facilities and a dry cleaning store, as well as from a gas station that had been on the property, Field said.
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Award Winner: Buie Communities of San Diego recently won several awards.
The homebuilder picked up a gold award for best new home from the Inland Empire chapter of the Building Industry Association in Riverside for its Carlisle neighborhood at Mountain Gate near Corona, said Janice McLaury, a company spokeswoman.
Buie’s other Inland Empire communities also brought home awards. Waterford at Mountain Gate Heights claimed the gold for Best Sales Office Design and earned finalist nominations for Best Product Design for all eight of its Waterford floor plans. The company’s Devonshire neighborhood, located adjacent to Waterford, was also a finalist for the sales office design award, she said.
Red Tape: The Building Industry Association of San Diego has released a study called “The Economic Impact of Government Regulations 2: The Case of Brookfield Village.”
It’s about a very-low income senior housing project in Poway, where $920,000 in park, traffic, drainage, school and a variety of other fees, costs, requirements and government-ordered charges added approximately $1.3 million to the apartment project’s building cost.
In all, the study reported, government regulation resulted in $13,000 per unit in additional expenses.
Although the local government offered some financial incentives, they only partially offset the cost of the other regulations, according to Project Design Consultants of San Diego and Louis H. Masotti, a retired Northwestern University professor. They were commissioned by the BIA for the study.
“A primary concern for the supplier of market rate housing is the amount of time necessary to secure approvals to proceed with development,” said Donna Morafcik, a BIA spokeswoman.
“Every month of review time affects housing affordability because of additional financing costs, property taxes and administrative overhead. However, in this case, much of that was offset by a no-interest loan extended by the city of Poway Redevelopment Agency.”
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Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Ann LeBaron and Dale Bowen of the Willis Allen Co. sold a $1.59 million condo in the Meridian, 700 Front St., setting a sales record for most amount paid per square foot in the process. Structural Technology Consultants of San Diego marked its 10th anniversary last month. The National Precast Concrete Association has re-certified the manufacturing facility of San Diego Precast Concrete Inc. of Santee. “Life in the Future” will be the theme of the SAM 2000 awards banquet Saturday, Sept. 30, at the San Diego Marriott and Marina sponsored by the Sales and Marketing Council of the Building Industry Association of San Diego. RE/MAX United has opened its third North County office. This one’s at 1667 S. Mission Road in Fallbrook, according to Fred Christiansen, broker-owner.
Grupe’s real estate column appears every other week. Please E-mail news items to him at agrupe@sdbj.com.
