Seattle Condo Review: Blog with News & Advice about Seattle Condos

1111 E Pike Tour

     

The 1111 E Pike building is nearing completion.  The 6-story building has 26 residential homes and two commercial spaces.  One of commercial spaces will be occupied by Cupcake Royale.  I took a quick tour on Tuesday but unfortunately was unable to take any pictures as they are not allowed.

There are 6 homes on each floor with the exception of the penthouse level which will have 3 homes (2 of which has been spoken for).  2nd floor homes have concrete floors and the other homes have dark hardwood floors.  The lobby and roof top decks are the only amenities.  Homeowner dues are expected to be less than 50 cents per square foot.  Square footage for these homes ranges from 600-1,200.  Most of the homes are priced $250,000 to $450,00.  There is only one penthouse unit available priced at $450,000 (~652 square feet). 

First Church Converting to Townhomes

(Pictures provided by Moira Holley, archived under Seattle Condo Gallery)

As it turns out, First Church of Christ is turning into a 12-unit townhome building.  Last week, they debuted their model home.  During today's broker's open house, I had the chance to tour the building and meet up with the developer.  Even though it is not a condo project, I thought it was still worth checking out and let's be honest, there aren't exactly a stampede of new condos being announced every week like in the good old days (and yes, I appreciate those days are part of the reason we're in a recession but they were good if you liked writing about new condos).

Lumen Auction

 

Lumen announced today that they are auctioning off 19 of their remaining homes on Saturday, July 11th at 1.00pm at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  A pre-auction seminar will be held for interested buyers on Wednesday, July 1st at 7.00pm.  Home buyers can learn more about the auction process during the seminar and participate in a mock auction as well.

Floor Plan                              Minimum Bid                  Square feet

One Bedroom                     $155,000-$175,000               629-829

One Bedroom + Loft                    $260,000                     1,003-1,034

Two Bedroom                     $275,000-$325,000             1,075-,1286

Large One Bedroom + Loft          $395,000                        1,631

Large Two Bedroom + Den          $795,000                        2,082

Related Posts:

Queen Anne High School Auction

Press Auction: Going once, Going twice, Gone!

Seventeen07 Auction

              

744 Harvard Condo

Studio Meng Strazzara has designed another upscale condo project in the Harvard Belmont Landmark district.  This time it's a boutique style 4-unit home on 744 Harvard Ave E.  The architect's other prominent projects in the same neighborhood include the completed Harvard Estate and the currently under construction Harvard and Highland Condo.

(Photos courtesy from 744 Harvard Condo, archived at Seattle Condo Review Gallery)

744 Harvard Condois a 3-story concrete and steel building with two homes on the 1st level (with shared foyer entry), one on the 2nd level, and the last one is a huge penthouse unit with a large outdoor terrace. Both bigger units have private elevator access.  It's worth noting that even though the structure is concrete and steel, I was able to hear footsteps (high heels) from people walking on the 3rd floor when I was touring the second floor.

#101     1 BR + Den/ 1.5 BA         1,180 square feet     $  625,950 (New price $589,950)

#102     1 BR/ 1.5 BA                     920 square feet     $  799,950 (New price $749,950)

#200     3 BR/ 2.5 BA                  2,251 square feet     $1,850,000

#300     3 BR/2.5 BA                   2,091 square feet     $1,950,000

Live Historic: Belboy Conversions

Pioneer Properties who started the Live Historic Brand (De Lorges, Nord, Queen's Court, Pittsburgh, Betsy Ross, and the Marlborough) had their last conversion project, Belboy on Capitol Hill.  The conversion project is made of a cluster of 5 buildings built from 1893-1902.  These 5 buildings (B-F) were also part of a 6 building projects acquired by Historic Seattle and rehabilitated in 1989, and later on sold to Pioneer Properties in 2008.  Only one (A) building was retained by Historic Seattle and continues to operate as a low-income apartment building.

Currently, only buildings C and F are completely converted and available.  The incomplete buildings will be released in phases.  The 5 building conversions will offer 30 studio and one bedroom homes.  The electrical and plumbing systems were updated in 1990.  7 parking spaces are available for purchase at $25,000 each.  Prices range from $165,000-$275,000, mainly targeting first-time home buyers.

Studio                 333-550 square feet
One bedroom        392-615 square feet

Here are a few of my observations:

Brix Condos- Revisited

Six months ago I reviewed the Brix lofts (on 10th Avenue).  This week, I had the chance to tour the completed condos on the Broadway side.

The building does not have a ton of amenities, mainly the roof top deck, central courtyard and two lobbies.  For those who want to economize on HOA and price, this will be welcome news. For those who are looking for lots of building bells and whistles, this may not be your kind of condo.  Brix has recently reduced prices on some of their homes.

The overall feel of the building is quite pleasant, especially the central courtyard.  It is surprisingly quiet given that Broadway is just on the other side of the building.  Unfortunately for Brix, a 6 story apartment building has started their construction right across the street and this will block most of the west facing views.

ArtHaus- Capitol Hill Condo

ArtHaus is a nine-unit boutique condominium conversion located in Capitol Hill, one block south of Volunteer Park. The nine homes include studio, one bedroom and two bedroom floor plans. Four of them are sold. The remaining homes are one bedroom's ranging from 578 to 677 square feet and one large two bedroom on the top floor with square footage of 1,368. Prices for these homes range from $280,000 to $320,000 for the one bedroom and $680,000's for the two bedroom.

Interior of the homes feature 8.5' ceilings, 16" crown molding (living room), original millwork, original wood floors, tile floorings in the kitchen, stainless appliances, slab granite countertops and mahogany cabinets. Storage and parking are also included. The building is also equipped with Wi-Fi for all owners. The developer has also done some extensive work to convert this 1927 building including re-tuck pointing of the brick exterior, new roof, windows, eletrical and plumbing work.

Press Auction: Going once, Going twice, Gone!

   

The Stranger posted results of the Press Auction yesterday. When the market was doing well, condo inventory used to sell within weeks and sometimes within days. In the current economic climate, some are buying homes at sizeable discounts through auctions. "On average, 15 condos in the Press building auctioned for about 80 percent of their listing price and over 30 percent of their starting bid."

For existing Press homeowners who bought their units the old fashioned way, they may not be too thrilled with the discounted pricing. On the other hand, they're probably better off having their neighboring units owned, albeit at a 20% discount, than having so much of the building remain unsold.

Frankly, I find the 20% discount and 15 contracts in a day to be encouraging. Most MLS listings are asking for 10-20% less than they did a few years ago anyway so 20% isn't exactly a fire sale.  Moreover, if we had to pick between no activity at all and some activity at a discount, I'd go for the latter. 

-Wendy

Related posts:

Another condo auction
Press Condos update
Brix & Press Condos

Another Condo Auction

Auctioning of condos seem to be the latest trend for condos these days. Press condominiums is following the footsteps of Seventeen07 and auctioning 18 of their remaining homes on the market on December 13 at 1.00pm at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown. Read more on Seattle PI.

Floor plans            Minimal bids

1 Bedroom                 $185,000
2 Bedroom                 $225,000

Auction terms and conditions

-Wendy

Harvard and Highland Update

It's easy to get bored reading about Seattle Condos.  Seems like they are all fairly similar these days - great views, lots of glass, novel amenities, and perhaps an attached hotel.  It was kind of a breath of fresh air to check out the Harvard and Highland project in Capitol Hill's Historic Landmark district.   The lowest price unit starts at $1.45M and go as high as ~$5M.  It's def not your typical mid-career $500K purchase but that's not who they're going after. 

According to George Kropinski, the manger for H&H, home buyers purchasing this type of homes are moving for life changing reasons. They are mainly empty-nester buyers (I'd add well heeled ones) who are downsizing from their 4,000-5,000 square foot homes to a 2,000-3,000 square foot condo that requires minimal maintenance work so they can spend time traveling around the country (probably to visit the new grand kids). Some may own a 2nd home in Miami or LA. Half of the time, they may not be in their primary home. Due to the baby boomer demographics, this market gets bigger every year and there is demand to build this type of home to cater to their needs. People who buy H&H are like the regal baby boomers I suppose.

He also pointed out that home buyers looking at H&H are generally looking for a transitional design, a cross between traditional and modern finishes. A single family home with multi-story or a high-rise condo with too contemporary of a design will not appeal to them.

Capitol Hill Condos -Homes for Auction!

In this slow market when sellers are not getting too much response from buyers. What can they do to speed up the selling process?

One project is using the auction method. Seventeen07 condos is holding an auction on Oct 19 at 2.00pm at Hotel Monaco in downtown Seattle. Instead of dragging out on the sales on the remaining units, they are hoping to have quick sales for all the remaining 17 homes.

Seventeen07 is a recent conversion on Capitol Hill which started their sales back in the spring this year. The building comprises of 36 homes which include studios (395-397 sq.ft.), one bedrooms (471-665 sq.ft) and two bedrooms (817-849 sq.ft.).

Interested bidders will need to visit the sales center and register themselves. Tour the condo and pick the unit(s) they desire to bid. Talk to their preferred lender, either with Wells Fargo or Countrywide and pick up a bidding package.

On bidding day, home buyers should arrive with a $1,000 cashier check written out to themselves (presumably this will help show you're not just a window shopper). The bidding will start at $10,000 increments. If you are successful in the bidding, you would need to provide another $1,500 check to make the deposit for the home. The home would also need to close in 30 days.

Bidding for their 17 homes start at $95,000 for studio, $195,000 for one bedroom and $215,000 for two bedroom. For context, the 2BR's were listed for low 300's back in August. Only one bedroom and two bedroom homes come with parking. Based on their sold units, the two bedroom units will give home buyers the biggest room for bidding. If the seller actually honors those minimal bid prices and there aren't a lot of people in a position to pull the trigger, a 2BR for potentially only $215,00 could be a risk tolerant investor's opportunity.

-Wendy

First Church Conversion Update

First Church has announced the release of their initial project floor plans.

The architects for this church to condo conversion have finished designing their twelve town home units which will be constructed within the historic structure.

The project is on track for spring 2009 completion.  Pre-sale pricing and specification will be released soon.

Related Posts:
Lights, camera and Action for First Church
First Church Conversion- Coming soon

Mode: Capitol Hill Conversion

Mode condominiums is a 34 unit conversion project located at 752 Bellevue Ave. Sales started recently and so far they've sold about 7 units.  The 3-story building is comprised of small studios, one bedroom's and two bedroom's.  Studios are ~350 square feet, 1 bedroom's ~450 square feet and two bedroom's are ~720-820 square feet. The same developer also converted Beacon Flats in Beacon Hill.  Mode and Beacon Flats are similar in terms of exterior look and interior finishes.

• Studios from $159,950
• 1 Bedroom from $219,950
• 2 Bedroom from $299,950

The offered price does not include parking and storage but they are available for $30,000 and $3,000, respectively. There are two color scheme options for the units. 1st level homes come with an enclosed patio. Even though it is a good size, I'm not sure how many homeowners will actually use them since they are looking directly at another building. The conversion work involved putting in new incoming plumbing lines, electrical and lighting systems, and part of the building exterior was replaced with aluminium siding.

The developer did a decent job sprucing up the building, however, it still comes across a little apartmentish. The units' interior space is tight but at that price point, you can't expect too much square footage.  Overall, I wasn't blown away or particulary disappointed -- Mode struck me as a pretty typical apartment conversion project.

Brix Update

      10th Ave (Townhomes / Lofts)

Brix construction is nearing completion with the move-in date scheduled for August 8, 2008 for their 10th Ave town homes / lofts and September 8, 2008 for their Broadway units.  32 units on the 10th Ave side and 57 units on the Broadway side are already sold -- roughly 60% of the total units.  Most of the remaining units in the Broadway side are in the $300,000's.  Just like Escala, they have also raised their prices on some of their units.

Right now, only a town home model unit is available for viewing. A sky bridge connects the two parts of the 10th Ave units. The roof top deck has a pretty good view that shows the skyline of downtown Seattle as well as the Sound and territorial views of Capitol Hill. When completed, there will also be a central courtyard with a water fountain.

Trace North Update

Trace North has completed its construction and will be holding their open house on May 31st. The rooftop open house event will showcase their penthouses and new release (starting in the mid $200's). Pizza Fusion, an organic, gourmet and environmentally friendly boutique restaurant chain and Barrio, a south-of-the-border inspired restaurant will be occupying the retail spaces in Trace North. With these two additions, owners will have a nice restaurant selection with Cafe Stellina, La Spiga and Boom Noodle just right across the street.

Where: Trace Rooftop Open house (1414 12th Ave)          

When: Saturday, May 31, 2pm-7pm

Overall, the building's striking exterior blends in with the eclectic Pike/Pine corridor with interior finishes looking like a more modest version of the Trace Lofts project. With both Trace North and Trace Lofts on 12th Ave, it certainly adds a little bit more flavor to the neighborhood.

More pictures.....