Comment by Dr Dan on December 23, 2008 at 5:35am

What in the name of Marty Chavez do you get for 250.00 a month association fees
I thought they closed the ice house and the Owners's uh ahem business services

Comment by jim on December 23, 2008 at 8:58am

It's good to see such blind optimism on the part of developers in the current economy but I have to wonder what kind of market research if any has been done. All these largely vacant and planned condo developments give me the impression that the developers aren't working with there own hard earned money.

Comment by Phil_0 on December 23, 2008 at 9:42am

There are only twelve condos for sale at Gold Street Lofts because the Venture folks finally gave up and converted one of the three floors to offices. The building's been finished for three years and is still less than half full. I don't know if this is optimism so much as good old-fashioned spin...

Comment by once banned twice shy on December 23, 2008 at 10:43am

Re: Gold Lofts. I mean, come on. Who is going to pay $300,000 for an UNFINISHED loft right next to homeless central, a.k.a. The Alvarado Transportation Center? It also happens to be right on the homeless migration route--homeless folks migrate from the shelter north of Mountain to the free meal places and the Salvation Army and the homeless mission every day. I don't have anything against homeless people, mind you, I'm just thinking that the people with that kind of money wouldn't necessarily be eager to live there. I understand that the developers were throwing their weight behind a revitalization effort down there, but they did it with a tin ear. How about creating AFFORDABLE housing first and then introducing the high dollar stuff?

Re: recycling incentive program: Oh, so I, who have been recycling everything under the sun, but who will never get a bin, gets screwed on the incentives? Hmmmpf. I think the guy who picks my recycling hates me, too, because he always tosses my plastic recycles tub as far as he can into the yard after he picks up my recycling.

Comment by once banned twice shy on December 23, 2008 at 12:49pm

"Or is there some other financial reason builders thought these would sell in ABQ? "

Four words: housing bubble and subprime mortgages.

Comment by Robert S. on December 24, 2008 at 1:31am

gold lofts - I laughed at the story on KRQE the other night when I saw it because I still can't believe downtown developers still do not have a clue - build a development near the necessities of life like a grocery store so residents do not have to travel several miles to get food. Maybe the developers think that people who can fork out that much for downtown living space can afford to eat out every night. The story featured 2 guys from Los Angeles looking to move to Albuquerque. They said they like the loft, like the railrunner, but aren't too pleased with a lack of things like grocery stores in the area.

Recycling program - how about simplifying it and dumbing it down before incentiving people to recycle? I know the apartments could be served better (why should I have to take my recycling to my dad's house to participate? The city garbage truck visits a couple times a week to empty the apartment dumpsters so apparently my apartment owner has a contract with the city). More items could be accepted (Fridge pack boxes, cereal boxes, containers without mouths that are plastic #3, 4, 5, 6). Even if they aren't recyclable, at least run them through a chipper at the sorting center so instead of taking up a cubic foot or more in the landfill, the shreds only take up a few cubic inches. Also, take the single dumpster idea city-wide. I think if more things were accepted, it was dumbed down to one cart that doesn't have to be sorted, and serve those residences that are not currently served, more people would recycle due to ease and convenience and wouldn't need incentives to recycle. The only thing I see in my recycling plan for the city that is not curbside/apartment parking lot collection bins is glass that still goes to select grocery store bins around the city since that stuff can be dangerous if broken at some point from collection through sorting.

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