Woodbury East - Celadon

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newportnaturalmom_IHB

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My husband and I decided to drive out to Portola Springs this afternoon and check out some of the stuff you guys have been discussing. Not impressed at all...but on the way out there were "Now Open" signs for Woodbury East's Celadon. We pulled up to a parking lot in which the paint had not finished drying and noticed that there were people in all of the models cleaning. So we asked at the Sales Gallery if they were open and if they had any literature. They were not and did not. We were invited to a sushi party tomorrow night for 6-8pm. I guess they don't officially open until Saturday, but have the signs up today. Tomorrow night is when all the literature will be available.





I am sure that many of you already know all of this, but I thought I would put it out there. If someone goes to the sushi party please post something on it, we cannot attend.
 
Yes it is free. It would be funny for some of us to show up and try to guess who each other are. I have a feeling not many other people will be there though. The sales person's face was absolute amazement that my husband and I walked in yesterday. Hope we didn't get her hopes up too high.
 
<p>Can anyone just show up at the event tonight, or do you need some sort of special invite? How are they promoting this thing?</p>

<p>My wife and I would like to attend and of course will pass along all the pricing info etc., but want to make sure we can actually get in before driving all the way out there. Tried calling but they still just have a recording.</p>
 
I think you need to be a on a "kinda of, sort of interested" list. I bet if you called the sales office today and asked about the homes, you would get an invite.
 
<p>I'm not sure about tonight's event, but I've been to other Laing "preview" events before without registering or having an invite. The most recent one was at Blue Harbor (also on a Thursday evening).</p>

<p>With the tough market, they'd be silly to turn away any potential buyers.</p>
 
The sales woman told us to just show up. I don't think they are promoting it at all. It was a random invitation, but she told me to pass it along. Don't worry about not getting in, I don't think they would turn anyone away at this point...she almost let us walk through with people painting, power washing, and cleaning the places up.
 
we went to visit Celadon last night. relatively many visitors (not sure how many of them were serious). we pretty much didn't like any of the plans. privacy is minimum. the most ridiculous is the way entertainment area (media - TV etc.) is built in most of the models. Don't they know most of the people have/will have bigger TVs and they need to cater for them?
 
Pricing Information





Here's some information from the Celadon FAQ handed out that night:





Emerald (Plan B1)


1,751 sqft


3 Bd, 3.5 Ba


From high $500k





Ivy (Plan A1)


1,594 sqft


3 Bd, 3 Ba


From low $600k





Topaz (Plan A2)


1,749 sqft


3Bd, 3 Ba


Not Available





Jade (Plan C3)


1,782 sqft


3 Bd (or 2 Bd + den), 3.5 Ba


From mid $500k





Sage (Plan D1)


1,750 sqft


3 Bd, 3 Ba


From high $500k





Tax Rate: ~1.881


HOA: ~$255 + $135-$175





Random notes: There was a decent turn out, or maybe it seemed like it because there was limited parking and there wasn't a lot of space to move around. Food was blah. No hard selling, at least not to me - might have something to do with the fact that I look like I don't have 2 nickels to rub together. Apparently, East Woodbury residents will not have access to Woodbury amenities and vice versa.
 
<p>When I arrived at Celadon, the sales lady asked where we heard about Celadon. I said proudly, "The Irvine Housing Blog." She gave me the stink eye. The other sales lady asked the same question and when I told her, she gave me a huge fake smile. In addition to pricing, the information sheet said that the schools will be Woodbury Elementary, Sierra Vista Middle School and Irvine High. I think that Woodbury (formerly El Camino Real) will be year-round, though the literature didn't mention it. </p>

<p>This is my first post. I appreciate the accurate information, integrity and wicked humor of this community. </p>
 
<p>We got there 5 minutes before opening. The door was still lock so we decided to leave. Then one of the sales rep. opened the door and chased us down to say that they're open. </p>

<p>Nice floor plans. There was this one weird design whereby the balcony was literally shared with the neighbor's, though. </p>

<p>The sales rep. we spoke with was kind of condescending. Kept trying to set us up for an appointment. I asked what about those that have signed up on interest list. She replied, "Oh, it's just a list. Only people who schedule for an appointment will be taken seriously." I remember 2 yrs ago, the builder didn't even want to talk to you unless your name was on the "list". </p>
 
<p>profette,</p>

<p>Welcome to the forums and a great first post at that. I wish I was standing next to you when you said that. I don't think I would be able to hold back my reaction so it would be obvious that I knew what you were talking about. I would have paid money to have a camera ready to see their faces when you asked that too. Of course to see their face as we started a conversation about IHB would have been even better. </p>

<p>Thanks for the info. </p>
 
We dropped in yesterday as well. We arrived right in the middle of a busy period, but by the time we left, traffic dropped off a lot. To my mind, the plans were mixed. Some seemed no better than an apartment, while one plan (Sage? A 3bd, two story plan that is the last one on the tour) felt more like a home - although it had no outdoor feature except the front porch. There was one plan that had no eating area - ick.





Odder still, some plans had a downstairs bed/bath (yea!) but the kitchen and living areas were one floor above that. This totally defeats the purpose of the downstairs bed/bath. Let's just trap grandma or the disabled parents on the first floor and segregate them away from the rest of the family. That must have been home design by checklist rather than any real thought behind <em>why</em> a downstairs bed/bath might be needed by a family. It might be good if you're having a renter share your mortgage or a grown child.





While it's nice that their standard kitchen appliances are KitchenAid, there's a part of me that wonders, "Why bother?" These are very clearly starter homes. I couldn't imagine spending 20 years there. Yeah, "they" say most people move every seven years, but even seven seems long to be in those places. I think I'd rather have a lower base price and then choose what kind of appliances I want/need.
 
<p>I dropped by yesterday and actually <em>concealed</em> my IHB association, but kudos to those that didn't!</p>

<p>I only looked at the two-story plans. The layouts and features in general were just fair. The highlights included the large garage bonus wedges in the Ivy and Topaz, the tech centers that were large enough to avoid needing a bona-fide den, and large master closets.</p>

<p>On the two story plans, the kitchen and eating areas were way too small, and the sequestered 2nd bathrooms mean the optional 4th bedroom isn't useable.</p>

<p>I see this greater drive toward "innovation" in the floorplans as combining compromises in ways we haven't seen before. Land prices need to come down and more traditional, less compromised floorplans will find their way back.</p>

<p>SCHB</p>

<p> </p>
 
My wife and I went out to Celadon on Sunday. There was a few people there but I was not sure how many were really interested. I was told that they are releasing 6 houses for their first phase (1A) (August 4?) All the houses have stainless steel appliances. The prices rage from mid 500K to low 600Ks. Here are my impressions





Emerald: Three floor but stairs were not too bad. First floor had a spacious bedroom with bath. Second floor was the living room/kitchen/dining. Pretty open and good layout. Third floor was a disaster. Two bedrooms squeezed into enough space for one. The "master" bedroom was incredibly small with no bathroom to speak of.





Ivy (A1): Decent floor plan with a nice media niche. Horrible stair case (literally like 2 feet wide, impossible to move into 2nd floor) and had a tandem garage.





Topaz (A2): Similar feeling as Ivy. . . tandem garage again.





Jade (C): Complete waste of space. The plan has the largest sq. footage but completely straight up . It's squeezed in between the other plans. A lot of weird corners. Feels like the Winchester Mystery House (reference for all the bay area people).





Sage (D): Really open layout, good bedrooms, large master bath and bedroom. They had the barista person in the kitchen area so you couldn't judge the size of the area but the kitchen looked small (only complaint).
 
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