Laguna Altura feng shui

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BK at the other blog raised feng shui issues at Laguna Altura.  Outside of knowing that one?s door should not open to a street that leads straight to the door, I am clueless about feng shui.  Would love to hear people?s thoughts about feng shui at Laguna Altura.  Thanks.

BK?s post (May 16, '11):

??The first impression after the gate is looking at a miserable wall and someones backyard. This important focal point should have been the recreation center.

A community at the bottom of a wok has very bad feng shui. Ancient Chinese secrets revealed these sort of topography create air stagnation, lack of view and vulnerable to fire just like the wok where high concentration of heat is at the wok bottom.

The proximity to busy highway arteries is too close. Pullution is trapped in the stagnant air and settle in the community unlike QH where the Feng (air) flow is dynamic in moving the contamination in the air. "

The location is excellent but the execution did not commensurate with its siting potential.?
 
I personally don't buy the "bottom of the wok" theory, if so the entire SGV & SFV are at the bottom of the wok, as is most of LA.  There are many negatives in Feng Shui.  *IF* you believe in them then it will be tough to find a home that meets all positives.  Stagnation could also be said about the flatlands of northern irvine, woodbury, NP, NW, etc.

While Feng Shui principles do have an impact of the pool of future buyers, I don't think it's current location is going to necessarily turn people off from a feng shui perspective.  Other factors in house design, front door position/location, etc  will have a greater impact.

I do agree about BK's assessment of the first impression after the gate.  You come to a "T" of a wall and some landscaping.  It would have been far more pleasing to see a huge greenbelt with a community center/pool in the distance. 
 
I agree. The first impression of LA after the impressive entrance is layers of walls separating one community from the other. Someone posted the original plan of LA here in the past and it is much much better that the main park was designed to be in the middle of the development facing the entrance, while two smaller parks located symmetrically on each side with a T shaped pedestrian trails connecting all 3 parks. TIC got way too greedy and push the 2 small parks to the fringe of the development, get rid of the trails and move the main park to one side so they can squeeze in more homes.

 
akula1488 said:
I agree. The first impression of LA after the impressive entrance is layers of walls separating one community from the other. Someone posted the original plan of LA here in the past and it is much much better that the main park was designed to be in the middle of the development facing the entrance, while two smaller parks located symmetrically on each side with a T shaped pedestrian trails connecting all 3 parks. TIC got way too greedy and push the 2 small parks to the fringe of the development, get rid of the trails and move the main park to one side so they can squeeze in more homes.
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As a consequence, the homes will need to be priced lower per square foot.  It all depends on what you want I guess-  More parks and trails would cost more. 

They're lowering their prices anyway, and they'll probably do it more-  but they will probably sink more than if they had kept their original village design.

They took their 4 most lot-raping floorplan designs and stuck them in a bowl with no parkland or trails.  "Value" village indeed
 
akula1488 said:
I agree. The first impression of LA after the impressive entrance is layers of walls separating one community from the other. Someone posted the original plan of LA here in the past and it is much much better that the main park was designed to be in the middle of the development facing the entrance, while two smaller parks located symmetrically on each side with a T shaped pedestrian trails connecting all 3 parks. TIC got way too greedy and push the 2 small parks to the fringe of the development, get rid of the trails and move the main park to one side so they can squeeze in more homes.
Click to expand...

At these high prices you should at least have the grand entrance experience and neighborhood walkability of the original plan.  It is clear as day once you get through the main entrance that somebody at TIC thought buyers were stupid and wouldn't notice the walls and walls and penny pinching landscaping.  Someone said LA's sales are so low that some people involved in the project might get fired over the poor sales results...I think whoever made the decision to ditch the original plan for the current plan should be the first to to go...hopefully TIC learns a lesson about not getting greedy and at least offering good value for the prices they are asking.  With the original "Tiffany" plan maybe they could have gotten their "South Coast Plaza" asking prices but with the current value village plan hopefully TIC only gets "Walmart" prices and gets the message about not trying to pass off inferior plans at inflated prices.
 
aealong said:
akula1488 said:
I agree. The first impression of LA after the impressive entrance is layers of walls separating one community from the other. Someone posted the original plan of LA here in the past and it is much much better that the main park was designed to be in the middle of the development facing the entrance, while two smaller parks located symmetrically on each side with a T shaped pedestrian trails connecting all 3 parks. TIC got way too greedy and push the 2 small parks to the fringe of the development, get rid of the trails and move the main park to one side so they can squeeze in more homes.
Click to expand...

At these high prices you should at least have the grand entrance experience and neighborhood walkability of the original plan.  It is clear as day once you get through the main entrance that somebody at TIC thought buyers were stupid and wouldn't notice the walls and walls and penny pinching landscaping.  Someone said LA's sales are so low that some people involved in the project might get fired over the poor sales results...I think whoever made the decision to ditch the original plan for the current plan should be the first to to go...hopefully TIC learns a lesson about not getting greedy and at least offering good value for the prices they are asking.  With the original "Tiffany" plan maybe they could have gotten their "South Coast Plaza" asking prices but with the current value village plan hopefully TIC only gets "Walmart" prices and gets the message about not trying to pass off inferior plans at inflated prices.
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There's a reason why I bought in QH... 3 pools, multiple playgrounds and that big old green hill space between Spyglass and Pine Needles. That is why I don't think Laguna Altera will affect the pricing of QH that much..Maybe just a little.
 
aealong said:
akula1488 said:
I agree. The first impression of LA after the impressive entrance is layers of walls separating one community from the other. Someone posted the original plan of LA here in the past and it is much much better that the main park was designed to be in the middle of the development facing the entrance, while two smaller parks located symmetrically on each side with a T shaped pedestrian trails connecting all 3 parks. TIC got way too greedy and push the 2 small parks to the fringe of the development, get rid of the trails and move the main park to one side so they can squeeze in more homes.
Click to expand...

At these high prices you should at least have the grand entrance experience and neighborhood walkability of the original plan.  It is clear as day once you get through the main entrance that somebody at TIC thought buyers were stupid and wouldn't notice the walls and walls and penny pinching landscaping.  Someone said LA's sales are so low that some people involved in the project might get fired over the poor sales results...I think whoever made the decision to ditch the original plan for the current plan should be the first to to go...hopefully TIC learns a lesson about not getting greedy and at least offering good value for the prices they are asking.  With the original "Tiffany" plan maybe they could have gotten their "South Coast Plaza" asking prices but with the current value village plan hopefully TIC only gets "Walmart" prices and gets the message about not trying to pass off inferior plans at inflated prices.
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One of the best posts I've read in a long time.  I'm glad that potential buyers are voting with their wallets and sending a message to TIC...enough is enough.
 
So last time I went to Laguna Altera was like a month ago and they had 3 of the Toscana's sold already. I only had time to see the Toscana's on that day. I'm wondering how many have sold so far since then?
 
We went to Laguna Altura three times since it opened (twice in the last week).  On all three occasions, we did not see any Chinese viewing the homes which spurred our research on feng shui.  In contrast, we see mostly Chinese/Asian families viewing Stonegate and Woodbury model homes.  Wondering if we just happened to be there at rare moments, or have others observed the same?
 
We saw a lot of Chinese / Asians when we visited LA at Grand Opening. Not sure about the feng shui there but I haven't heard of the 'bottom of bowl' theory... :)
 
Considering the main target market for the irvine company with there homes I'm sure they
are quite aware of Feng shui stuff. I doubt they will mess up on some basic stuff like that.
Although i don't know much and don't care much about Feng Shui to pass judgement on
Laguna Altura specifically.

Irvine resident said:
We went to Laguna Altura three times since it opened (twice in the last week).  On all three occasions, we did not see any Chinese viewing the homes which spurred our research on feng shui.  In contrast, we see mostly Chinese/Asian families viewing Stonegate and Woodbury model homes.  Wondering if we just happened to be there at rare moments, or have others observed the same?
Click to expand...
 
I'm glad I am not alone in hating the community layout. Like many others have said, they should have stuck with the original layout--especially seeing that large park as you enter the gates of LA. Hopefully TIC will take a lesson and not cut corners too much on their next higher end project--Orchard Hills.

If they manage to drop prices enough they will still sell out and then can say "screw you" to TI and the critics.
 
iacrenter said:
I'm glad I am not alone in hating the community layout. Like many others have said, they should have stuck with the original layout--especially seeing that large park as you enter the gates of LA. Hopefully TIC will take a lesson and not cut corners too much on their next higher end project--Orchard Hills.

If they manage to drop prices enough they will still sell out and then can say "screw you" to TI and the critics.
Click to expand...

If they halve their prices the whole dev would sell like hotcakes. but then their roi would almost certainly be less than if they had kept the original plan.  Whether they can say "screw you" depends on what the difference between what they get now and in how long, compared to what would have been.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.  IMO they might have made the right choice for the times in which we are...depending on what the total revenue and profit are.  They (we) can only speculate as to what the difference would have ended up being if they hadn't deviated from the original plan.
 
shadax said:
iacrenter said:
I'm glad I am not alone in hating the community layout. Like many others have said, they should have stuck with the original layout--especially seeing that large park as you enter the gates of LA. Hopefully TIC will take a lesson and not cut corners too much on their next higher end project--Orchard Hills.

If they manage to drop prices enough they will still sell out and then can say "screw you" to TI and the critics.
Click to expand...

If they halve their prices the whole dev would sell like hotcakes. but then their roi would almost certainly be less than if they had kept the original plan.  Whether they can say "screw you" depends on what the difference between what they get now and in how long, compared to what would have been.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.  IMO they might have made the right choice for the times in which we are...depending on what the total revenue and profit are.  They (we) can only speculate as to what the difference would have ended up being if they hadn't deviated from the original plan.
Click to expand...

I believe the success of 2010 New Home Collection had something to do with this
 
akula1488 said:
shadax said:
iacrenter said:
I'm glad I am not alone in hating the community layout. Like many others have said, they should have stuck with the original layout--especially seeing that large park as you enter the gates of LA. Hopefully TIC will take a lesson and not cut corners too much on their next higher end project--Orchard Hills.

If they manage to drop prices enough they will still sell out and then can say "screw you" to TI and the critics.
Click to expand...

If they halve their prices the whole dev would sell like hotcakes. but then their roi would almost certainly be less than if they had kept the original plan.  Whether they can say "screw you" depends on what the difference between what they get now and in how long, compared to what would have been.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.  IMO they might have made the right choice for the times in which we are...depending on what the total revenue and profit are.  They (we) can only speculate as to what the difference would have ended up being if they hadn't deviated from the original plan.
Click to expand...

I believe the success of 2010 New Home Collection had something to do with this
Click to expand...
If that's the case then they forgot to account for the sugar rush that the federal and state tax credits provided.
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
If that's the case then they forgot to account for the sugar rush that the federal and state tax credits provided.
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I theorize the 2010 Collection had more to do with pent-up demand than the credits.
 
There is a theory about with regards to beer goggles. I suppose if you were craving a new Irvine home each month of waiting = 1 beer. By the time the NHC was released in 2010, 3s were 10s and now the hangover begins...

Or for the computer-oriented readers, 0s became 1s.
 
They can attribute poor sales partly to crappy boring recycled floor plans. I'm in the market for a $1-1.5 million new home, and laguna Alturas floor plans just were not interesting. Holding out hope for Orchard Hills, as long as the allow some non IPH homebuilders in.
 
Arman said:
They can attribute poor sales partly to crappy boring recycled floor plans. I'm in the market for a $1-1.5 million new home, and laguna Alturas floor plans just were not interesting. Holding out hope for Orchard Hills, as long as the allow some non IPH homebuilders in.
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Are you gonna see what The New Home Company has up their sleeve with Lambert Ranch over in Portola?
 
Arman said:
They can attribute poor sales partly to crappy boring recycled floor plans. I'm in the market for a $1-1.5 million new home, and laguna Alturas floor plans just were not interesting. Holding out hope for Orchard Hills, as long as the allow some non IPH homebuilders in.
Click to expand...

Come join us in Quail Hill then :-)
 
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