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

The Florentine- Pioneer Square Condo

 

The Florentine Condominium is a historic building located on the south edge of Pioneer Square on 526 1st Ave South.  It was built in 1909 and converted from a warehouse into 116 condos in 1990. 

During the conversion, an additional floor was built on top of this four story building as the penthouse homes (2 level townhomes).  Some might like to call it a loft style home.  Floor plans go from one bedroom, one bathroom to two bedroom penthouses.

One Bedroom plus den & Two bedroom     1,036-1,644 sq ft

Penthouse Homes                                 1,253-2,106 sq ft

Gallery Gets Creative with Condo Purchase Incentives

Here's the low down on Gallery's latest buyer incentives:

You pick one item from Column A:

(1) 3-2-1 Rate buy down (rates starting as low as 1.875%)

(2) 3% credit for closing costs

(3) No homeowner dues until Jan 2011

You pick two additional items from Column B:

(1) $500 gift card to Crate and Barrel, Target or Best Buy

(2) 2 hours design time with an interior designer

(3) Portable Air conditioner installation

(4) $500 credit to California Closets or Bartlett Blinds

(5) 3 Hours with a professional organizer

It kind of feels like you're ordering an entree and appetizer from a restaurant prixe fixe offering.  I think many buyers would prefer a price reduction or cash but there is some value in these options (especially category A 1 and 3 which helps buyer cash flow post-transaction).

Pontedera Condos

 

Pontedera Condos is a new construction project in the south edge of Central Seattle.  This 6-story building offers 94 homes with 8 work/live spaces.  The developer is HomeSight, a non-profit Development Corporation that builds affordable housing for first-time homebuyers.  

1 Bedroom                    565-780 square feet      >$220,000
1 Bedroom + Den                 770 square feet      >$385,000
1 Bedroom + Den loft   785-1,035 square feet      >$295,000
2 Bedroom                  780-1,095 square feet      >$289,000
2 Bedroom +Den        1,070-1,170 square feet     >$410,000
3 Bedroom                         1,200 square feet     >$380,000

Most homes in Pontedera have decks, patios or balconies.  Each home comes with a parking space.  Amenities include a landscaped terrace, community room, and bike storage room.  In some selected homes, there is gas fireplace.  According to HomeSight, Pontedera is designed to be low maintenance and energy efficient. 

-Wendy 

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.

Gallery Update

Gallery Condos has started moving in home buyers. Approximately 50% of their inventory has sold with more than 30 homes closed so far. If you are thinking of touring this building, the sales center is located on the street level on the North end of the building.

When it was initially launched, the sky lofts floor plans (2 level homes) were available from the 7th floor in the middle glass section of the building. However, due to higher demand for smaller floor plans, they changed to more single level open floor plans. The skylofts are available only on the ground level and penthouse levels. 4 penthouse level skylofts are sold. Only 10 sky lofts homes are available in the building.

The developer also raised prices on some of the homes since their launch. No buyers' incentives are available. Gallery will have an opening event sometime early next year when all the units are completed. Compared to its close competitor, the Parc, Gallery is a good looking building with more amenities but offers less variety of floor plans.

Related posts:

Gallery Update-Belltown condos
Gallery
The Parc Update 
Pre-construction Marketing versus Reality

Site 17 Condos

Site 17 in Belltown was originally an apartment completed in 1998 and then was subsequently converted into a condo in 2005. The condo is divided into two buildings located along Western Ave, only a few minute walk north of Pike Place Market. Site 17 consists of 129 homes with 97 units in the south building and 32 units in the north building.

A wide variety of floor plans includes studios, one bedrooms, one bedroom lofts, two bedrooms, and 2 bedroom town homes.

Square footage:

Studio ~496-650

One bedroom ~513-715

One bedroom Loft ~723-896

Two bedroom ~764-1058

Virtual tour video

Amenities include: Fitness center, club house and roof decks.

Site 17 is one of the few established buildings in Belltown that also offers loft floor plans. Ceiling heights for these homes go as high as 18 feet. Although there is nothing striking about the exterior (which in some ways reveal its apartment origins), Site 17's affordable price points offer many first time home buyers one of the opportunities to own a home in this vibrant urban neighborhood.

There will be a group open house for this building on Sunday, 10/5/08 from 1-4pm.

-Wendy

Condo Update

I have only been away for a week and yet there were quite a number of updates in Seattle Condos. Here is a quick summary:

2.) Following the foot steps of Expo 62 (Axis Apartment) and Domaine in Queen Anne, Moda is officially converted to an apartment. Moda homes were initially sold out two weeks after the sales center opened back in 2006. Two years later, several home buyers decided to back out from the purchase because the homes turned out to be smaller than they expected. That resulted with a handful of units becoming available on the market. However, with completion just around the corner, the developer has decided to turn it into an apartment citing that many home buyers are unable to secure financing as their 2nd home or investment property and others getting cold feet leaving them with no other alternative but to convert to an apartment. The slow market conditions did not help them as well. Read more.

Previous posts:

Moda Update
Moda: Small, smaller, smallest!

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

Madison Lofts Grand Opening

I have been waiting to tour Madison Lofts for a while. The project seems to be taking forever. Finally, yesterday I had the chance to drop by. I keep asking myself, what am I so attracted to this building? Is it because it is the only new construction condo in Madison Park, the intrigue of modern lofts living in the already upscale residential neighborhood, or Sunday night's news about the developer reducing their price per square foot from $700 to $500/square foot? I have to say it's all of the above.

I took the tour of some of their smaller units and penthouses as well. The lowest price for their loft unit is $429,000 (#210). The rest of them range from $519,950 to $579,950 with the penthouses asking for $799,950 to $1.2M. So far, the project has sold 4 units.  Here are a few things about Madison Lofts:

• Units come with either balcony or combinations of balcony and outdoor deck. The outdoor deck size ranges from ~215 to ~1,100 square feet. Penthouses come with an additional private roof top deck.
• Each unit has individual air-conditioning/heating system hooked up to a heat pump that goes all the way to the rooftop.
• The interior finishes have a very European style with clean lines. The pull-up kitchen cabinets have become more and more common in some newer condos. I prefer the traditional type since I'm don't like to reach up to open cabinet doors but I guess most people are taller and won't mind the extra effort to open the cabinets.
• The building seems really well constructed with double walls between units, corrugated metal for the loft level, commercial style metal railings for the stairway leading up to the loft level and solid brick for the exterior instead of brick veneer.
• Only two types of upgrades are available, electronic shades and custom closet system.

Northgate's Thornton Place Development

Northgate is not an area that I focus on but I thought this was a really interesting development.  As most of us shopaholics know, major renovation work has been taking place at the Northgate Mall.

What you may not have noticed is the Thornton Place project scheduled for completion in the spring of 2009. This six-acre project is being developed by Lorig, a real estate development and management company, in partnership with Stellar Holdings and ERA Care communities.

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.

Elliott and Cedar

The developer for Mosler Lofts is planning another high-rise green condominium in Belltown on Elliott Ave and Cedar St, just south of Bellora. The plan will be similar to Mosler Lofts with height that may go up to 125 feet. Read more.

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.....

Moda Update

Moda condominiums is nearing completion with move-in dates estimated around September of this year.  The project initially sold out within 5 days after hitting the market in September of 2006 but now 40 units becoming available.  According to Thach Nguyen, one of the developer partners, the drop outs were due to changes in the buyers' situations -- especially loan financing.  Thach also commented that "the vision for Moda condos is to serve a niche market: to provide condo living with luxurious finishes at affordable prices. Homebuyers who are looking at Moda are willing to sacrifice square footage for better quality finshes at a good location."

Stadium Lofts Update

The redesign of Stadium Lofts is causing the project to take longer to complete.  The developer, Nitze-Stagen, and preservation group, Historic Seattle, had initially proposed the stadium Lofts project to be a two-story building. The new plans calls for four additional stories with 70-80 lofts and flat above retail space. This will bring the condo height to approximately 100 feet. A new developer, Maria Barrientos, will be leading the project, although Nitze-Stagen and Historic Seattle will remain involved.

They are currently getting final approval from the city for the new design. One of the major focus areas of the redesign will be to provide parking for more of the homes by rearranging and/or eliminating some of the first floor units. A focus group will be held in May to get a better idea of what sort of finish packages and design elements they will use going forward. The sales center is likely to open either late 2008 or early 2009. Based on the current schedule, the building will be ready early to mid 2010.

Previous Posts:

Stadium Lofts
Stadium Lofts update
Stadium Lofts- Coming soon

-Wendy