News
PALM DESERT CONDOMINIUM COMMUNITY GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE WITH ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CVEP
The padlocks that had been clamped on the gates to Falling Waters - a partially completed, 247-unit condominium community that sat abandoned for nearly three years - have been cut.
A sign saying "Interest List Now Forming," flaps in the breeze.
And the gates have swung open on a refreshed set of models for the new Monterey Ridge.
With its price points refined to an affordable rate - homes start in the upper $100,000s - and a healthy stock of homebuyers who've been on the fence, the response to the reopened development has been strong.
Several hundred groups turned out for an open house last week at Monterey Ridge. An interest list is forming.
And one couple, Ruben and Mara Lopez, has met with on-site real estate broker Karen Schlonsky as prospective buyers.
As they bounced their twin girls on their lap, the Lopezes said the purchase is logical at this time: They feel their jobs at Shanghai Red's are secure. They have long been in the community. And their mortgage is about as much as the rent they're paying now.
"We'd like to get in a house," Ruben Lopez said. "It's perfect for another reason: location, location, location."
Kathleen Ahlgren, vice president of sales/marketing for Rilington Group, said the opening of Monterey Ridge represents a positive shift in the new home housing market for a couple reasons: The homes are priced to compete with foreclosures and short sales, and that represents a "changing dynamic" in the marketplace.
"There's such a need for this type of home," she said.
Monterey Ridge, at full build-out, will have 247 units in building clusters around a clubhouse, pool and playground area for tots.
The development, with 20 partially completed units, fell into foreclosure and was purchased by the Los Angeles-based investment group Global Investment & Development LLC. Prices now range from $182,990 for a 1,225-square-foot home to $228,990 for a residence that's 1,949 square feet. The homeowner association fees are noted to be $231 per month.
Global contacted the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership to help define the local economy and demographics and determine when to open for sales. Its representatives attended CVEP's economic summit last October and sought additional regional data and support to put a team in place to finish the units and hire a firm to market them.
The valley's largest privately owned home building company, GHA Communities, led by Mario Gonzales, was hired to navigate the construction aspects of the project. Rilington Group, with a real estate presence here that includes the nearby Dolce, is handling sales.
"With the encouragement of CVEP, we have engaged a local workforce to build, re-energize and sell this community," said Joseph Rivani, managing member for Global Investment. "All the contractor and trades are local."
