Now, instead of the 30%-plus return on investment that condo developers had come to expect in the Heyday, 555YVR developer Thompson Dorfman Partners, its equity partner and its lender are hoping there will be an ROI, period. "Sales prices are approximately 20% off pro forma," Bruce Dorfman tells GlobeSt.com. "Fortunately, our equity partner Mass Mutual and construction lender Bank of America have been cooperative--they are professional and experienced in this business."

When the market began tanking last fall, TDP suspended their marketing and sales efforts, making do with a web site and a sign on the building that drove people to the web site. "We had no active marketing presence until we completed and building and had units people could tour," Dorfman says. "It helped us; it preserved marketing dollars and alleviated the issue of having to keep buyers on board throughout the downturn."

It ramped up marketing this past May and amid what Dorfman calls "incredible traffic" approximately 25% of the units have been tied up at prices ranging from the low $400s per square foot to the mid-$500s per square foot, with the average price right around $500 per square foot. It began closing on sales at the beginning of the month. Dorfman tells GlobeSt.com he fully expects all of the units in contract to close because the buyers have been qualified very recently, not prior to the downturn. "If they had committed two years ago it would be a concern," he says.