“In today’s market, who’s going to live there?” Miller asked, as he and a group of writing colleagues traded jabs about the Americana’s high prices over lunch outside the Glendale Marketplace.
Price aside, Roger Powell, another writer, wondered who would want to live above a shopping mall.
“We were discussing yesterday how annoying it would be to live above The Grove,” Powell said.
But Caruso says there are a few key demographics taking interest in the project. For one, condo-curious buyers who have considered downtown Los Angeles but shy away from its grittiness have a cleaner, safer alternative in the Americana, he said. There’s also the crowd of studio executives who may live bicoastal lifestyles and prefer to shed the responsibilities of maintaining a single-family home, but still want luxury, he said.
Gerri Cragnotti, a Glendale-based Realtor and staunch Americana booster, said she expects the Americana to entice well-off retirees looking to scale down but not leave Glendale.
That demographic has typically relocated to Pasadena or the Palm Springs area, a trend Cragnotti ties to a dearth of high-end condominiums in Glendale.
“That lifestyle was supported there and not here, but now we have it,” she said.
RYAN VAILLANCOURT covers business, politics and the foothills. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215 or by e-mail at ryan.vaillancourt@latimes.com.
