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Recently, developers turned more optimistic after sales picked up a bit from winter lows. But the sales are coming at deep discounts. At the John Ross, listed prices were dropped 35 percent from a year ago -- twice as deep as the fall in the region's median price during the same period.
John Ross condos run about $350,000 and Atwater Place condos about $700,000.
Within South Waterfront's three condo towers, about one-third of the 760 condos remain unsold by the developers. Among the condo buyers, 27 have defaulted on their mortgages, county records show.
San Francisco dentist Greg Ganji was among 14 John Ross buyers to default. In 2005, before the building opened, he put a deposit down on a $335,550 condo. He later tried to flip it for a $40,000 profit but couldn't find a buyer.
In late July, Ganji said he sold the unit for $210,000, 37 percent less than he paid for it.
Even when condo sales fall behind schedule, lenders generally try to avoid foreclosing on entire condo buildings.
They don't like the bad PR while they're still selling units. If they take control of a project, lenders tend to do it quietly.
Lawyers and real estate investors say it's become routine for lenders to employ a "soft receivership." The lender doesn't record a foreclosure in the publicly accessible property records. But the bank sometimes takes over the company that owns the building.
That's what happened on the last two South Waterfront projects still in sales mode.
The John Ross and Atwater Place had been controlled by corporations with connections to Gerding Edlen Development, according to state business license records and county property records. Gerding Edlen Development's representatives previously signed sales deeds, according to county records.
At Atwater Place, Edlen's company connections were removed in October from the business license for the building's legal owner, Block 34 Investors LLC.
Instead, Block 34 Investors' day-to-day manager is an unlicensed business whose headquarters are listed at the Southern California offices of Westport Capital Partners LLC -- a lender on the project.
State records show that Scott Chernoff and Sean Armstrong, both principals at Westport Capital Partners LLC, became the president and vice president, respectively, of Block 34 Investors. Chernoff and another Westport principal have started signing sales documents for Atwater Place, according to county property records.
Chernoff didn't respond directly to questions about who controls Atwater Place. He e-mailed that the developers continue to help on "various matters relating to sales and marketing of the Atwater."
He said the project's original construction loan had been paid down from $91 million to about $40 million. "Unlike many other condominium projects," Chernoff wrote, "Atwater Place is on solid financial ground."
Westport Capital Partners describes its strategy as focusing "exclusively on opportunistic and distressed real estate investments."
The John Ross has gone through similar changes.
In March, Edlen's company connections were removed from the John Ross' owner, Block 35 Investors LLC, according to state business license records.
Block 35 Investors LLC's headquarters are now in New Jersey offices of the John Ross' lender, Prudential Real Estate Investors, an arm of the Prudential life insurance company.
A Prudential executive in San Francisco, Keysha Bailey, has signed recent sales documents for the John Ross, according to county property records. Bailey did not return a message this week seeking comment.
Note: This performance review was created when the 2016 Lincoln MKS was new.
Auto writers report the 2016 Lincoln MKS' base V6 engine has a respectable amount of power for daily driving, and the optional twin-turbocharged V6 delivers brisk acceleration. The six-speed automatic transmission is refined and shifts quickly. While the MKS has a comfortable ride, its rivals are more agile. The MKS earns poor fuel economy estimates for the class.
The 2016 Lincoln MKS comes with a 3.7-liter V6 engine that makes 304 horsepower. A six-speed automatic transmission is also standard. A 365-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 is optional. According to the EPA, the MKS will get up to 17/26 mpg city/highway, which is subpar for the class.
The base V6 engine is refined and makes enough power for most driving situations. The optional twin-turbocharged V6 delivers more muscle and quicker acceleration. The automatic transmission makes quick, seamless shifts.
The 2016 MKS comes standard with an adaptive suspension and front-wheel drive, while all-wheel drive is optional.
The MKS has a smooth ride, responsive steering, and solid brakes. Still, many competitors handle corners with more agility and feel more refined while cruising on the highway.
Gary Thoburn is ready to set sale.
Gary, 48, has scooped a place in this year's Tall Ships race thanks to the Fans Museum.
Sunderland's leading post-war goalscorer Kevin Phillips announced the name of original winner Gary Dunmore in a video posted-on-line last month.
But personal circumstances mean Gary is unable to take up his place and so his namesake, from South Shields, will be taking part instead.
He dropped by the museum to film an announcement video and pose for pictures.
"I'm delighted Gary has been able to step in and take up the place," said Michael.
"And thank you to Joe Kemetmuller, owner of Tall Image production, for the video."
Earth's intact forests shrank by an area larger than Austria every year from 2014 to 2016 at a 20 percent faster rate than during the previous decade, scientists have said as the U.N. unveiled an initiative to harness the "untapped potential" of the land sector to fight climate change.
Despite a decades-long effort to halt deforestation, nearly 10 percent of undisturbed forests have been fragmented, degraded or simply chopped down since 2000, according to the analysis of satellite imagery.
Average daily loss over the first 17 years of this century was more than 200 square kilometers (75 square miles).
"Degradation of intact forest represents a global tragedy, as we are systematically destroying a crucial foundation of climate stability," said Frances Seymour, a senior distinguished fellow at the World Resources Institute (WRI), and a contributor to the research, presented this week at a conference in Oxford.
"Forests are the only safe, natural, proven and affordable infrastructure we have for capturing and storing carbon."
The findings come as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and five major conservation organizations launched a five-year plan, Nature4Climate, to better leverage land use in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming.
"Thirty-seven percent of what is needed to stay below two degrees Celsius" -- the cornerstone goal of the 196-nation Paris Agreement -- "can be provided by land," said Andrew Steer, WRI President and CEO.
"But only three percent of the public funding for mitigation goes to land and forest issues -- that needs to change," he told AFP.
Beyond climate, the last forest frontiers play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity, weather stability, clean air, and water quality.
Some 500 million people worldwide depend directly on forests for their livelihood.
So-called "intact forest landscapes" -- which can include wetlands and natural grass pastures -- are defined as areas of at least 500 sq km with no visible evidence in satellite images of large-scale human use.
That means no roads, industrial agriculture, mines, railways, canals or transmission lines.
As of January 2017, there were about 11.6 million sq km of forests worldwide that still fit these criteria. From 2014 to 2016, that area declined by more than 87,000 km2 each year.
"Many countries may lose all their forest wildlands in the next 15 to 20 years," Peter Potapov, an associate professor at the University of Maryland and lead scientist for the research, told AFP.
On current trends, intact forests will disappear by 2030 in Paraguay, Laos and Equatorial Guinea, and by 2040 in the Central African Republic, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Cambodia and Angola.
"There could come a point in the future where no areas in the world qualify as 'intact' anymore," said Tom Evans, director for forest conservation and climate mitigation at the Wildlife Conservation Society.
In tropical countries, the main causes of virgin forest loss are conversion to agriculture and logging. In Canada and the United States, fire is the main culprit, while in Russia and Australia, the destruction has been driven by fires, mining and energy extraction.
Compared to annual declines during the period 2000-2013, Russia lost, on average, 90 percent more each year from 2014 to 2016.
For Indonesia, the increase was 62 percent, and for Brazil it was 16 percent.
The new results are based on a worldwide analysis of satellite imagery, built on a study first done in 2008 and repeated in 2013.
"The high resolution data, like the one collected by the Landsat program, allows us to detect human-caused alteration and fragmentation of forest wildlands," said Potapov.
Presented at the Intact Forests in the 21st Century conference at Oxford University, the finding will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication, said Potapov, who delivered a keynote to the three-day gathering.
Addressing colleagues from around the world, Potapov also challenged the effectiveness of a global voluntary certification system.
Set up in 1994 and backed by green groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, the self-stated mission of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is to "promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests."
Many forest-products carry the FSC label, designed to reassure eco-conscious consumers.
But approximately half of all intact forest landscapes inside FSC-certified concessions were lost from 2000 to 2016 in Gabon and the Republic of Congo, the new data showed.
In Cameroon, about 90 percent of FSC-monitored forest wildlands disappeared.
"FSC is an effective mechanism to fragment and degrade remaining intact forest landscapes, not a tool for their protection," Potapov said.
National and regional parks have helped to slow the rate of decline.
The chances of forest loss was found to be three times higher outside protected areas than inside them, the researchers reported.
In Italy, 6 January has long been a date associated with unusual goings-on. Marking the Feast of the Epiphany in the Christian calendar, it is on this day each year that families across the peninsula awake to find that they have been visited by the Befana – a witch-like old lady who flies into town on a broomstick and slips down people's chimneys before – in the manner of Santa Claus – leaving coal for the naughty kids and treats for the nice ones.
But if the existence of airborne OAPs and well-behaved children might seem implausible to some, then it was the events that unfolded in Serie A on Sunday that truly stretched the bounds of credibility. This was a day on which struggling Pescara defeated high-flying Fiorentina and Genoa recorded their first home win since August, and yet neither of those turned out to be the most surprising result of the afternoon.
Even before kick-off you would have struggled to find anyone who gave Sampdoria a chance of beating Juventus in Turin. The Blucerchiati had finished 2012 level with Pescara in 15th place, just two points clear of the relegation zone. Their opponents were eight points clear at the top of the table. In nine home games, Juve had scored 19 and conceded just five.
If the upset always seemed improbable, then by the 31st minute it had become impossible. Not only were Sampdoria a goal behind, Sebastian Giovinco converting a spot-kick mid-way through the first half, but now they were also down to 10 men. Gaetano Berardi, the same player who had given away the penalty, was shown his second yellow card after clattering into Andrea Barzagli.
The Sampdoria forward glanced nervously towards the touchline. Delio Rossi had only been appointed as manager a few days before the winter break, and this was just his second match in charge, so nobody really knew how he would react to losing his right wing-back. Even with the team trailing, he would not have been the first to pull off a forward to shore up the defence.
In the event, though, Rossi chose not to make any immediate substitutions. Instead he pulled his remaining wing-back, Marcelo Estigarribia, back into the defence, shifting Daniele Gastaldello out to the right and converting what had begun the game as a 3-5-2 into something approaching a 4-3-2. At half-time he then replaced Estigarribia with Lorenzo De Silvestri, switching responsibilities among his remaining defenders but retaining the same basic shape.
Even if it had made sense tactically to withdraw Mauro Icardi at that point, Rossi might still have thought twice about it. The forward was, after all, only present in Turin because his manager had demanded it – reversing the club's previous commitment to let Icardi represent Argentina's Under-20 side in a World Cup qualifying tournament in South America.
Icardi, anxious to nail down his place for the finals this summer, had been promised by Sampdoria's former sporting director, Pasquale Sensibile, that he would be allowed to take part. It was not until a few days before Christmas that Rossi convinced him otherwise. With all three of Maxi López, Nicola Pozzi and Eder missing through injury, Icardi was just about the only fit striker that Rossi had left.
Eder had since recovered to face Juventus, but he was more a creator than a goalscorer. Rossi had seen enough of Icardi already to know that this kid represented the best chance his team had of taking what few chances Juventus might allow them.
Yet another product of the Barcelona academy, Icardi had arrived in Sampdoria two years earlier with a prolific record at youth level. Born in Lionel Messi's hometown, Rosario, he had moved to the Canary Islands with his family at nine years old before capturing the attention of a number of leading European sides with his prolific goalscoring for the local club, Vecindario. So anxious were Barcelona to land him that they sent Messi himself to put in a good word.
Icardi did not disappoint, scoring 38 goals in two years with the Catalan club's youth team, but increasingly it became clear that this was not the place for him to make his breakthrough. Not only was the competition for places fierce, but Icardi did not fit the Barcelona mould. A classic centre-forward who models his game after that of long-time idol Gabriel Batistuta, Icardi was more interested in finishing moves than helping to build them.
So it was that he made the switch to Samp in January 2011, on a loan deal that would soon be made permanent. After another productive season at youth level, Icardi was called up to the senior team – then playing in Serie B – in May 2012 and marked his debut with a winning goal against Juve Stabia.
This season he had become an increasingly regular fixture in the starting XI, though his only goal prior to this weekend had arrived in the derby win over Genoa. The adjustment to top-flight football had proved challenging for a player who is still not yet 20, though he was also not helped by being constantly deployed as a lone striker in a team who have struggled to get the ball up the field.
Rossi hoped that the presence of Eder up front would help to get Icardi running in behind defenders, rather than always having to play with his back to goal. Seven minutes into the second-half in Turin on Sunday, Rossi got his wish – albeit not in the manner he had envisaged.
It was nothing more clever than a long ball forward from Nenad Krsticic – gifted possession cheaply by Andrea Pirlo – which released Icardi down the right. Catching up to the ball on the edge of the area with Federico Peluso in hot pursuit, the striker opted for a first-time shot across goal. Lacking in any great venom, Icardi's effort should have been saved easily enough but instead hopped up off the turf in front of the diving Gigi Buffon and bounced slowly into the net.
"I messed up because when the shot was taken I was still backpedalling, so my balance was a bit precarious," Buffon later explained. "Usually I don't make these sorts of mistakes, but this time I was too far forwards."
Even so, the goalkeeper was not unduly concerned – acknowledging later that he still expected his team-mates to find a winner. Instead, 13 minutes later he was picking the ball out of his net again. This time it was Pedro Obiang who released Icardi with a simple through-ball, and the striker crashed his near-post effort into the roof of Buffon's net.
A stunned silence engulfed Juventus Stadium, one that would be replaced soon enough by throaty angst as Mirko Vucinic first hit the bar, then jabbed wide from a yard out. But instead of relief there would be only more misery for the home support, as Claudio Marchisio left the game on a stretcher in injury time. They would be grateful, at least, to hear the club confirm later on that the player had suffered only a deep bruise.
The game finished 2-1. It was Juve's first league defeat with Antonio Conte present on the touchline, the two previous losses to Milan and Internazionale having both occurred during his four-month suspension. "We are not martians," he told reporters afterwards. "Everything we have done up to now has been achieved through ferocity and determination. This defeat must help us to grow."
Sampdoria will hope that victory can help them to do the same. The change in formation was not Rossi's only innovation, the manager also having brought Angelo Palombo back into the fold after six months in which he had been completely marginalised. More often deployed in midfield in the past, Rossi fielded Palombo in the middle of his three-man defence.
But the greatest hope after this game will be that it will mark the moment at which Icardi begins to realise his potential at this level. "I would never have imagined that I would score two goals past Buffon – a player who I admired as a kid," said the striker. "On the first one he gave me a hand, but the second one had to go in where I put it."
Icardi may or may not belive in the Befana. But he certainly seems to have no lack of faith in himself.
• The biggest story of the winter break in Italy was Kevin-Prince Boateng's remarkable walk-off after being subjected to racist abuse during Milan's friendly against Pro Patria. Silvio Berlusconi has since insisted that his team would repeat the act even in the most high-profile of games, regardless of Sepp Blatter's feelings on the matter, and public reaction to the gesture has been overwhelmingly positive.
And yet just two days on from that initial incident, further racist chanting was heard at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night during Lazio's win over Cagliari – with Victor Ibarbo the main target. Other sections of the stadium were heard to react against the abuse, which did eventually die down, but the impact had already been felt. "Racist chants against Ibarbo at the Olimpico …" tweeted his team-mate Mauricio Pinilla afterwards. "You never learn anything …!!! #Shame"
• As for Pro Patria themselves, a prominent "No racism" banner was hung from the railings before their game at Savona. There had been reports that fans might paint their faces black in an intended show of solidarity, but in the end they thought better of it. It would not have been without precedent, though. Treviso's players famously took such a step in support of their team-mate Akeem Omolade after he was abused back in 2001.
• Changing tack somewhat, the other big piece of news has been Giuseppe Rossi's arrival in Fiorentina from Villarreal. Rossi, who has not played a competitive game since 26 October 2011, represents an enormous gamble but certainly one which could pay huge dividends. Prior to injury he was valued a lot higher than the €10-12m Fiorentina are reported to have paid. He is not expected back before March at the earliest, though Fiorentina could have done with him on Sunday as they failed to find a way past an inspired Mattia Perin in the Pescara goal.
• With Inter also losing 3-0 away to Udinese, this week's big winners at the top of the table were Lazio, whose 2-1 win in that game over Cagliari moved them up to within five points of Juve and four points clear of the Viola, and Napoli, who crushed Roma 4-1 at the Stadio San Paolo to move back up to third. Not for the first time, this was all about Edinson Cavani, who scored a blistering hat-trick and has now scored a ridiculous 25 goals in 23 games across all competitions this season. Afterwards the Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis was up to his usual mischief, saying it was his "dream" to one day pair Cavani with Mario Balotelli up front.
• "Wherever he goes, Mauro [Zarate] will be loved and appreciated by the Lazio fans," said the player's agent, Luis Ruzzi, last Wednesday. And so on Saturday those supporters proved him wrong, unveiling a series of banners which read: "The true champion is humble. He goes and collects the balls when training with the reserves. He doesn't cry on Twitter, and he reduces his wages. He does not cling on to an overly generous contract. Zarate: leave."
Results: Catania 0-0 Torino, Chievo 1-0 Atalanta, Fiorentina 0-2 Pescara, Genoa 2-0 Bologna, Juventus 1-2 Sampdoria, Lazio 2-1 Cagliari, Milan 2-1 Siena, Napoli 4-1 Roma, Parma 2-1 Palermo, Udinese 3-0 Inter.
The Bears are 4-3. Which, according to the players and coaches, is exactly where they want to be?
So the Bears are now 4-3. The rhetoric in the locker room yesterday was that this record is identical to last year's team - and look how that turned out. I hate to be the guy who says it, but wasn't the plan to be better than last year? 4-3 is fine for an upstart, but for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, 4-3 seems to be a bit of a letdown. Maybe they can run the table and end 13-3. Maybe lose a few and still make the playoffs. But make no mistake: this team has yet to impress us. The last two games have shown glimpses of what we expected this year, but the Jekyll and Hyde Bears still have work to do.
Chicago is not a 'slow-start' town. Fans respect when teams come out of the gates blazing. We jump on quick and ride the train. We don't have a lot of patience for a .500 performance at the break. We are spoiled. Blame it on Ditka and Jordan, I guess.
"Um, they won and it was really close and everyone was upset because it wasn't by a lot. "
Two national anthems, Jay Cutler found the British one amusing; Tower Heist is coming out; Ford Trucks; Fox robot was all over the place; game was played at night; Moose had a drab suit on; Siragusa put on a top hat; Mike Martz threw down his pencil; Tampa had, like, 30 injuries; Budweiser; Roger Goodell was in the booth; Bud Light; new TV shows; Briggs played cricket; and a knight dressed like a Raiders fan. Did I miss anything?
Oh, London! The game was played in London! I loved the Fox approach to show as many goofy, British fans as possible. The 'Ha! They wish they knew how to be fans of this sport' camera shots were funny initially, boring later, annoying at last. If they wanted to give us a good feel for a game in London, they should have played local British commercials. Or Fawlty Towers at halftime.
Is there an Occupy London? If I were Occupy London, I would have been all over this NFL game. Maybe they were and Fox just didn't show it. Personally, I was expecting much more hooliganism from the crowd. So imagine my surprise when I found this AP picture this morning.
Fox just didn't show it. Run, dude run! Also, here's a picture of the pre-game festivities, featuring the great British band, the Goo-Goo Dolls.

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