South Lake Union Update

Wondering what's going on in South Lake Union nowadays? If you drive on Denny Way recently, you'd probably noticed that Enso and Rollin construction is well under way. A few blocks east of 2200 Westlake, Mirabella, a retirement building, is nearing completion and East of 2200 Westlake, the new Borealis Apartments are now leasing.

Despite all this action, the market has certainly slowed down in many sales centers, including the SLU experiencing lower traffic. If you are curious about South Lake Union, here is a quick update on the three projects:

Veer Lofts- 401 9th Ave N (99 units)
Over 50% sold with 5 listed on the MLS

Enso- 820 Blanchard St (135 units)
Over 50% sold with 5 listed on the MLS

Rollin- 120 Westlake Ave N- (208 units)
Over 30% sold with 9 listed on the MLS

According to the Discovery Center, Vulcan will be building 11 offices for Amazon with completion around 2010 and employees of Amazon will be moving in the offices in 2011. There will be retail spaces in these offices as well (I wonder how many Starbucks that will be...). As for the office portion of Enso, there is no news yet on which tenant will be occupying the space.

SLU has come a long way over the years.  Here's a recap for those who aren't as familiar.

Mar 2006
What's going on in South Lake Union?

June 2006
Who wants to be a Vulcannaire?
Vulcan sneak preview event took place under a white tent next to the discovery center to introduce their 4 condo projects, Enso, Rollin, Veer Lofts and Martin. Homebuyers interested in the project had to attend the informational session in order to obtain a lottery card (remember those times!). Martin condos, which was supposed to be built behind Cinerama, is put on hold.

July 2006
Vulcan's informational overview appointment
Questions for Vulcan

Aug 2006
South Lake Union hosted their annual block party

Oct 2006
Discovery Center re-opened with a more detailed presentation of their 3 condos.

Nov 2006
2200 Westlake had a community opening

Dec 2006
2200 Residents started moving into the condos

June 2007
2200 Westlake Flipper... still waiting to flip

Sep 2007
1,400 Microsoft employees in Seattle 

Dec 2007
South Lake Union Street car started running from Downtown to Eastlake
Amazon will be occupying 1.6M square feet of office space in South Lake Union

April 2008
South Lake Union Park Phase 1 opened

Comments

[Hemant]

I only wish these Vulcan properties weren't priced so high though. Slightly outta my price range.

[Rollin St.]

Go in and check prices again. They may be more in line now with how the market is going. They really are high-quality projects and the new neighborhood already has a lot to offer and I am sure that there is a lot more to come!

[kent]

Rollin has been selling for about 15 months now. This does not look encouraging. A visit to their site and some quick math shows that only 23% of the units are sold, mostly the smaller units. Only 7 of the larger units have sold and none of the penthouses. Looks like the prices will need to be adjusted or maybe another "rental project" is in the works.

[rollin buyer]

Prices have come down a bit, make an offer.

And they don't update the website very often.

[Sam]

I checked the prices on the MLS for Rollins St/Veer and Enso and the cheapest units start in the low 400's. Even if they lower the prices a bit because no one is buying I still think its over my price range especially since I can find new construction condos in Belltown for around 100K less than these vulcan projects.

Am I the only one who's thinking like this?

[Hemant]

I've got a stupid question regarding Veer.

The animations and floor plans for the Flexi lofts in Veer show the bathroom to be in the upper loft space where the ceiling height is only 5 feet. How are you supposed to shower in that case? Can you not even stand upright in the Flexi loft unit bathrooms?!!

[Hemant]

nm, I went back and checked the floor plans and the bathrooms are on the first level. They obviously have it wrong in the animations!

[eternal]

The "new neighborhood" is like living in the U Village - super corporate. Ugh.