According to a letter by Eugene Gershman, COO of European Tower / GIS International Group, the European Tower project is moving forward. Gershman stated:

We believe now is the right time to begin construction on this one of a kind project. No one can dispute the excitement and pride of owning an entire floor you call home. The opportunity to purchase one of only 16 distinctive homes does not come around very often. Just as any fine craftsmen would do; we have been waiting and watching, learning from our buyers, and applying those lessons to improving European Tower.

With the reduced global demand for labor and materials I have tasked our team to find a way to deliver our original vision at today’s market. Over the past several months we have been working tirelessly to secure updated contracts to make this a reality. I am pleased to say we are now ready to lower prices by as much as $2,000,000 per home. Full floor customizable shells at European Tower start as low are (sic) $700,000 and feature the same level of interior options, automated valet parking, and a full time concierge.

European Tower is now accepting names for its interest list, which is expected to close by October 31, 2009. Shortly after interested buyers will be offered a purchase contract to move forward. European Tower is anticipating a Summer 2011 completion date.

www.EuropeanTower.com

Continental is celebrating its completion with a Grand Opening this Saturday, August 8th, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at 511 100th Avenue NE in Bellevue.

“Before Continental, the only option for condominium-living in downtown Bellevue was in a high-rise environment,” said Continental Condominiums owner and developer Jim Cronkhite. “Our buyer is looking for something different — they want a cozy, more-intimate living experience, but still have access to all the exciting amenities of a downtown core.”

At Continental Condominiums, style meets the convenience of location, creating a one-of-a-kind “boutique”-living experience. Homes feature open floor plans, quality appliances and fixtures. All Continental Condominiums homes are finished with a natural palette of granite, marble and hardwood accented with hand-blown glass pendants.

Homes start in the low $300,000s with three-quarters of the units listed under $500,000, making downtown Bellevue affordable for first-time homebuyers.

The Continental’s sales office is open daily: Monday to Friday between 12pm – 6pm and on the weekends from 11am to 6pm.

Click thumbnail for larger image:

Bellevue Towers sent out an email this week mentioning that coinciding with the completion of the development they are offering pricing specials for the next 50 buyers. Some of the pricing information they provided include:

200 West Highland:

200 West Highland also sent an email this week promoting price reductions ranging from 12% to 36%. Here are pricing information for their currently listed properties:

Thornton Place:

Finally, Thornton Place issued a press release highlighting a new buyer incentive and updates on the retail and cinema. The latest condo buyer incentive they’re offering is an FHA 2/1 interest rate buy-down and special summer pricing. However, they did not providing updated pricing information, though two listings were recently reduced $30,000 and $50,000.

Three additional restaurants signed-on to the development. These include Five Guys Burger and Fries, Subway and Tengu Japanese sushi, which join the two previously announced eateries – Jewel Box Cafe and Thai Fusion.

Finally, Regal Cinema is hosting a Free Family Film Festival through the week of August 6th. Beginning at 10:00 AM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they are providing free family friendly movies for kids and parents. Movies include The Tale of Despereaux, Kung Fu Panda, Surf’s Up, Igor, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Bee Movie, Alvin and the Chimpmunks and Wallace and Gromit.

The local arm of the Abu Dhabi-backed company known as Hydra Development will instead proceed with a 100-room luxury hotel to called the Bellevue Park Hotel. It’ll be managed by MTM Luxury Lodging which currently manages the Sorrento Hotel and Hotel 1000 in Seattle. The Bellevue Park Hotel will feature a spa, meeting space and four-star quality restaurant. Hydra expects to break ground next year with a 2012 completion date.

Downtown Bellevue has seen significant growth in luxury condominium developments in recent years with Lincoln Tower, Washington Square, Bellevue Towers, The Bravern and One Main Street. With Bellevue’s ample unsold supply of high-end condos, Hydra’s decision to convert usage is a good one for them and will benefit the other developments. Besides Essex, three other projects have either been scaled back or are on hold indefinitely – Washington Square, Vida and European Tower.

Gallery – Belltown, recently relocated their sales office into a townhome unit in the Gallery building at 2nd and Broad. They have a couple of model homes staged and should have seven model homes ready shortly. The first five floors are complete and residents started moving-in this past Friday.

I recently toured the property but the sales staff was a bit disheveled and only had keys to one unit, and couldn’t provide access to common amenities. I’ll reserve judgment of the development until I can get back for a comprehensive tour. But, if there was one item I was disappointed with it was heating – baseboard and stand alone forced air wall heaters, in a $600,000 unit no less. There are still assignment opportunities available, just saw one on Craigslist. For more info on Gallery, visit www.liveatgallery.com.

Veer Lofts – South Lake Union, is nearing completion and expects to receive its TCO in the next week or two, with first move-in by the end of the month. Currently, the project is about 60% sold so there’s still a number of options for anyone interesting in pioneering SLU condo living. Visit www.veerlofts.com for more info.

Canal Station – Ballard, hosted an agent event last night, a final push to close out sales in phase two. A recent price reduction may make the development appealing to hesitant buyers with one-bedrooms starting from $265,000 and two-bedrooms from $415,000.

I spoke with a owner in phase one who lamented the falling values, especially now that phase two is priced below phase one. At the present, he’s realizing a decent-sized loss in value, but hopefully the new pricing will entice buyers, leading to a reduction in Ballard’s condo inventory. Visit www.canalstation.com for more info.

1521 – Downtown, expects first move-in to begin this November.

When: Sunday, September 14th from 12:30 pm to 4:30pm

Where: Start in the lobby of the Key Bank Building, 10655 NE 4th Street

Since Bellevue Towers is still under construction, the following event safety rules apply:

• Close-toed, flat shoes are required to enter the construction site (i.e. no high heels or sandals will be permitted).
• Please meet in the lobby of the Key Bank building to sign your release waiver prior to entering the construction site.
• Children under 18 are not permitted on the construction site.

www.BellevueTowers.com

The project has three things in its favor – (1) the smaller scale of the project, (2) it’s backed by The Royal Group, the Abu Dhabi-based parent company of Essex’s developer, Hydra Developments of Seattle, and (3) access to funding through The National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Essex will be comprised of only 32 luxury condominium homes located adjacent to Bellevue’s Downtown Park. The homes are spacious, ranging in size between 1,200 and 2,900 square feet and are being offered from $1 million to $4+ million.

A presentation center should be completed and opened to the public by year’s end and will feature finish options as well as kitchen and bath vignettes. However, pre-construction reservations are currently being accepted by private appointment for interested buyers. Approximately, a quarter of the units have been reserved.

The developer anticipates razing the existing structure in September with completion and occupancy slated for the fall of 2010.

Essex is the first project for Hydra, which plans to develop up to 8 properties in the region before expanding to other parts of the country. Lease Crutcher Lewis is the contractor and Shugart Bates the architect.

Source: PSBJ, Seattle PI, Essex On The Park

GIS is also the developer of the Stewart & Minor hotel and loft project in Denny Triangle. There hasn’t been any movement or information on that project since last Autumn. Given the news regarding European Tower, it’s likely Stewart and Minor went into deep freeze along with number of other downtown condo projects.

Source: DJC

The presentation center is located at the Skyline Tower at 10900 NE 4th Street, Suite 1510 in Bellevue.

Bellevue’s Essex on the Park (website) announced they have released an initial set of homes available for reservations. The initial release will include just 16 condominium homes with the remainder being held back until completion in 2010. Essex will be hosting special design preview events on April 8th, 9th and 10th for individuals who previously registered on their website.

Essex will rise just 9-stories featuring 32 two- and three-bedroom homes that range in size from 1,100 to 2,700 sq ft. Prices for Essex homes start from $800,000 and will likely top more than $3,000,000.

In addition, Bellevue Towers is offering a limited-time rate lock promotion. For homes purchased in March and April they’ll lock interest rates for free. Alternatively, buyers can apply the rate lock cost (approximately 1% of the purchase price) to buy down rates or apply it to closing costs.

Bellevue Towers report they just poured the 38th floor and expect to top off the project in another two months.

Illustration of Bellevue Towers’ roof top Urban Garden designed by Walker-Macy.