Hey, how’s that Uptown condo boom hanging?
Folks we’ve got something like 40 months worth of condos already, why would lenders continue to pour cash into the pockets of developers trying to build more? There’s not going to be spec building of 51-story condo towers, no matter how much Michael Smith and Center City Partners might want it. Lenders want proof the units have a market, hence the developer has a means to repay their loans, or they are not going to keep writing checks.
What Charlotte’s wheeler-dealer developers have done in response to the cash crunch is stiff contractors for as long as possible in hopes they can finish their projects without additional cash from the banks. Contractors, in turn, have spent the first three quarters of 2009 banking unpaid labor, figuring it’ll pay off sooner or later as future payment is better than none at all. Well, they are tapping out too, unable to afford to give away their work any longer. That and they know that as soon as the projects are finished and certified for occupancy, they lose their best leverage for getting paid.
So, in sum, what have is a sort of proletarian revolution among Charlotte-area tradesmen, who are standing up and saying No to the banks and developers. Now, who’s side do you think local government might be on in this dispute? Do you think the Uptown paper of record has caught onto this fundamental shift in the local economic firmament?
Might as well sit down and cry yourself a river waiting for reality to make the slightest dent on the Uptown crowd.
