LJ Urban calls it quits; new buyer scoops up its "Good" homes in West Sac
bshallit@sacbee.com
Published Monday, Oct. 12, 2009
It's called "Good" but business hasn't been quite that for a West Sac complex hailed as a model of eco-conscious housing.
The partially completed project at Fourth and B streets was recently sold by developer Levi Benkert, whose innovative company first made headlines in 2007.
Due to falling real estate values, Benkert has closed his trailblazing company, LJ Urban.
"We had a good long run ... but things are over now," he writes in his company blog. His eco-urban company has "no book value and no future as a property development company."
Benkert's blog is penned from Ethiopia, where he and his family are living while doing another kind of good: helping orphaned kids.
The West Sac project's new owner is real estate entrepreneur Ray Sahadeo, who's been snapping up distressed properties throughout the region.
Sahadeo, head of S360 Development, tells us he'll immediately finish three partly-built homes at the Good site, which has five completed houses.
"We'll have to get a feel for the market," he says, before starting construction on 27 additional homes planned.
Ultimately, he says, the project "will do well because of the "buzz" it's generated among those interested in sustainable building practices.
"There's nothing else like this in West Sacramento, or even Sacramento," Sahadeo says.
Among the project's eco-friendly features: tankless water heaters, solar collectors and insulation made from recycled newspapers.
The completed units "use about 40 percent of the energy of standard homes," says Brandon Weber, who handled sales for LJ Urban and now is working with S360.
Webber says the Good project always had lots of interest from potential home buyers. But after real estate values began to plummet, getting construction loans became impossible.
"Everything just got upside down," he says.
For the rest of Bob Shallit's column, see Tuesday's "Our Region" section.