By Shonda NovakAmericAn-StAteSmAn StAFF

Construction cranes and the shells of new buildings dot the downtown Austin skyline. Developers tout the latest high-rise condominium proj-

ects, some with luxury units topping $1 million. But from Miami to Las Vegas, a real-estate slump has been dashing devel-opers’ dreams.

And the question at Austin cocktail par-ties is: Could downtown, where developers have more than 1,400 luxury condos under construction and nearly 3,200 planned for

Condo market on firm ground?

Developers and analysts say Austin could keep bucking national trends

DOWNTOWN • DEVELOPMENT

By Adam Nagourneythe new York timeS

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee, taking the toughest line possible, voted Saturday to refuse to seat any Florida Democrat at next summer’s presidential con-vention if the state party does not delay the date of its 2008 primary to conform to the party’s nominating calendar.

The committee gave Florida Democrats 30 days to propose a primary date that adheres to Democratic rules prohibiting all but four states from holding their primaries or cau-cuses before Feb. 5.

But Florida leaders, who seemed stunned by a nearly unanimous vote and the severity of the punishment, said they doubted that they could come up with an alternative.

They said they were bound by the vote of the Republican-controlled state Legislature, which set the primary for both parties for Jan. 29.

The vote by the rules and bylaws commit-tee laid bare a sharp division between one of the most politically important states in the country and a party that has been struggling to change its nominating calendar to accom-modate its leaders, who object to the domi-nance Iowa and New Hampshire have enjoyed

For Florida Democrats, it’s move it or lose it

eleCTiON 2008

By eric GorskiASSociAteD preSS

Mother Teresa’s hidden faith struggle, laid bare in a new book that shows she felt alone and separated from God, is forcing a re-ex-amination of one of the world’s best-known religious figures.

The depth of her doubts could be viewed by non-believers and skeptics as more evidence of the emptiness of religious belief.

But Roman Catholic scholars and supporters of the woman who toiled in Calcutta’s slums argue that her struggles make her more accessible and her work all the more re-markable.

“It shows that she wasn’t a plaster of Paris saint who never had a doubt about God or the ultimate meaning of life,” said the Rev. Rich-ard McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theology professor and author of “Lives of the Saints.” “This can only enhance her reputation as a saint-ly person with people who

aren’t easily impressed with pious stories. Those who think otherwise have a lot of learn-ing to do about the complexities of life and about the nature of faith.”

Mother Teresa herself asked:Is there a God?

SpiriTuAliTy

State is told to delay primary or be shut out of convention

Book reveals religious icon’s personal struggle for faith

AmericAn-StAteSmAn photo iLLUStrAtion

With more than 1,400 condominiums being built in downtown Austin and nearly 3,200 more planned for the next few years, experts and passers-by wonder: Is that too many?

By Claudia GrisalesAmericAn-StAteSmAn StAFF

Ric Sternberg’s troubles with Pedernales Electric Cooperative Inc. started with his phone call one January day inquiring about the co-op’s “green power” program.

Sternberg, a co-op customer who lives in a house partly built of straw bales, found that the program was too costly, complicated and “daunt-ing” to sign up for, he said. Seeking to suggest improvements to management, he tried to get basic information about the utility’s board of

directors, but it took a half-dozen phone calls.Eighteen months later, Sternberg still doesn’t

have all the answers he sought. The experience caused him to join a growing number of frustrat-ed members in forming PEC4U, a group fighting for more openness in the co-op’s operations.

“That’s their problem,” Sternberg said from his Round Mountain home. “They are opaque.”

Pedernales — with more than 216,000 custom-ers, the largest member-owned utility in the country — boasts of its excellent bond ratings

Members try to shed light on electric co-oppriVATe uTiliTieS • cOrPOraTE TraNsParENcy

‘They are opaque,’ customer Ric Sternberg, with wife Annie Borden, said of Pedernales Electric Cooperative. Pedernales and Tri-County are alone among the state’s 10 largest co-ops in not stating the districts their board members represent either on their Web sites or in their bylaws.

rodolfo GonzalezAmericAn-StAteSmAn

See MOVE, A15See FAITH, A13

See ANSWERS, A10

See PROJECTS, A6

the next few years, end up with too many units and too few buyers?

Several experts say the market is solid, fortified by healthy job, population and in-come growth.

But some who have lived through boom-and-bust cycles here and elsewhere caution that Austin isn’t bulletproof and that de-mand for downtown condos, whose prices can range from the $200,000s to $3.8 million, may shrink.

“The current environment reminds me of the summer of 2000, when a lot of projects

Jay Janner AmericAn-StAteSmAn

Despite a national slump and tighter credit, developers of projects like 360, where Juan Reyes installs wiring, say they’re confident about the Austin economy and buyers’ demand.

@ statesman.com/downtowncondosBookmark our interactive map to keep track of downtown condominium projects.

customers, legislators find murky waters in dealing with pedernales

RENDERING CREDITS: bRazoS plaCE: L.m. hoLDer iii ArchitectS, chriStopher enright ArchitectS; ThEMoNaRCh: rtkL; SabINE oN fIfTh: veriStUDio; SpRING: rAFii ArchitectS inc.; ThE ShoRE: wDg Architec-tUre inc.; 360: the preSton pArtnerShip LLc; bRIDGES oN ThE paRk: LArrY koLvoorD, AmericAn-StAteSmAn

Spring246 units$265,000

to low $900,000s

→

Sabineon Fifth

80 units $190,000

to $509,900↓

The Monarch305 units$229,900to $1.75 million→

Brazos place74 units Mid-$200,000sto about$500,000↓

The Shore192 unitslow $200,000sto $1.35 million↓

360430 units$190,000 to $550,000←

Bridgeson the park105 units$328,000to $776,000↓

‘What do I labour for? If there be no God — there can be no soul — if there is no Soul then Jesus You also are not true.’

MOTHER TERESAWriting in 1959

GLOBAL GOOGLE Search engine pioneer has extended its reach into just about everything. So why does that worry investors? • BUSINESS, H1

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Condo market on firm ground?

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