The Seattle Condo Blog

Just some observations…

• Spoke with King5’s Bernard Choy today about some major price decreases, namely Madison Lofts and Cosmo. Check out unit #210 at Madison Lofts, SW corner unit - was $549,000 now $429,950. In his report, Bernard stated ML is taking some pretty steep decreases, up to $200,000.

• Pre-sale investors are jumping ship. I’m hearing more and more cases where pre-sale buyers aren’t going to be able to close on their purchases. Already, people have foregone their huge deposits at Washington Square in order to get out of their contracts. Now, I’m hearing the same with Gallery and 1521. Gallery, at least, unofficially, is letting buyers assign their contracts rather than default on the purchase. Makes sense…with rising inventory developers don’t want to be stuck with unsold units. Heard that Vulcan may do the same with one of its projects.

• Noticed R/UC/WOS has significantly decreased its advertising in the Sunday Seattle Times. Just a few months ago they had two full-color pages…now they’re down to a 1/2 page.

• The rumor that won’t go way - the big hole on 2nd between Stewart and Pine might be there a little while longer. Update: It was announced on 6/24 that Starwood has acquired Avalon’s share of the project.

On the other hand, there’s activity at Insignia Towers - additional materials have been delivered and Insignia’s signage is now up.

Another Belltown condo project
The Schuster Group, developer of Mosler Lofts, purchased the site just south of the Bellora at Cedar and Elliott, according to the DJC. Earlier proposals for the site included a mid-rise apartment and condo projects. At one point one of the proposed projects was called “Bellora 2″.

Schuster’s current plans for the site is a “green” condo project which is zoned to 125′ for residential buildings. No time frame has been provided.

Insignia Towers
The DJC also reported that construction of the Insignia Towers project at 5th between Bell & Battery has been postponed, possibly until 2009. Insignia’s developer, Embassy Development, attributed the sluggish market for their decision.

Escala
As was widely reported earlier this week, Escala announced they’re increasing the prices of their remaining inventory. While the overall adjustment reflects a net increase, sources indicate that they also reduced prices on some of the units the east side of the building.

Seneca Towers
The DJC reported that Laconia Development (formerly Levin Menzies) plans to start work on Seneca Towers this summer and anticipates completion in the summer of 2010. Seneca Towers, located at 8th & Seneca, will consist of 294 units in two towers.

Icon Tower
The other project Laconia is developing in Seattle is the sleek & slender Icon Tower at 6th & Wall. Laconia expects to start construction in August. Completion is slated for the first half of 2011.

Insignia Towers
Work on Insignia Towers (5th between Bell & Battery) may begin as soon as next month according to the developer, Embassy Development, as mentioned in a recent DJC article. That is, of course, dependent on the market showing signs of improvement. The 643-unit project will be constructed in phases with each tower taking up to 37 months to complete.

1 Hotel & Residences
1 Hotel recently announced they’ve completed commercial leasing for the one-block project. Retail tenants will include Equinox Fitness, 1 Spa, the Ocean Restaurant by B.R. Guest who’ll also operate the urban grocer market, and a new retailer for the adjoining Macy’s garage. Completion is anticipated for early 2010.

AVA
AVA noted that they will begin private previews in their new sales center starting in March. The sales center will include a scale-model of the tower, kitchen and bath vignettes, floor plans, representative views and finishes. AVA is one of the few new condo projects to offer homes starting below $400,000. The project recently obtained its master use development permit with groundbreaking scheduled for later this year. Completion is slated for 2011.

114 Pike
There are some new renderings floating around for this project. Though, sources indicate that this project is being placed on hold. I believe occupancy for this project had changed from office/condo to office/apartment.

7th & Westlake
The latest casualty in the condo market shakeup is the office/condo project at 7th & Westlake, confirmed by a principal with Murray Franklyn.

The old Teatro Zinzanni block between 5th & 6th Avenues and Battery & Bell has been sold to Embassy Development of Vancouver, BC. Though this isn’t exactly earth shattering news, it does express a commitment by Embassy to develop the site.

The proposed development, called Insignia Towers Condominium (website), is big - encompassing two 41-story condominium towers with 643 units. Construction on the first tower is expected to begin next spring with a 2010 completion date. The second tower is expected to start around spring 2009. Each tower will have a lengthy construction timeline - 29 months.

Interesting quote from the developer in the DJC: “Most of the condos will be two-bedroom or two-bedroom with dens. Prices in the first tower will start at $750 a square foot, and are intended to be affordable to downtown workers making a ‘decent wage.’ “

Since when is $750/sf considered affordable. What exactly is a decent wage for downtown workers?