The Seattle Condo Blog | Seattle Condos and Lofts

Escala Condominium
The Escala Condominium report they’ve just received full Fannie Mae approval. This will facilitate loan approvals with various lenders and will accelerate closings at the luxury condo tower in downtown Seattle.

Marselle Condominium
The Marselle Condominium has surpassed the 100 unit sales mark and is now over 75% sold. The new construction condominium near the Seattle Center still has a number of great single level flats and two-story townhome penthouses available. Prices start from $219,990.

One Main Street Condominium
The One Main Street Condominium near Downtown Bellevue recently reduced prices up to $30,000 on select one-bedroom plus den homes, which now begin at $379,900. Regular one-bedroom homes start from $299,900.

Land Use Action
The Seattle DPD approved a couple of notable proposed apartment developments in Belltown. This morning the DPD approved the 27-story development next to the Seattle Heights Condominium at 225 Cedar Street. The current proposal is for a tower at the NE corner of the block at the site of the American Lung Association building. Eventually, the development will encompass the entire east half of the block. Across the street, the Alto apartment building is currently under construction. View decision (pdf).

A few weeks ago, the Schuster Group’s Joseph Arnold Lofts project received conditional approval. The proposed 13-story apartment building will be adjacent to the Bellora and Klee Condominiums. Virtually all of Bellora’s southern views will be obstructed as well as the west views of the Klee’s south building. View decision (pdf).

Queen Anne High School
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that developer of the Queen Anne High School Condominium is battling its insurer after loosing a $9.4 million lawsuit brought on the homeowners association.

According to the article, the homeowners association filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, implied warranty, and violation of the Consumer Protection Act in its marketing of the property, among other issues.

Developer, insurer now at odds over $9.4M ruling on Queen Anne High School via Puget Sound Business Journal

A few notable land use bulletins came up recently which may be of interest to folks, including the resurrection of the Cameo project, a 27-story Belltown apartment tower and two new apartment developments in South Lake Union.

1527 15th Avenue (Capitol Hill)

The Cameo development on Capitol Hill is back on the table after a 3-year hiatus. The project was originally proposed as a sister condo development to the Braeburn across the street at 15th & Pine St. The current proposal, similar in design to the original, is a 6-story building with 56 residential units including 2 live/work units and retail space. The project is owned and being developed by HAL Real Estate Investments, whose residential portfolio includes both apartment and condominium buildings.

Design Review Board Meeting for the Cameo
     Date:   Wednesday, April 20, 2011
     Time:   8:00 pm
     Location:   Seattle University, Alumni Relations & Admissions Building, 824 12th Ave
     Design Proposal download (10 mb PDF); view bulletin

Rendering courtesy of Studio Meng Strazzara

2625 3rd Ave (Belltown) Note: Address changed to 225 Cedar Street

An early design guidance review meeting has been scheduled for the proposed 310-unit apartment building at 2625 3rd Ave 225 Cedar St, the adjacent property northeast of the Seattle Heights Condominium building. Interestingly, this project keeps growing from its initial 17-stories on the parcel where the American Lung Association building stood, to 20-stories, then 26-stories and now 27-stories, that when all phases are completed will encompass the whole 3rd Avenue half of the block.

I’ve heard there’s been strong opposition to the size of the project from residents at Seattle Heights. The project is being developed by Paragon Real Estate. Alto, an apartment tower currently under construction, is located across 3rd Avenue from this site.

Design Review Board Meeting for 2625 3rd Ave
     Date:   Tuesday, April 12, 2011
     Time:   5:30 pm
     Location:   Seattle City Hall, Boards and Commission Room L280
     Design Proposal from February download (15 mb PDF); view bulletin

Rendering courtesy of Hewitt Architects

Joseph Arnold Lofts (Belltown)

A design review board meeting as been scheduled for the Joseph Arnold Lofts apartment development in Belltown. To be developed by the Schuster Group who built Mosler Lofts, The Joseph Arnold Lofts is planned for the corner of Elliott Avenue and Cedar Way with the Bellora Condo on the northwest and The Klee Lofts to the northeast. When built, the 13-story 132 unit building will be within 20 feet of the Bellora’s southerly facade (as close as 10 feet in earlier designs) and an alley width from The Klee.

Update: 4/11. Per the DPD the meeting has been cancelled. See notice
Design Review Board Meeting for Joseph Arnold Lofts
     Date:   Tuesday, April 26, 2011
     Time:   5:30 PM
     Location:   Seattle City Hall
     View bulletin

Rendering courtesy of Via Architecture

975 John Street (South Lake Union)

Rollin Street Flats may soon get a new neighbor. A land use application (see bulletin) has been filed for an adjacent parcel located Northeast of Rollin Street, which is owned by Investco Properties. The application is for a 7-story, 145 unit residential building with 72 parking spaces. Investco’s residential arm develops and manages apartment buildings.

Vulcan has left the door open to re-convert Rollin Street Flats back to condominiums when the condo market rebounds.

420 Pontius (South Lake Union / Cascade)

Vulcan Real Estate is proposing a massive residential development that’ll encompass an entire block in the SLU/Cascade neighborhood, bounded by Pontius, Republican, Yale and Harrison. The proposed development will incorporate the historic landmark Supply Laundry Building with 7-story buildings, up to 320 residential units, approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 360 vehicles (per the design proposal document).

The Laundry Block site is part of Vulcan’s vision to redevelop the South Lake Union area into desirable urban village attracting new businesses and residents. The Laundry Block is located 4 blocks east of Amazon’s new campus and 2 blocks north of REI.

Design Review Board Meeting for 420 Pontius / Laundry Block
     Date:   Wednesday, April 20, 2011
     Time:   6:30 PM and 8:00 pm
     Location:   Queen Anne Community Center, 1901 1st Avenue West, Room 3
     Design Proposal from October 2010 download (9 mb PDF)
     Report from the October 2010 meeting; view bulletin

Rendering courtesy of Runberg Architecture Group

May 2011 Update: This project is now called the Joseph Arnold Lofts. View all related posts about this development.

An early design review guidance meeting has been set for the 2700 Elliott Ave project (Elliott & Cedar), a proposed 13-story, 122-unit residential development in Belltown. The meeting will be held at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday, June 23rd at 5:30 PM in the Boards and Commissions Room L280.

The 2700 Elliott Ave parcel was purchased last year by the Schuster Group, developer of Mosler Lofts, who indicated at the time a desire to develop the property with a “green” condominium building. Recently, they stated to the DJC they are pursuing the design process now in order to be ready for the next development cycle and market upswing.

The parcel is situated adjacent to the Bellora and Klee Condominiums and a development proposal has been floating around since 2002 for this parcel, which has seen ownership changes in 2005 and 2008. Back in 2005 a DPD decision regarding a 14-story, 107-unit proposal was issued to a representative of Trammell Crow Residential.

The design proposal has been added to the Seattle DPD website and can be viewed here (PDF download).

Renderings courtesy of LMN Architects.