I'm guessing that the focus now is just getting the Roadster on the road, with the real estate to follow afterwards. I drive past the alleged L.A. store every week or so; there's nothing going on there either. In my experience, an office build-out takes several months. As such, the Roadster may well be delivered to owners without dealer locations. It could be, too, that the real estate hints at other delivery date issues.
It makes little sense to spend boatloads of cash on a factory when it's just going to sit idle. Announcing the Albuquerque factory far too early is, in my opinion, Tesla's worst mistake to date. All will be forgiven if they make use of the land before their lease is terminated, but if they fail to do that, it'll be a sore spot for New Mexico residents for years to come. -Ryan / Kardax
Are you sure they can not get their investors cough up that money ? It seems they've got some pretty impressive list of investors, especially if they can get Roadsters to these individuals... Cobos
Wonder if this was a reply to the newspaper article: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/10/18/teslas-whitestar-albuquerque-plant-grows-bigger-on-paper/ It basically says Tesla needs bigger plans in New Mexico.
Any negative press will be wiped away when roadsters hit the street in '08. That can be more profound by announcing the plant opening along with a WhiteStar design.