In another casualty of the housing bust, The Shire, a Lord of the Rings-themed development in Bend, Oregon, has fallen into bank hands, according to the The Bend Bulletin.

The 6-acre property, which only has one-partially completed home and 14 vacant lots, is now on sale for $1.3 million. A public auction in December resulted in no bids which forced lender Umpqua Bank to foreclose in mid-January.

Umpqua had originally loaned developers $3.4 million in 2004 to build out their fantasy "village".

The Shire was conceived as a place where Lord of the Rings enthusiasts could congregate and, as such, the codes, covenants and restrictions of the project reflected this goal.

The CC&Rs promoted the use of English architecture, including unique stonework, artificial thatched roofs, terraced gardens and a network of streams and ponds with a pathway leading to what was called The Ring Bearer’s Court.

In all likelihood however, this vision will never be realized, according to the listing agent.

“The bank is trying to sell it to a single developer,” he said. “The CC&Rs could, in most probability, change.”

Say it ain’t so, Bilbo!

(h/t re: PDX)

read more

Videos of the general sessions from Inman Connect NYC 2009 are now available.  The videos are available to Premium Members as a member benefit.  If you’re not yet a Premium Member, now would be the perfect time to upgrade your membership. 

If your experience at Connect NYC 2009 was anything like mine, you probably attended a whole lot of sessions, but couldn’t make it to all of them.  These videos will help you fill those gaps.  The vidoes are also great even if you did attend the sessions, because you can visit them as many times as you want to reinforce your knowledge and beef up your notes.  

The videos include the keynote addresses by Robert Shiller and Gary Vaynerchuk, the very popular and informative "Bulls vs. Bears" panel, "25 Websites to help you find customers and save money in the downturn," and so much more!  If you weren’t able to attend Connect NYC 2009, these videos are a great way to catch up on much of what you missed.

Another option for those who want to be able to revist the entire Connect NYC 2009 conference is to purchase a USB key loaded with the audio and video from ALL of Connect NYC 2009.  That’s right, on one USB key, you’ll get all of the videos, PLUS all of the audio from the breakouts, workshops, and sponsored intensives.  The entire conference, complete and portable!  Check out the details and place your order today!

 And if attending Connect NYC 2009 has you excited for San Francisco, I’ve got good news–  early-bird registration for Connect SF 2009 is NOW OPEN!

read more

Phoenix real estate broker Jay Thompson tweets that he’s getting a lot out of a podcast interview with WineLibrary.com’s Gary Vaynerchuk that Michael Price has posted to his MLPodcast.com blog. Vaynerchuk takes 30 minutes to expound on his Inman Connect NYC keynote speech.

"Don’t think he applies to real estate? Listen!" says Thompson, who’s PhxREguy on Twitter.

Connect NYC 2009 sessions are now available as MP3s, and videos of general sessions are being added to the site. Check out other Inman News podcasts here.

read more