Building is 'just sitting there'

A 100-unit loft development on Glencoe Avenue was to have been part of the up-and-coming Marina Arts District. Just one problem: The project was foreclosed on last summer and construction crews walked off the job. As posted by Curbed LA, the Chicago-based lender Corus Bank tried auctioning the property for $44 million, but there were no takers. So the unfinished place is gathering dust. (All of which is a little embarrassing for the NYT, which didn't mention the foreclosure in its September story.) Of course, these kinds of properties don’t just sit there forever – they turn in rentals. In its latest forecast, Grubb & Ellis notes that "apartments are seeing some new renters who have lost their homes to foreclosure, while landlords are able to maintain existing renters who are waiting for prices and mortgage rates to fall further." Of the top 10 apartment markets, L.A. ranks first on Grubb's Investment Opportunity Monitor (OC is No. 3).