Construction Watch: Allentown Lofts

Have any lofts downtown been available for purchase or is it still a renter market only?

So far as I know, renters only.

It takes funding sources and restrictions on such sources. You can use hist. credits and what not for commercial developments but not condo. In order to renovate these structures it takes a lot of money to make the project work and these credits are necessary because of our generally lower rents. I could be wrong but condo's would need to be able to sell at a high enough price to cover all renovations costs plus any profit for the developer... and those prices wouldn't be high enough to warrant the investment.

from what i understand they rehab the buildings rent them for a few years (maybe 5-10) then once they've recouped much of their original invest or after the expiration on the tax credits occurs they sell the units as condos. also once the apartments etc that were new 10 years ago become more dated they'll be sold as condos, i could be wrong but that is what my impression has been

I'd still like to know if they plan on removing the fake stone facing on the first floor front of the building.

theREALsbrof is right. A developer can't access the funding for condos that he/she can for rentals. I don't know what the real market is for purchase of lofts. There aren't many lofts available, even for rent. Much of the rental product is really conventional apartment style units. I'm curious to see how the Whitney Place units do, given that they are priced affordably (though they are not lofts, they hit a target price which many find attractive).

Another impediment, aside from funding, is scale: It's not a money maker, generally speaking, to convert a small project (8 units, say) and then sell it (though again the Whitney project is interesting in this regard). One needs economy of scale if units are to be sold off. No developers I've spoken with are willing to take the substantial risk of tackling a large conversion for condo use.

A bit of hearsay: I'm told Paladino claims he won't build new condos again. Says the waterfront cost him $275/square foot to build, but the market rate is stuck at $225/sf and he's eating the $50/sf shortfall with each sale. Hearsay, but I wonder if anyone could confirm or enlighten.