Does anyone have any opinions they'd like to share on the Loftworks building and that neighborhood (E40th and Payne)?

 

How's crime?

Is it quiet (neighbors and outside noise)?

Any opinions on the general prospects for the neighborhood and resale values of condos?

 

 

Welcome to the forum - the area around Loftworks seems like most neighborhoods in transition: crime isn't non-existent (like any area in the city) but it's improved over the years.

 

Noise-wise, there's a working railroad across the street but I have no idea about the frequency of trains, etc. As far as the prospects for the neighborhood, again it's transitioning - I'd say for the best but obviously the current state of the economy is going to determine the pace. There's already quite a concentration of artist studios around the area as well as the Asiatown businesses and organizations. As far as resale value, like anything in northeast Ohio it's probably not a place for high-paying instant gratification but you would probably see a respectable ROI given enough time.

My coworker has some close friends who live in that neighborhood (right across from Loftworks) - the couple split up and are selling their 7,000-square-foot loft building for about $349,000. It was one of the first legal live-work buildings in the city (I wrote an article about it a year or so ago). The building could be subdivided. But I digress....

 

The neighborhood is fairly safe. You do have to be aware of your surroundings, but not be paranoid about them. You can walk to many Asian and other restaurants, funky shops etc. Traffic in the area is minimal and so biking is pleasant. Payne, because of its light traffic, is a terrific street for biking. Two transit services (the 4 and 38) are available on Payne with more frequent (and 24-hour) service on Superior.

 

As for the freight trains, the railroad is pretty busy (about 90 trains a day). But there are no street crossings within a mile of Payne/40th so there is no reason for train crews to blow the horns near you  (unless someone is trespassing on the tracks).

My coworker has some close friends who live in that neighborhood (right across from Loftworks) - the couple split up and are selling their 7,000-square-foot loft building for about $349,000.

 

Ooooooooooohhhh  REALLY?? 

what do the indovidual lofts go for?

Ooooooooooohhhh  REALLY??

 

It's at 1668 East 40th. It was on PURE's website but now I don't see it. They may have taken it off the market temporarily for the winter so it will show up as a new listing in the spring.

 

what do the indovidual lofts go for?

 

These two loft buildings in the area of East 40th and Payne are featured properties on Progressive Urban Real Estate's website.....

 

Loftworks Condominiums

Starting under $100,000

 

Payne Lofts

Starting from $139,900

KJP....my mind is cranking with ideas for that building.

It's a nice neighborhood. I live more or less around the corner, and according to our CDC, the census tract has the lowest incidence of reported crime citywide. I haven't seen any specific numbers to back this up, but my own experience is that it's an incredibly safe neighborhood. I previously lived in Shaker Square and definitely loved that nabe as well. I was a little concerned when I moved into Asiatown that it would be somewhat unsafe, but I've found it to actually be a little quieter and safer-feeling than the Square, which itself felt relatively safe.

 

As was already mentioned, short-term prospects for resale are pretty limited. That being said, the housing market in the neighborhood is among the most stable citywide ... you VERY rarely see any for-sale signs, although one loft-type rehab project (on E. 32nd) appears to have folded, the CDC has had difficulty with a new construction project in the E. 40s, and I've heard that sales in the Payne Avenue Lofts (which I would DEFINITELY check out ... Payne and E. 35th-ish) have been pretty sluggish.

 

That being said, from my vantage point, long-term resale potential is pretty high. The neighborhood is still very much under the radar for the vast majority of Clevelanders (what? Cleveland has a Chinatown?), so units are still remarkably cheap. The CDC is doing a great deal of neighborhood branding work, and there is a pretty remarkable collection of restaurants, artist studios and galleries and a full-service grocery in place, all of which should help generate interest in the neighborhood. Assuming that the in-migration of artists continues and the Asian population continues to own a good chunk of the single-family homes in the neighborhood, I would anticipate that this will be a strong speculator's market in another five years and a very tight real estate market generally in another decade. But I wouldn't recommend buying to anyone who's hoping to flip a property in the near future (really, I wouldn't recommend that in about 90% of America at the moment).

 

The area's definitely great, but I will say that that stretch of E. 40th lacks much street activity and doesn't really have the charm of either Payne or Superior directly to the west. While the units are amazing in LoftWorks, I'd put my money in Payne Avenue Lofts (http://www.mlsfinder.com/oh_normls/jacoblohser2/index.cfm?action=searchresults&searchkey=19040353-c078-f950-f12d-267b518b5739&npp=10) which are reasonably priced from about $140K - $165K, are pretty big in size (about 1800 sq. feet) and are much closer proximity to the action (including everyone's favorite Koko Bakery directly next door).

 

But those are just my preferences wanting to be directly on the street rather than setback and right amid the retail. A magnificent 3,100 sq. ft. unit in LoftWorks for $225K definitely makes me salivate, too ... and $99.5K for a 1,000 sq. ft loft?! That's a steal no matter how you look at it!(http://www.loftworkscleveland.com/availability.php).

Thanks for the excellent feedback everyone. This helps a lot. Just some general replies from me:

 

I'm not looking to flip it right away for a profit or become a real estate tycoon or anything. I just want a nice place to live for myself that isn't the typical suburban white box with small windows. I love these old warehouse buildings and the new lofts inside.

 

I probably won't be there forever though, so I would like some long-term property value stability and the general consensus seems to be that the neighborhood will be ok in that respect.

 

I would actually prefer something that is set back and not in the main drag, among retail etc. Quiet is desireable for me. I'll have to sit around there for a while one of these days and wait for a train to pass and make sure they don't lay on the horn like they do going through, say, Lakewood.

 

I think Payne lofts might be a bit out of my price range but I'll have a look perhaps.

 

By the way, what does "CDC" mean?

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

^ CDC means community development corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to spur development, organize residents and otherwise improve quality of life in a neighborhood. Cleveland is known for having one of the strongest networks of CDCs in the country. The CDC in the neighborhood is St. Clair Superior (http://www.stclairsuperior.org/ and http://stclairsuperior.blogspot.com/); on the south side of Payne and going south and east, the CDC is Midtown (http://www.midtowncleveland.org/index.asp). Together with the Quadrangle (http://www.thequadrangle.org/), St. Clair Superior and Midtown are also collaborating on an effort to strengthen Asiatown (http://asiatowncleveland.com/), the sub-nabe between E. 30th and E. 40th, St. Clair to Payne. St. Clair Superior and Midtown both seem to have some strong momentum for their initiatives, and that again speaks well for long-term real estate prices.

Hi Integral, I am 8Shades' roomie, so I'm also a denizen of the neighborhood. Just a quick word about the trains -- I live about a block and half from the tracks and I'm never, ever bothered by the train. The most I ever hear is a distant whistle blowing, which I find romantic (in a melancholy kind of way). As KJP said, the fact that the tracks are elevated means the train doesn't have to announce its arrival. LoftWorks is closer to the tracks, though, so you might hear more clattering from the cars going by. You'd be best off asking someone who lives there, I suppose.

Other than that, 8Shades covered it all.

I think the locals are the experts, but as someone who looked at buying in the area very seriously about 4-5 years ago, I can give some feedback from that perspective.

 

Pros:

I think the neighborhood gets more and more interesting with regard to development, galleries, etc.

 

Just my opinion-but Asia town has the best loft spaces I have seen. If I could have a loftsworks or Payne av loft where I am now, I would be in heaven.

 

I would concider the neighborhood very safe for Cleveland.

 

You may find that the clack, clack of trains is comforting. I live in the flats and the distant boat and train whistles are one of the few advantages of insomnia-very soothing

 

Other:

 

Real estate may be "iffy" with regard to appreciation. The Loftsworks units we looked at are selling for  less than they were being offered in late 2003 ish when I was looking. I realize we are in a mini slump, but I noticed this difference several months ago before it set in. Specifically a carriage house was listed for over $20,000 LESS in late 07 than it was in Late 03. The huge space listed above would have been a lot more in '04.  If I were a rich person with many properties, I would not care so much. But if your larger investmet is your home, and you needed to sell for some reason, you could be in bad shape. These are very special and unique spaces and it could take a looong time to find a buyer to appreciate the place.

 

Payne Av lofts- are really nice. I loved that they kept them really raw.  That part of Payne is a little busy though. If one could be gotten for a really low price, then that would sweeten my opinion.Some of these units have been on the market for about 4 years and never sold by the developer. I would  ignore anyone who says you cannot make a seriously low ball offer on slower moving new development (maybe 20% plus get some upgrades as well). I think you can take them fairly unfinished with regard to walls or they will but in a few walls for you.

 

what generally ended up being a deciding factor for us was that where we live has a higher concentration of the places we like to go (ridiculous gravitational pull to the river,Tremont and Ohio City) and is more walkable in the sense there is a lot to walk too. Asiatown is safer for walking but things are kind of spread out.

 

Hope this helps

 

p.s blinker12 and 8sog roomates? -that has got to the coolest place ever!!  :mrgreen:

 

 

You do have to be aware of your surroundings, but not be paranoid about them.

 

This may be my new favorite quote to use to try to explain to everyone who thinks that living in an urban setting means your going to get mugged every time you set foot out your door...

Thanks. No charge.