In Los Angeles, it is very easy for pedestrians to feel like second-class citizens. Granted, we have inherited an infrastructure expressly built for cars, but the enormous width of our streets is further exacerbated by poor crosswalk design and signal coordination. Case in point: this intersection in Brentwood, where San Vicente Boulevard and Montana Avenue converge, is one of the most frustrating, infuriating, annoying places to navigate on foot in the entire city.

LA's pedestrian-last policy: one of the most poorly designed crosswalks (San Vincente/Montana in Brentwood).

Imagine you want to go from point A to point B. The awkward, rhomboidal shape of the intersection leaves you with few good options while awaiting a signal change to begin the long trek across San Vicente Boulevard. There are multiple segments to the crosswalk, with pedestrians left stranded on the various medians (yes, plural) while cars whiz past. Total crossing distance for the existing scenario (in yellow) is over 400 feet, or about an entire city block.

Diagonal crossing in Beverly Hills: breezy, efficient, and conducive to retail spending!

Contrast this with Beverly Hill’s downtown, where diagonal crossing allows a swift, efficient jaunt from one destination to the next. If this scheme were implemented in Brentwood, the crossing distance at San Vicente/Montana would be reduced to just over 120 feet (in purple), or 30% of the original distance.  This type of fix is not just about catering to the impatient pedestrian, but increasing economic vitality in Brentwood’s retail district overall. Think about the boutiques and restaurants on both sides of San Vicente that would benefit from increased flows of foot traffic across the boulevard. Right now, would-be customers have good reason to look at the intersection, ask themselves “why bother?,” and get back into their cars to drive elsewhere.

In mid-June, when Curbed LA reported on a price chop at Dogtown Station, a 35-unit loft development at 700 Main Street in Venice, 17 units were still available. Today, that number has dropped to 12, an absorption rate of approximately one unit per month, which seems fairly typical for the market and product type.

But apparently not quick enough, because in the last week, the entry price has been lowered to $819,000 for a second-story flat of 1,383 sq. ft. (or $592 PSF).

I actually interviewed with the developer, Bob D’Elia, back in January 2008, as an internship-seeking graduate student. At the time, I had produced a mock pro forma for Dogtown Station, estimating its construction costs, revenue from condo sales, IRR, and presented it at the interview.

D’Elia was impressed by the accuracy of my estimate for sales revenues, $41.3 million, which took into account both pre-sales and the planned release of remaining units at escalating price points. With the development totaling 57,869 sellable sq. ft. (excluding common and outdoor areas), that translated into an average sale price of approximately $714 PSF. D’Elia would not verify the accuracy of my cost estimates but boasted of a project IRR in excess of 20%.

Overall, this newest price point, $819,000, represents a 17% decrease (on a PSF basis) from the early 2008 peak average…without counting the additional incentive of a 36-month lease on a new 2010 Toyota Prius with the purchase of any unit (valid until December 31st).

Dogtown Station has lowered its price and and is offering an additional buyer's incentive.

Assuming a 2010 Prius base sticker price of $23,370 with monthly  lease payments of $341, this incentive is worth around $13,000 by my calculations, meaning that the effective price PSF is closer to $583, or about 19% off the original ask. This percentage drop is, perhaps not coincidentally, in the zone of the developer’s originally projected IRR, which means that Dogtown Station may have hit rock bottom in terms of the price decreases its investors can absorb before erasing profit margins entirely.