Broken dreams and ghost towns in the sky, cont.

A Seattle Times column about a man’s costly failed attempt to buy a South Lake Union condo evoked an estimated 300 reader comments, e-mails and calls to the paper.

Nearly all of the responses beseeched Vulcan to refund the buyer’s earnest money—something they’ve been unwilling to do, and a stance they continue to defend. Here’s a piece of Danny Westneat’s follow-up to Sunday’s column:

Vulcan spokesman David Postman says the company in fact goes out of its way to help struggling buyers qualify for loans. But barring that, Vulcan is entitled to the money.

"There was nothing in your column that would make us rethink our position," he said.

Fair enough. Would it help if I write some more of them?

Talk about a PR nightmare. Does Vulcan not realize they have a good deal of condos left to sell, and more than a handful of lots yet to be developed? A show of good faith would go a long way.

Speaking of such, a group of Rollin Street buyers met last night at a coffee shop to discuss the fate of their purchases. This was a group of committed buyers who had bought into the vision of the neighborhood so effectively conveyed at the SLU Discovery Center, not a group of speculators looking to exit their contracts unscathed.

Each person has invested a lot into their units – money, yes ($50K+), but also a piece of themselves in the choices they’ve made in finishes and custom additions, not to mention the dreams they had for their future lives in the building. Now they’re spending their time brooding over whether they’ll be able to close on the units and move in.

Vulcan, at this point in the game, has done nothing to ease these buyers’ anxiety. This point in the game is pretty late—2:00 left in the 4th quarter in real estate terms. With Rollin Street scheduled to receive its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on March 15th and a 15-day close, buyers *could* move in April 1st.

The financing programs buyers planned on using no longer exist. Today’s financing paradigm, FHA loans, aren’t available for projects under 50% sold—a hurdle Rollin Street won’t be jumping anytime soon. The prices of Rollin Street units still on the market have dropped, meaning there’s no way the appraisal will come in near the pre-sale price. Something has to give, but Vulcan has yet to budge or even come to the table to talk with these buyers, and time is running out.

The Veer Lofts buyer profiled in Seattle Times Danny Westneat’s column could not afford a lawyer and is now out his life savings. By Vulcan’s design, Rollin Street targeted a more affluent clientele, one which has access to lawyers. The hopeful buyers at this coffee shop had not hired a lawyer yet – they hoped they could work something out peaceably with Vulcan first – but it was on their minds.

Near the end of our time at the café, one of the buyers pointed me to a picture album full of real estate porn on Facebook. I haven’t seen these photos – which include shots of a finished unit, the community room, and the gym area – make the rounds on the condo blogs yet. It would be a shame for that unit/community room/sport court to remain empty because of an unwillingness to do right by the people who were among the first to embrace your vision for the neighborhood and want nothing more than to be a part of it.