5th and Madison Update

One of the new construction projects completing this year is the occasionally overlooked 5th and Madison project in downtown Seattle. If you are a big fan of city views and love Manhattan style high-rise living in a more business-like area of downtown, this may be a project worth checking out.

         Rendering                                Actual

                          Rendering                                 Actual

Here are some of my observations:

1.) Unlike most projects focusing a lot of their efforts on indoor amenities and charging a lot more on their homeowner dues, one of 5th and Madison's most unique selling points is the outdoor plaza. The water features and greenery on the south side of the building create an interesting in-city green space for residents.

2.) The exterior architectural design is sleek and simple with generous floor-to-ceilings windows for all their floor plans, especially their 04 floor plans which feature expansive views of the city. However, the trade off would be you might get some traffic noise coming from I5.

3.) The most popular floor plan is the one bedroom plus den 01 layout (on higher floors) which gets partial water views and mostly city views. Great amount of sunlight for these units but the only minor drawback is the odd shaped balcony that doesn't seem to be too functional.

Overall, the building feels very well constructed and probably deserves more buyer consideration than it has received thus far.

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-Wendy

Comments

[Dunno]

I agree that this project is often overlooked although is a solid value. The location is the main problem. of course, but I think it is perfect for downtown business people who occasionally want don't want to fight traffic after a long day.

[Ken]

The problem with the location is that it's really soul-less. Granted, it's only a few blocks from the shopping district but I prefer a building that has the buzz right at your steps.

[Teledaddy]

The quality is obvious with this project.
I seriously considered it but the amount of cash you had to part with in order to get a view made it too spendy. Downtown buildings are cool as a view but I think it would get claustrophobic after a while being so close.

[EconE]

I agree with pretty much all of the above posts...especially the ones regarding claustrophobia...but that's just me.

There are a couple of units currently for rent that I wouldn't even consider due to the *IN YOUR FACE* view of the library (I think that's what it is).

[Jules]

Prime quiet location within a short walk to everything. Sleek and sophisticated. Don't pay for a view that might change with all of the new projects going up. Many of the new projects without a view will sell for a lot more.

[resident]

If you have too much money to waste and enjoy being miserable welcome to 5th & Madison. I live in this building. I got fooled by the look of it. The water is always cold with low pressure and no one takes care of your problem. Everyday some new issues come up. the water pipes broke in 2nd and 3rd floors and the condos got flooded. the heating system is always broke and someone is fixing it every week. I have lived here for 20 days and I am still longing for a nice and hot shower. The amenities are not ready yet. I hate this place so far.

[Anna Novikoff]

Since there are so many 1BR and 1BR+den floorplans at 5th and Madison, I do wonder about how this will affect eventual resales in the usual turnaround time of 3-5 years (or at any time) in the future. In most complexes, there are more variety of floorplans, ie: studios through 2BR+dens, so that if there are, for instance, 2-5% for sale at a given time in the future, there is a variety to choose from. At 5th & Madison, they will mostly be of a similar size. The only differences will be floor height, view and whatever upgrades the seller has made. Won't this make it harder to resell against competing units in the complex?

[Wendy]

Great question Anna. I think there will probably be more competition for your unit than in a typical building of similar size. On the other hand, there are some advantages. Here are a few. (1) Since there are so many 1BR's, your building will get a lot of 1BR buyer agent traffic/awareness and that will lead to lots of potential buyers viewing your unit. (2) Buyers and sellers will be able to figure out fair pricing since there will be lots of in-building comparables. (3) There will be fewer "spoilers" who sell far below fair market value since it will only take 5-10% discount at most to move their unit quickly.

[dunno]

Hey, 5th and Madison resident. It would be great if you could detail your experience there in more detail. That is exactly the sort of "under the hood" assessment that I am looking for in these blogs. I would appreciate input from other 5th and Madison residents. Feel free to come to my blog and post as well.

http://meaninglessinseattle.blogspot.com/

[geb]

I purchased a condo at 5th & Madison and so far I am very pleased. I had a minor problem with my thermostat the first day I moved in and they fixed it the next day.The place is as secure as Fort Knox, took a few days to get use to keys etc. View is terrific and location is great. M street Market is only 3 blocks away.

[Antonio]

Has there been any response to the criticism by the developers at 5th & Madison. We are considering a purchase, but some of these issues due bother me.

[cindy]

I have been at 5th and Madison for several months. The developers have been very good about fixing the problems we've had. The biggest problem is with CWD the property manager. Supposedly they manage over 90 buildings in Seattle but you wouldn't think they had ever does this before by the way they have behaved. I don't think they'll be here much longer.

[James]

There is problem with the ventilation system in 5th and Madison. Cigarette smoke comes from surrounding units from the vents. Also there is no fan in the bathrooms! I am very unhappy that there is no solution to these problems.

[KK]

Any more comments from residents?

I looked at this property recently and it has some great aspects. The price is right and the view over the library is not going to get built out.

Some stuff I didn't like was the lackluster lobby and the lack of a freight elevator. The idea of moving furniture through the main lobby is pretty blah. It looked like there was still work to do on a lot of units.

[Ray]

We have been at the 5th and Madison since December and it is a great building. All the people that we have dealt with, including CWD have been great and any minor problems we have had have been taken care promptly. We have great people living in the building or at least the ones that we have met, and socialized with through the condo sponsored activities. We have not had any noise, water temperature, smoke smell, and/or any other problems with our unit. We are happy it is a quiet area and will have 24/7 security starting tomorrow. Also glad there will not be another tower built in front of us as we expect the library to be there for a long time.

[Ace]

I toured 5th and Madison last weekend - sure enough, no fans in the bathrooms! That seems a bit weird to me?! Can any residents comment?

[Cory]

That sounds nasty -- especially after some bad sushi.

I've toured the building twice and liked what I saw. Just as Ace pointed out (two posts above), I also did not see any ventilation fans in the bathrooms. The bathrooms do have HVAC vents though.. not sure if the developer deliberately designed this omission and I'm wondering whether they plan to address this at all? Would imagine it's too late now though.

[Resident2]

The bathrooms at 5th and Madison have a mild continuous vent which seems to be adequate in some units, however, others say it does not do the job well. This beautiful green building has a serious ventilation problem which seems to involve hood fan ducts. Some residents are getting cooking smells and other odors in their units coming from their neighbor's units. Most unpleasant! The problem has been brought to the attention of the developer (Kennedy Wilson), the HOA, the facilities management (CWD) and the HVAC installers and designers at Hermanson. After six months, a few attempts have been made (and failed) to solve this problem at hood fan ducts within the units. Some residents believe it is a more serious design flaw and hope that more serious steps will be taken. There are many issues probably being considered here including how to solve this, who's responsible, expense and LEED standards. Anyone considering buying here might want to talk to residents and see how this all plays out.

[Ace]

Thanks for the info. That doesn't sound so bad. Compared to Mosler's problems it's pretty minor.

Can you comment on security of the parking garage? I realized after I visited that it is open to the public all day (no dedicated resident parking) and only locked up at night. Has there been any concerns over that?

Any other comments on 5th & Madison from residents would be great. I agree it's a beautiful building.

[Resident2]

Ace: Definitely not as bad as Mosler, but still a serious problem which must be resolved. It's really not fun coming home to a unit permeated with someone else's cooking smells or any other odors they might be producing.

Each unit has an assigned parking space and storage space in the garage. There was a break-in to one of the storage spaces and they are now working to make these more secure. There is also now 24hr security for both the condo and office building next door.