Veer Lofts is down to only 5 remaining homes and they are having their close out sale which will expire end of this month. Looking at the numbers, the price reduction is ~5% of the previous listing price. Can't say that I'm terribly excited about this price drop. I was expecting more like 10-15% for a closing out sale. For those buyers looking for lofts, this building is FHA approved.
Related posts:
Bagley Lofts
Veer Lofts Update
Madison Lofts
19th Ave Lofts
Monique Lofts
Looks like this weekend is going to be a busy one for the real estate market. The Enclave on Lake Union has just opened their sales center and will be having their open house from 12-4pm on both Saturday and Sunday. It's not really a condo project (collection of homes) but I don't think we are going to hear of any interesting and new projects near downtown for a while so we're gonna bend the rules this time. I have to admit, this particular project seems really interesting.
Vulcan has announced that Rollin will be officially converted into an apartment building. With only 25% presale, they were unable to meet Fannie Mae's new requirement of 70% pre-sale. Matt has more here.
One thing that comes to mind is requiring the high pre-sale threshold of 70% makes a lot of sense long term (it used to be 51%).
The question I have is: is that the right thing to implement when the market is still trying to find it's footing? I wonder if it would have been better to ratchet the more stringent requirements up over a couple of years in line with the market recovery.
Fannie Mae's new guidelines requiring new construction to be at least 70% presold before they will fund loans has affected some projects in Seattle. One such case is Rollin in South Lake Union delaying their closing. As for Ruby in Eastlake, it looks like they have found a way to get over this hurdle. Ruby has started partnering with a local lender (Seattle Mortgage) that has committed to close homes with no presale requirement. The developer is also working with other regional lenders for additional commitments to close homes with no presale requirements. The building is also FHA and VA approved which opens up more doors for them to appeal to home buyers with low down payment. To encourage purchase, the developer is offering rate buy- down's for home buyers. I wonder if other projects will follow suit.
Related posts:
Ruby Condos Update
Ruby Condos
Rollin Hard Hat Tour
South Lake Union Update
Marselle condominiums is the latest addition close to the South Lake Union, Downtown and Belltown neighborhood on 699 John St. This 7-story, wood-framed building will hold 132 units with the smallest unit starting at 347 square feet to the largest ones at 1,740 square feet.
The building will offer a variety of floor plans from studio, one bedroom with den, two bedroom and a penthouse level including 10 2-level homes. Marselle pricing is expected to average around $475/square foot. Studios will start at under $200,000 and go up to $600,000's.
Each home will include one parking and storage unit. Interior will feature natural walnut floors, slab granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances with many homes coming with an island kitchen.
Amenities: 3 rooftop decks, dog patch, fitness center, yoga space, and resident lounge.
The project is scheduled for completion in summer 2009 with the sales center probably opening up sometime in January/February of 2009. The developer's goal is to produce a condominium with equal or better finishes compared to other projects but at a lower price point than any other new construction in Seattle. The location was picked because of it proximity to downtown and the Seattle Center; the biggest reason was probably the price of the land. So far, 21 homes have already been sold to the developer's family and friends.
Even thought the location is close to Belltown, South Lake Union, and Downtown, the building is situated at the busy area of Aurora Ave. This would add more traffic to the already congested Denny Way. However, on the other hand, if home buyers can get it at a very affordable price point, this may be seen as a fair trade off.
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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.
South Lake Union Park phase 1 will be open to the public on April 30th, Wednesday from 11.00am-1.00pm. This 1.6 acre parcel of green space is part of a 12-acre waterfront park development plan. The Seattle Parks Foundation is completing its campaign to raise $20 million in private contributions to develop the SLU park. During the grand opening, the public can enjoy a free salmon bake, live music, boat rides, historic vessels, educational activities, demonstrations, and prizes. You will also be able to see the plans for the entire 12-acre park which will be open in 2010.
No doubt, this is an exciting development for South Lake Union. It's great to see more green space in the city especially with so many new construction projects coming up over the last few years and probably more developing moving forward. Retaining some land for green space will definitely enhance the area's appeal as it attempts to evolve from its more commerical vibe.
The Streetcar has been up and running since last month and I have to say it looks really nice. Residents working in downtown and living in South Lake Union can enjoy the convenience of hopping on the nice shiny new streetcar for $1.50 or use a metro transfer or pass (thanks to reader MM for pointing this out). If you are tech savvy, you can even configure your phone to get actual arrival information. The ride stretches from Westlake Ave and Olive Way to Fairview Ave N (between Ward St and Yale Ave). Anyone buying in the neighborhood may want to give some preference to buildings along that green line below.
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Up to 1.6M square feet of office space will soon be occupied by Amazon employees in South Lake Union. Some of them gotta want to live in nice condos nearby; e.g., 2200 Westlake, Veer Lofts, Rollin, and Enso?
Read the details here.
This month, Fisher Broadcasting has organized a Condo tour for homebuyers to check out a list of participating new construction and conversion projects in several neighborhoods. If you have just started the search process, this may be a good chance to make use of their map to get around to check out the condos. (You may also find my SCR Map useful.) Fisher Broadcasting is providing a complimentary shuttle service to cart you around from sales center to sales center.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you plan on using a Realtor to represent you if/when you buy, be mindful when you register at the sales centers. Just fill in your Realtor's name when they ask if you are working with a Realtor, otherwise you risk needing to pay more out of pocket or getting limited service should you retain the services of a Realtor later.
When: September 22nd & September 23rd (Saturday & Sunday)
Where :Shuttle service starts at Fisher Plaza (11.00am)
List of condos : visit www.SeattleCondoTour.com
Related posts:
Do you really need a buyer's agent?
Pre-construction purchase
Picking and working with a Realtor
Happy news for condo owners: Microsoft announced today that they will be expanding its office space in Seattle, eventually adding almost 1,400 employees in the area. The expansion will include a lease of a 126,000 square foot office in the Westlake/Terry Building in the South Lake Union neighborhood and two other new locations in Pioneer Square and 505 Union Station.
Related news:
Microsoft setting up new office sites in Seattle
Microsoft moving into Paul Allen project in Seattle
Microsoft plans expansion into Seattle
I was doing some research for one of my clients this week who is interested in getting into a pre-sale construction project for the purpose of selling the property shortly after the construction is complete next year. While this may have been a lucrative practice a couple of years ago, the current data for 2200 Westlake investors tells an interesting story.
Specifically, there are 31 Westlake condo units on the market as of this post. Morever, 12 of them have been on the market for over 90 days and 7 of those have reduced their initial asking prices (price drops ranged from $20,000-$485,000). Regardless of whether one thinks flippers ought to make outsized profits or not, it's interesting to try and figure out what's going on. What has led to this challenges of all those pre-construction buyers who snapped up vulcan units, descended on grand openings, and listed their units for sale moments after they got the keys?
The bar chart below shows flipped units on the market by days on market -- less 30, 31-90, more than 90.
Continue reading "2200 Westlake Flippers....Still Waiting to Flip" »
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