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