When a friend from San Francisco instant messaged this awesomely creative video for a house for sale, I raced here (minutes later) to share. Enjoy! here’s the official website for the listing.
How real estate should be sold…
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
2010 Leadership in Sustainability Awards
December 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I live fairly green, and if doing so yourself is a New Years Resolution, sustainableseattle.org might be a good site for you to subscribe to. I recently came across the non-profit from learning the bicycle shop I’m a customer of . Other than those fellows at Bicycle Pull-Apart who supply me with cranks, brakes and kickstands, other nominees/award winners included businesses such as:
FROGBOX – A moving service with trucks powered by biodiesel and environmentally friendly alternatives to cardboard boxes for packing.
Alleycat Acres – A farming collective which brings life to abandoned lots in urban areas by creating community-ran farms.
FareStart – A program for homeless and disadvantaged that provides training and job placement in the culinary field.
Pinpoint Pickup – A pickup alternative to reduce drunk driving by helping those who won’t take a bus or interested in another option other than a taxi in nightlife areas.
Brick House Winery – A winery who grows all their fruit on an estate and is certified organic.
Brenthaven - A gaurenteed for life backpack and laptop case retailer using zero waste as well as employer who offers financial incentives to employees for walking, biking, carpooling or using public transportation when commuting to work.
Sustainable Seattle’s Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership Awards (SCOLA) were initiated in 2001. These awards recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals and organizations that are helping to make the Puget Sound region a more sustainable and livable place. In 2010, Sustainable Seattle honored the leadership and innovation of local individuals, organizations, businesses and public agencies in the following categories: Built Environment, Business, Government, Neighborhoods & Community, and Social Justice.
Sustainable Seattle’s website also has a community calendar with a decent sized list of events relating to sustainability. Check out their calendar, follow thier twitter, like the FB page, volunteer, donate, sign-up for their newsletter or just give em a click.
2nd & Pike Tower scheduled for design review
December 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Currently an empty lot across from the Newmark, 2nd Avenue and Pike Street is one of downtown Seattle’s most valuable locations. Originally proposed in 2004, the 35 story apartment building may be brought back to life. Surprising that this space has yet to be developed. Exciting that Olson Kundig are the architects for the new high-rise just kitty-corner from 1521 Second.
The proposal is for a 35-story structure with 290 residential units above 14,850 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space. Parking for 389 vehicles to be provided below grade. Review includes removal of 79 surface parking spaces. Project also includes 59,840 cubic yards of grading.
The project will be shooting for LEED Gold Certification and include a large street level restaurant along with an upper level Skybar.
35 Floors above grade, including partial Mezzanine above Ground Floor, semi-private garden courtyard at Ground Floor and B1 level, semi-private roof garden amenity space at 8th floor (Skybar), private resident amenity spaces at 9th floor and Roof and 40’ Mechanical penthouse above roof level.
440’ Maximum height above grade at midpoint of 2nd Avenue property line to include:
400’ Maximum proposed Residential height plus
40’ Maximum Mechanical penthouse above roof level
Demolition process for the McGuire begins.
November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I keep meaning to go in and ask questions about when and how the demolition for the McGuire will begin and today a land use bulletin came through showing that it’s begun to go through it’s permitting process.
Land Use Application to allow demolition of a 25-story, mixed use building and attached (above grade) garage. Project also includes 3,000 cu. yds. of grading.
It’s very interesting for this to happen considering that buildings don’t generally have such a short-lived existence. I’m not certain whether it will actually be a demolition or if the structure will be taken apart piece by piece. When the King Dome was imploded, traffic was incredibly hectic! …interested to find out how it’s going to be done.
ESCALA Auction? Never!
September 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Some people have asked, and during a late night follow up of blog comments regarding auctions, I wondered what project could possibly be next. ESCALA is the only one with a significant number of units still for sale–less than half. The 269 unit project has gone through it’s ups and downs until Team Builders JLS and Bob Rennie took over sales earlier this year.
Erik Mehr told us today that ESCALA has not only averaged 10 sales per month for the last three, but since the Olive 8 auction has made an additional five. With more than 80 sales (over half), the building has even gained FHA approval. Of course the rumor of ESCALA going rental is a pie in the sky, and Erik’s confidence and record of sales for the address also prove that an auction is a similar story for even the most critical critics.
I must say that I am very impressed with this building. It is truly spectacular! Thank you Erik!
Will ESCALA hit the auction block next?
September 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
With the successful trend in condo auctions in Seattle, I’m not sure it’s a bad idea. New construction sales are way up, and it might be a nice relief to see that building unload some inventory. Resale prices are way down, and the only way to get those numbers back on a positive climb would be to reduce the amount of new construction inventory which has been holding a steady high price per square foot.
It would be a tough call to make as we come to the slow season for our local real estate market. Before the holidays you can pretty much bet that there will always be a final push to make sales before entering the colder, slower months. Will ESCALA announce an opportunity to take advantage of “HUGE discounts” off original listing prices, or cling on to a market pick up till next summer?
Intermission: Olive 8 Auction Results
September 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Apparently the Olive 8 auction went well for the developer, but the night is still young so buyer feedback has yet to be seen. As previously mentioned, prices ended up averaging just under 70% of their original list price. There’s some interesting comments and notes made on both Ben and Matt’s blog I’d encourage you to check out if you’re interested in the final numbers. Both were diligent in posting the results right away.
Olive 8 Auction Results by Matt.
Olive 8 Auction Results by Ben.
Oddly, Matt mentioned that “bloggers were not allowed,” although many of us “bloggers” were there. Curious about the reasoning for that…
Regardless of what’s said from buyer feedback, it looks as though people fared pretty well and ended up being a win-win. Now that the hotel/condo project is around 50% sold, I would imagine the next step is to get FHA financing.
Central Waterfront presentation video.
September 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Thank goodness I was able to find this video of the presentation at Benaroya last night. It’s a long one… ENJOY!
Review of final pricing from all Seattle condo auctions
September 12, 2010 By 1 Comment
There sure does seem to be a lot of excitement regarding the Olive 8 auction which takes place on September 19. Seattle has had seven auctions for dowtown condominium properties since March of 2009 and hopefully we won’t be seeing any more. Curious if the history of these auctions have proven to be a significant amount of savings for buyers, I went around and collected all the sales results for six of the seven buildings that went to auction (no results for The Press could be found). Here is the median for the original list price, minimum bid and final sold price for each condo project.
| Auction Date | Condo Project | Orig List Price | Auction Min Bid | Final Sold Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/22/09 | Queen Anne High School | $510,000 | $280,000 | $355,000 |
| 7/11/09 | LUMEN | $579,040 | $260,000 | $347,500 |
| 9/27/09 | GALLERY | $491,995 | $225,000 | $344,000 |
| 9/27/09 | Brix | $475,000 | $185,000 | $319,500 |
| 3/28/10 | 5th and Madison | $607,500 | $235,000 | $390,500 |
NOTE: The minimum bid price was approximately 45% off the original list price. After comparing final sold prices the discount average out to be approximately 35% off the original list price.
Now, if we were to take the median price of $592,950 and apply 35% off, that gives you a 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath with approximately 1,100 square feet on the 24th floor facing south for around $386,000. If you were to now do a search for units around the area between $375,000 and $400,000 with a minimum of 1,000 square feet, here’s what your options look like.
Not only will several buyers get new construction for less than the price of current resale properties, but buyers for the Olive 8 auction will also be able to enjoy the benefits of living above a hotel. As of today, the only other places in Seattle where you can live above a hotel are the Four Seasons, Madison Tower and 2200 Westlake which are all priced at significantly higher price points.
If you’re considering a purchase, prices look good. We can also provide you with more information about the building, the neighborhood and what it takes to write an offer for free. Contact us if you have any questions.
View Seattle Height Restrictions in 3D!
August 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We couldn’t be more excited to have almost completed a map of downtown Seattle height restrictions in 3D using Google Earth. Currently, the file is only available as a download and it’s very important to us. Therefore, we’re looking into ways to keep it private. As of right now, we’re only sharing it with clients. We feel that making a intuitive purchase based on the 3 P’s is what makes a happy buyer.
Please, take a look out this snapshot and contact us if you’re interested in a download of the Google Earth file. The person putting it together for us is incredibly busy, so we don’t want to rush the guy. Therefore, all you get is a teaser. I’m just so excited to have such a cool tool we can put on our website, I had to share a sneak peak!
What’s most interesting, is there are truly very few units with protected views…
In the meantime, you can view a flat map of height restrictions set by the city here.
