Location, Location, Location is the oldest cliché in real estate. It’s also the most enduring.
Most people recognize the value of living or investing in a great location, such as near or on water – ocean, bay, lakes – or on a golf course or ski resort but an overlooked prime location is living or investing in or near a village, such as La Mesa’s own Historic Village, the quaint downtown area of century-old buildings, homes nearly as old, restaurants, bars, boutiques, City Hall, library, the Secret Stairs, and mom and pop shops.
Villages, smaller than cities or downtowns, are often clustered around a central point and described as quaint, pretty, charming, walkable. Most villages have history and are not newly built.
An example of a “New Village” would be Civita Park in Mission Valley in central San Diego.
At Civita Park, shops and restaurants are being built at The Row to service the thousands of people living in adjacent apartments and condos. The developers have also added bike trails, walking paths and playgrounds for kids. The residents, I’m sure, enjoy the amenities but it’s a stretch to call this new construction a “village.”
Traditional villages feature restaurants, boutiques, pubs, bistros, cafes, diners, hair salons, barbershops, little markets, bookstores, mom & pop shops, and this is key, historic, or vintage homes. In fact, it is often historic homes, protected by historic overlays created to preserve the architectural and historic character of a specified area, that make villages so desirable. The most popular and well-known villages in San Diego County are Coronado, La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Carlsbad, La Mesa & Julian.
To demonstrate the real estate value of homes in villages, please see the sold price per square feet below of homes in villages compared to homes in the rest of the zip code. For this article, only Julian, La Mesa, Coronado and Rancho Santa Fe are included. Below are average sold price per square foot of homes sold in the villages compared to homes sold in the same zip code outside the villages.
Julian (back 24 months)
Village: $690/SF
Other parts of Julian: $443/SF
Delta: $247/SF
La Mesa (back 24 months)
Village: $833/SF
Other parts of La Mesa (including Mt. Helix): $569/SF
Delta: $264.SF
Coronado (2024 only)
Village: $1,663/SF
Other parts of Coronado (including Coronado Cays): $1,181
Delta: $482/SF
Rancho Santa Fe (back 24 months)
Village: $1,131
Other parts of Rancho Santa Fe: $919
Delta: $212
Takeaways
People like to walk, shop and dine. Real estate close enough to walk to restaurants and shops are highly desirable and pursued. As the areas are generally small, inventory low and the homes unique and not cookie-cutter, village homes are often snapped up quickly. Last year, I listed two classic La Mesa cottages next to each other on 3rd Street about three blocks from the popular Curbside Drinkery and Eatery.
At the first and only Open House, well over 100 people attended including two viewers who flew in for the Open Houses. Both homes received multiple offers with final sales price at least $100,000 over list on each property.
If a home comes up for sale in a Village and you, the buyer, want it, be aggressive with your offers. Sellers’ agents need to showcase Location, Location, Location. Cities would do well to preserve the historic character of Village neighborhoods and to make it easy for entrepreneurs to open restaurants, bistros, cafes and boutiques.
Cities should keep their downtown villages clean, litter and graffiti free, and consider the installation of murals, sculptures, fountains and gardens. The City of La Mesa does a mostly good job of nurturing Historic La Mesa Village, They keep it clean, and litter and graffiti free; new murals are being painted in the Walkway of the Stars as this article is published. The City added a gazebo, snail sculpture and, courtesy of Jim Simpson, proprietor of Time and Treasures, an impressive grandfather clock several years ago. We are months away from a large, beautiful district sign (thanks Tony and Pam!)
The La Mesa Village Association is the driving force behind the Summer Car Show, Friday Farmers Market, Oktoberfest, Holiday in the Village and Trick-or-Treating in La Mesa Village. They are responsible for La Mesa Village’s vibe.
The only place the City gets C marks for its La Mesa Village efforts is permits.
Too many restaurants and small businesses either prevail with permits after months or even years of tortuous and expensive delays or they give up. Most recently, La Mesa Village was cheated out of a La Mesa Emporium that would have provided residents and visitors a food/drink hall in the old Park Estate Building and two restaurants (French pastry & Japanese) in the pharmacy building.
The pharmacy building owner has persevered (I’ve been happy to help him in my city council capabilities) and we should have two restaurants and possibly a wine and cheese shop in the near future.
– Reach eXp Realtor and La Mesa Councilwoman Laura Lothian at: [email protected].
Crédito de la foto: Pixabay.com
