A mysterious blogger shares his Vues

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“Mike Smith” wouldn’t give me his real name.

I know very little about him, even though I spent about an hour interviewing the guy Tuesday evening.

I couldn’t identify him in a lineup even if you threatened to make me watch last season’s Panthers games, but I am sure of a handful of things, including that:

1. he’s not a native of the South;

2. he’s not very old but not very young, either. (Fortyish seems about right);

3. he’s the creator of vuebuyer.wordpress.com, a blog that Mysterious Mike has used to gripe about The Vue, a condo project he wishes he’d never heard of; and

4. he likes wine (for more mundane facts, keep reading).

His blog celebrated its first birthday exactly two months ago tomorrow. The anniversary passed with little fanfare: On July 24, Mike didn’t even post “Happy  Birthday to my blog” or anything along those lines.

Mike is one of about 200 people who signed contracts to buy one of the roughly 400 condos at the Vue, a 51-story project at the intersection of Fifth and Pine Street. But believing that the value of his unit dropped in the Great Recession, Mike left the Vue waiting at the altar instead of going through with the purchase.

The building is mostly empty, great for those who like lots of privacy but not so good for the developer, MCL. To be precise, fewer than 20 have bought units, despite that trendy spelling of “view.”

Mike said he bought his unit around 2005 or 2006, during the presales period.

Before construction on the Vue began, optimism about the project was in the air, and the cocktails flowed freely and the cheese was stacked high on plates at parties for the development, Mike said.

Then, the economy soured, and so did the value of his unit, he claims. His condo’s worth has plummeted 40 percent, he figures.

“We went from the ‘Great Gatsby’ to the Great Depression,” he said.

So, Mike walked away from his deposit like a man who bought a ticket to go bungee jumping but then realized he’d rather not take the risk even though he’d get no refund.

Mike then did what many people do when they’ve got something to vent about: He created a blog, which he said was part therapy for him, part education for other buyers.

“It was never my intent to try and convince someone to sign or not to sign,” he told me. “The intent was to inform or let people make their own decisions.”

Even though he claims his intentions were good, Mike’s worried that if he steps out from behind his nom de guerre, the only view he’ll have is from the front seat of a courtroom.

But because one of the reason’s I’m paid is to be nosy, I tried getting to know more about him. His lips were sealed tighter than a Federal Reserve chairman’s.

I peppered him with questions anyway:

Me: How much did you agree to pay for your unit?

Him: “That would be something that I can’t say.”

Me: Why won’t you reveal your identity?

Him: “I had to protect myself. Half of it is the concern about any retaliation and the other half is it’s kind of fun.”

Me: Does anyone know you are?

Him: “Oh, yeah. There’s probably four or five people now that know who I am.”

Me: Do they live in the Vue?

Him: “No one that lives in the Vue knows who I am.”

Me: Why “Mike Smith” and not something cooler like “Mr. X”?

Him: “The name just came to me. There’s no interesting story behind ‘Mike Smith.’”

Me: NASCAR fan?

Him: “No.”

Me: White wine or red?

Him: “Red”

Me: Anthony Foxx in 2011?

Him: “I am neutral on the mayor. I am leaning toward Pat McCrory for governor. I voted for Obama. But I may not again.”

Roberts can be reached at [email protected].