Green and Beautiful

Let's take a closer look at the up and coming 5th and Madison construction. Not only is this one fittingly green in the middle of the Emerald City, but she's looking pretty nice.

The 24-story condo describes its goal as making "the line between indoors and outdoors thinner." A beautiful courtyard features a tranquil river that tumbles into a waterfall at the main entrance to the building.

Energy efficiency in the building has been streamlined so that usage is 20% better than industry standards. The floor to ceiling windows will maximize natural light, reducing the energy toll even more.


A green roof plaza will simultaneously reduce and filter runoff that dumps into Seattle's drains while using its garden to infuse the city air with fresh oxygen.

The green theme even extends as far as fuel-saving transportation. Ample bike storage space as well as on site Flexcars are promised here.

Construction is said to finish this year. The 5th and Madison was named among the top 10 green condos in America in September 2007.

The Seattle Street Car Arrival

If you have found yourself in Downtown Seattle the past couple days, you may have noticed that the new Seattle Street Car has been doing some test runs. With its official opening around the corner, December 12th, residents of several downtown projects will be able to take advantage of the new service. So what does this mean for the condo market? A couple things actually, the first being, we will see many projects use this new addition to downtown as a selling point for their condos. Secondly, and more importantly, the streetcar is expected to create jobs for an already expanding Seattle job market. In the next 15 years it is projected that 15,000 to 23,000 jobs and 8,000 to 10,000 housing units will be created in the downtown area alone. Along with building an infrastructure for new jobs and housing, Mayor Nichols hopes that the Seattle Streetcar will help create a more vibrant and eclectic mix in downtown urban neighborhoods. For more information on the streetcar, such as route maps and schedules head over to its website.

Too Close for Comfort

A hubbub regarding Seattle's Cosmpolitan has created a stir. A new, incredibly close development is sprouting up right next to it with the spacing between the two buildings amounting to a mere 18 feet. 18 feet is acutally less than the length of a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban which is 18'6". That's pretty tight.

This issue with the Cosmo isn't the only problem of its kind. It is most likely the first of many. There are proposals out for two more 500 ft towers that also hold a threat to breathing space and views. One of these possible encroachers is destined for the spot behind the now-under construction 31-story Escala and the other, planned as a residential tower of 39 stories, will lay south of the Cristala building.

Take a look at the map at the top of this article. The dotted red line encloses the zone where there is nothing that stops the buildings from being built close to one another. Or maybe it' should be called the zone of "license to smoosh."

The PI article notes that some developers have already thought ahead and are attempting to preserve the views that they have. For example, the developers of the Four Seasons and Harbor Steps jointly purchased the air rights above the Lusty Lady in 2005 in order to keep this space clear.

What can buyers who are afraid of this view obstruction and space squish do? The PI article (read more from link at bottom) offers some tips:

• Ask the developers what they know about nearby proposals and what zoning would allow, and whether they have bought air rights for surrounding lots to protect views and privacy.
• Look up the zoning of surrounding sites and understand what that zoning allows.
  
• Check surrounding addresses for project applications already filed, sign up for the notification lists for those projects so you get notice of any changes and check back regularly to look for new applications on other sites.
  
• Ask city planners about possible upcoming changes to what zoning would allow nearby.
  
• Comment in writing and at design-review hearings about proposed projects.
  
• Hire a land-use lawyer to do all this for you.
  Find information for Seattle by going to seattle.gov/dpd and clicking on "Research" for zoning maps, and "Notices" and "Permits" for information on proposals, or go to the Seattle Department of Planning and Development Public Resource Center, on the 20th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave. The center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and can be reached at 206-684-8467.
  
• And remember, it may not be possible to promise nobody ever will be able to build in front of your condo.
  

Read more:
Condo Owners Struggle For Views as Seattle Rises

Buy Your Groceries Before You're Hungry

I'm staring into my refrigerator wondering why I have to go to the grocery store again--there's still food in the fridge. It's amazing that I still have to talk myself through the simple logic. Of. Course. It. Will. Get. Eaten. Before. Friday. (Friday is my shopping day). I'll run out by Thursday, or by Wednesday if I get the munchies. Then I'll starve on Friday. Grumbling, I head to the store and shell out the cash (oh, so expensive!)to buy more yogurt and granola before my stomach turns into a growling monster. Why in the world am I talking about the contents of my fridge?

How about another question: Why is now the time to own rental property? Because the food's not going to last till Friday. There are tons of condos being built as we speak. I have 1/2 a container of maple yogurt still in my fridge (I love dairy). But the condos won't be finished till 2009, said the Seattle Times last Friday. The demand for rentable space is going to skyrocket as predictions show that the all-time low for Seattle rental vacancies in 2000 is expected to shrink to an even smaller amount of vacancies in 2008.

And while we're on the business of food, a word of advice: Don't go shopping when you're starving. You'll buy more than you need and spend too much. Think in advance, and it's sweet (hint: you can get that chocolate and toffee bar before the craving cripples you). Really sweet.

Seattle Times Article: For Seattle Landlords, '08 Looks Sweet.

The Nicest Spot in the City?

What made Van Gogh and Picasso famous? Hundreds of people recognized the beauty in their art. Likewise, I think the votes of many people saying “this is gorgeous” has some kick to it. The results of a poll conducted by the SCR asked readers which condo was the best-looking (I prefer to say “most beautiful”) condo project in Seattle. The absolute winner overall was a pretty girl named Ava (see left).


What makes Ava so beautiful? It’s not just a person’s looks that make them attractive, it’s what’s inside that counts. Same with condos. Ava is a hotel/condo combo, but this luxury doesn’t say it all. Floor to ceiling windows are great always a huge plus, but what makes them especially stunning is their new high-tech clear glass that will let in more light than other projects like Madison Tower or Cristalla, which used darker glass. Seattle has enough clouds to account for high depression rates, lets keep the light coming in, shall we? Another perk is an outdoor bar (think the SkyBar in LA). Many other condos can offer these amenities and features, I hear you say. All right, but the unique thing about Ava is she’s in the right place at the right time. She will be the closest hotel/condo project to the core of retail activity (6th and Pine), making her beautiful and useful, which of course, makes her all the more beautiful.

Construction will begin next year with the building set to open in 2010.

More on AVA: www.liveatava.com

AVA in the news www.liveatava.com/media.html

Absorbtion

For those of you in which the concept of absorption is new, don’t worry, it’s pretty simple. Absorption measures the rate at which condos are sold over a certain period of time. For instance, the data below represents the number of condos that were sold last month. So you’re asking yourself, “Why is it important?” The absorption rate is a strong indicator of how well a market is doing. If a market has a low absorption rate, this generally means that condos are not selling in a particular area. In turn, this would drive down prices since the market would be saturated with inventory. I have included an analysis of the Seattle absorption rate.

* Information courtesy of FatReport.com

State of Downtown: Months of Inventory

There have been 930 condominium homes listed for sale on in the Downtown Seattle Core, the area defined as area 701 by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, during the past year. Of those, 296 are currently on the market. Below is a breakdown by price range and absorption rates as well as the monthly supply extrapolated from the past year’s sales activity. Attached is the raw data used for the analysis.

Current Absorption
The overall absorption rate for single level condominium homes downtown Seattle is 52.83 condominium homes per month. Over sixty percent of the homes sold are below $500,000. The market for product above $500,000 represents 37% of the market.
The monthly absorption rate for condominium homes priced between $500,000 & $700,000 in downtown Seattle is 10.75 homes per month. The rate increases to 33.8 per month for condominium homes priced below $500,000.

Current Supply
Based on the absorption rate of the past 12 months there are currently 5.6 months worth of inventory available. In the 500,000 to 700,000 market there is currently 5.77 months worth of inventory. Based on last year's absorption, there is currently 12 months worth of inventory for condominiums priced above $700,000. If you want to sell in this price range, it is time to market condominiums rather than simply list them. Can you say "CondoCompare.com"

Brett Frosaker

Columbia Real Estate

Why is Buying a Condo so Difficult?

Now that is a good question... why is buying a condo so difficult? Have you ever felt like there are so many condos, so much to know and really no where to turn to get the information? About two years ago my wife and I were at Home Depot on a sunny, summer, Sunday afternoon when I finally decided that I was totally over living in a house. I was tired of always having work to do and always hanging out at Home Depot while all of my friends were frolicking at a lake, park, et cetera. If you have lived in a house I am sure you have been in this position. So... my wife and I started driving towards down town Seattle determined to find the condo of our dreams... or the condo of our dreams that we could afford.

When we "arrived" in Belltown we found ourselves sort of lost and confused... and we know real estate really well. We are seasoned investors, I have bought and sold over 30 properties in the last few years and here I am in Belltown totally lost(blocks from my home on Queen Anne). We literally couldn't find more than 1 property to look at. There were no signs and no way to find a condo for sale... Also, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between a condo vs an apartment building, commercial space or even a hotel these days. Have you been in this position as I have? If you were looking for a house you can just drive the streets and look for signs... condos are just totally different. There are often no signs literally or figuratively...

I started feeling like the condo world was this little cult where by some people had the information and I couldn't get it unless I could find these people. Since I couldn't find anyone in the "cult" worth speaking with I realized that most agents no very little about condos, in fact the average agent has sold maybe 1 condo and has been in probably less than 10 condo buildings. It is just very difficult to find agents that know the condo market compared to finding an agent that specializes in the residential market. So... we started a little company called CondoCompare.com to bridge the gap between condo buyers needs and the current gap in access to information.

Our site is built to help simplify the condo shopping process and great agents to guide you through the buying process. We have live MLS data and we give you the ability to compare condos side by side and size each building/unit up based on a bunch of different criteria. We hope you enjoy it and we certainly hope that we have bridged the gap between the potential condo buyer and the cult of the condo market...