Under Water: Velocity Goes Into Friendly Foreclosure*

WKRN-Channel 2

that Velocity in the Gulch — the smaller, less expensive condos on 11th Ave. — has quitclaimed its deed, giving up its interest in more than 200 unsold units (of 265 total) and the ground-floor retail space. (A quote in the Channel 2 story refers to the transaction as "quick claimed," but I don't know what that is.)

Like the condos at Fifth and Main, Velocity is now under bank control. It's certainly not the first condo development of the recent building boom to struggle.

But you know what Fifth and Main and Velocity lack that most of the other struggling condos built in the last few years have in common? A pool. That's right: While buyers in the other troubled condo developments are lounging by the pretty as we speak, Velocity dwellers have to content themselves with green features like recycled materials and bamboo floors. That stuff rules, but it doesn't cool ya off when your city hits 100 fiery degrees in June.

In my research a few years back, I found that the feature favored overwhelmingly by condo buyers in 2007-08 was the splish-splash. Most condo builders knew pool access (along with a view) was the money shot that would close the deal. But Velocity courted a more cash-strapped, eco-conscious buyer by stocking the littler Gulch inhabitant with green amenities, not a pool with its expensive upkeep. Now, while other Gulch residents are practicing their backstroke, Velocity is fighting to keep from going under.

Sure, once the economy catches its wind — and the Gulch gets boomtown amenities such as its own urban market — supply and demand may even out, and Velocity may find itself the life of the party. But for now, if the struggling condos want Buffy and Biff to show up for a party after Sambuca shuts down for the night, they'd better get a $199 plastic pool at Walmart, whip out the air hose, and start inflating.

[*An earlier version of this post used the less correct term, bankruptcy. Thanks to JR Lind for clarification of real estate jargon.]