Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Because (1) they have been around for decades and therefore have relatively small debt loads and (2) although susceptible to risk they exist in a "protected" area/location. >> I guess it all depends on each business. Are they family owned/operated? Over the years how many more family members are now trying to divide up the income to live off of these businesses? What kind of capital has been reinvested in improvements? There are other operating costs (labor, utilities, equipment, supplies) that are not based on real estate prices. I expect that the location is a benefit, but I've known more than one business that has been around for decades that goes belly up for reasons beyond real estate prices -- particularly in hard times.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt With Disney's hotel occupancy rates last year at 90% - well above the national average - it stands to reason that most of the properties surrounding the resort are raking in the dough.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Because (1) they have been around for decades and therefore have relatively small debt loads >> That's a big assumption. The properties may have been sold (for a huge profit). They might have been re-mortgaged to finance other projects. The common knowledge just a few years ago was that if you were sitting on equity,the you were an financial idiot.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA >>>It looks like the developers of CementWalk, er.... GardenWalk, are in some deep financial trouble and the mall is heading towards possible foreclosure<< Cement walk—that is funny…but seriously.. omg I’m not surprised they defaulted on the loan.. it looked like a popular place as you drive by—but I guess if they didn’t have money coming in then it wasn’t popular place!! It’s sad and funny at the same time because here are these developers who made this mall thing and thought yeah this is going to be another popular mall..it’s just another glorified strip mall. We already have two nearby Anaheim…the block at orange and the Irvine spectrum Garden walk aka cement walk—biggest waste of money in my mind. At first I thought it was great for the tourists..but now I changed my side.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA <<< They also were approved to place about four levels of timeshare condos on top of the parking structure on the west half of the property. That idea hasn't been mentioned in over a year, but the developers are still bravely talking about the hotel construction starting "next year". >>> <<Maybe that's where they could put some affordable housing instead.>> I AGREE!!! Yeah get some more affordable housing that totally sounds like a good idea. Seriously does that area need another hotel?? What is that going to do for the area,other then bring in more traffic? What will that do for Disneyland?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Did anybody else notice this on the LP Home Page: <a href="http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com/2010/01/27/disney-area-theater-files-for-bankruptcy/32769/" target="_blank">http://ocresort.freedombloggin...y/32769/</a>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Some of the comments from the readers were pretty telling. The place just hasn't resonated with locals. What's worse is that the tourists in the area seem to be ignoring the place too.
Originally Posted By gadzuux It's essentially invisible to tourists. You can see the 'cheesecake factory' from the side street, but the rest of the place recedes back behind the ticky-tack motels lining harbor. I'm guessing most visitors have no idea that it's even there. Which (again) is why is say that it's crucial that this development have access from Harbor - preferably near the DLR resort entrance.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I know it's there and I don't bother with the place because there isn't anything in it that I can't find right here at home. The whole concept was a mistake from the start.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA The problem with GardenWalk, is, that there is no 'there' there.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Those theaters that just went bankrupt are really very nice .. and I put them ahead of DtD's AMC14. Unlike the idiot who wrote that article said - the have Imax screenS (plural) ... they have 1 IMAX theater - duh! But it's a great one. The whole complex has a cool "1970" retro design. Not quite the 60s .. but not quite the 70s either. They have cool, private mini theaters like what irishfan and I were talking about here in Sydney ... that are wide, leather seats with a good size arm rest for your drinks and other food items, among other niceties. The rest of the theaters are nice stadium style with good size wall-to-wall screens. Whatever happens to this theater/mall in the future ... Should Disney buy it .. and make it "DtD-east" ... the theaters are great - as is. No changes. Plus .. there's an awesome bowling alley directly below the theater ... that makes a great permanent feature.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Oh .. another great thing they do at the theaters ... they have a classic film series throughout the year .. and have already shown Gone With The Wind on the Imax screen, Vertigo, among other old classics. It's a once-a-month program.
Originally Posted By tonyanton sounds like they should have made sure the hotels were built first so their would be a built-in audience for the shops/restaurants.
Originally Posted By believe Location, location, location... and maybe marketing, marketing, marketing... is GW's problem.
Originally Posted By cheesybaby I'd also say "visibility." Without visibility, the benefits of "location" are seriously reduced. We go to DL usually twice a month. I see Downtown Disney 100% of the time. I have never seen GW. If it has any substantial visible frontage on Harbor, I missed it.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA From Harbor Blvd., Garden Walk is situated perfectly behind an existing hotel property. If you don't know it's there -- you don't see it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Location, location, location... and maybe marketing, marketing, marketing..." I'd say the biggest problem for me (a tourist) is content. There just isn't anything there that makes the place compelling enough to visit - even if the place were directly across the street from the Harbor Blvd. entrance to the Resort.
Originally Posted By Ohana <<<I'd say the biggest problem for me (a tourist) is content. There just isn't anything there that makes the place compelling enough to visit - even if the place were directly across the street from the Harbor Blvd. entrance to the Resort.>>> while this may be true, i think the location is even more important. there is very UN-compelling content in DTD such as Rainforest Cafe, but because of its prime location, it thrives.
