The Seattle Condo Blog

The Essex On The Park luxury condominium project in downtown Bellevue is re-emerging as an upscale hotel, reports the Puget Sound Business Journal. Apparently, the current housing and economic climate has affected the salability of a yet another high-end condominium project. Homes at Essex On The Park was expected to fetch between $1 million to over $4 million.

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.

The Essex On the Park is the latest entrant into downtown Bellevue’s luxury condo landscape. At a time when other Bellevue projects are being impacted by the market downturn (i.e. European Tower, Washington Square), Essex is moving forward.

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

The Seattle Condo Tour (website) is taking place this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 5th & 6th. The tour starts at 11:00 AM from Fisher Plaza at the corner of 5th Avenue & Denny Way. Additionally, seminars will be held both days during tour hours at Fisher Plaza.

The Bravern (website) will be celebrating the Grand Opening of its presentation center this weekend. The 7,000 sq ft center features a fully furnished Condominium Estate model home, City Home model kitchen and bath vignettes, a complete architectural site model of The Bravern community and expanded interactive virtual tours and displays from a select group of The Bravern’s premier retailers and restaurateurs.

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.