The Seattle Condo Blog

Veer Lofts (www.veerlofts.com), Vulcan’s first South Lake Union condominium/loft project to complete (technically the 2200 is not in SLU) received its temporary certificate of occupancy recently, and first move-in is expected shortly.

With Veer, Vulcan seeks to emulate a trendy industrial loft feel with open spaces accented with heavy timber beams, concrete and metal. The six-story building contains 99 homes with three distinct home plans - flats, lofts with a flexible space and two-level full lofts.

Prior to the TCO, our only glimpse of Veer was through the rather limited kitchen vignette at the SLU Discovery Center. And, honestly that single vignette provided an underwhelming impression of Veer, especially when compared to Vulcan’s other under-construction projects - Enso & Rollin Street.

I had the opportunity to tour Veer this week and I must say that it exceeded my expectations; partly because the finish materials are higher quality than originally sampled. And, also because the interior layouts exhibit an efficient use of space. Though, there were a couple of odd quirks. The in-unit exposed sprinkler pipes were not symmetrically installed. There may be a building code reason for this, but visually it was distracting. And, in the common stairwells, the sprinkler pipes hang below the ceiling decreasing overhead clearance, which is only an issue if you’re hauling large items up and down the stairs. At least in two flexi-lofts units I toured, the access point to the loft area was hindered by the ceiling beams that effectively decreased the height of the opening. I’d be hard press to visualize the flexi-loft space as anything other than storage. But, that’s fine. There’s more than ample living space on the main level.

Inside, the light colored concrete floors on the main level and over-sized windows provided more than ample ambient light. In the flats, a 3/4 height kitchen wall allows light to pass through to the sleeping alcove. The top-level full-loft homes are impressive with its soaring 16′ ceiling height, multiple decks and territorial city views. Curiously though, to access the private outdoor space (top-floor units) you’ll need to step out through a window opening, which is smaller than shown in renderings.

Veer Lofts has a number of units available offering an excellent array of home options, primarily flexi and full-lofts. There is only one flat still available, unit #207 that’s being offered at $404,950. This is a 751 square foot unit with windows on three sides offering views of downtown and Lake Union.

The flexi-lofts, located on the 4th and 5th floors, range in size from approximately 600 to 740 square feet and are being offered between the upper-$300,000s and upper-$400,000s. One note about the flexi’s, the stated square footage does not include the loft space, which would add an additional 250 to 350 square feet. The full-lofts, located on the 1st and 6th (top) floor, range in size from approximately 807 to 1,073 square feet. The 1st floor homes start from the upper-$400,000s while the top floor homes begin in the mid-$500,000s.

An on-site sales office and staged model homes will open to the public beginning Thursday, October 9th. The sales office hours are 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Veer Lofts Versus …

Three other recently completed new construction developments provide homes with similar layouts to Veer. These include Madison Lofts, Gallery and Mosler Lofts. Here’s my impression on how they compare to Veer.

Madison Lofts
Madison Lofts is a much smaller building with only 20 loft homes compared to the much larger 99-unit Veer. All of Madison Lofts’ homes are multi-level full-lofts with 16′ ceiling height, on-par with Veer’s full-lofts. Homes at Madison Lofts essentially start from the upper-$400,000s, though two larger units with expansive outdoor space begin at just under $1 million.

With a few exceptions, the interior layout and square footage between the two projects are quite similar. But, Madison Lofts scores more points for better construction (concrete/steel vs. wood frame), a more polished interior with better quality finishes and more usable, larger exterior spaces. Veer gains points for its central location, in the middle of the yet to be fully realized SLU district and close to downtown. Madison Lofts, on the other hand, is tucked way next to the arboretum, a good 15-20 minutes from downtown.

Gallery Townhomes
The Gallery condominium in Belltown is in the final stages of completion with residents already moving-in. At one point Gallery offered “SkyLofts”, two-level loft units on the upper floors, but eventually replaced those with single-level flats. Fortunately, for those interested in loft living, Gallery did retain its ground floor loft-styled townhomes. Though, these are aimed towards a different demographic and are larger, ranging in size from 1,000 to 1,195 square feet. They’re also priced quite a bit higher, between $622,000 and $740,300.

Gallery is a concrete and steel building located within the established Belltown neighborhood, so it has an edge over Veer in that respect. With its refined interiors, it lacks the urban industrial character of Veer and Mosler. Gallery offers a greater variety of home options which will appeal to a more diverse homeowner base as well.

Mosler Lofts Townhomes
The concrete and steel constructed Mosler Lofts, also located in Belltown, offers similar ground floor loft-style townhome units. Mosler has a more industrial aesthetic compared to Veer, with exposed concrete walls and ceilings and exposed HVAC ducts, but does have higher quality finishes and more common amenities.

Presently, only one of the five loft-townhomes is available. It’s a 962 square foot home offered at $579,000, which competes directly with Veer’s top-floor lofts. Although, Mosler has a superior build quality, more amenities and located in an established area, on price, a top-level Veer unit is a compelling option. Veer’s top-floor lofts offer city or lake views, private decks and a greater sense of security.

Veer Lofts is located in Seattle’s most aggressive urban renewal and reinvention projects, South Lake Union. Led by Paul Allen’s vision, SLU is actually an amalgamation of numerous entities that represent diverse interests - educational and research institutions, market-rate and low-income residential development as well as commercial/office developments. Local companies setting-up shop in SLU include Group Health, UW Medicine, Rosetta, Tommy Bahama, Amazon, Microsoft, Weber Thompson and NBBJ. Additionally, Microsoft is expected to be the principal tenant of the 2201 Westlake office building (Enso).

In city, urban revival isn’t just a downtown occurrence. Over the past few years, sleepy Georgetown has been slowing reinventing itself from an industrial district, to a haven for artists, and soon, into the next hot spot to live and/or work, not too different from what Ballard has been through.

One of the newest residential developments is Georgetown Lofts at 6706 Corson Ave So. The five-unit project developed by Murray Kahn features two loft-style homes (facing Corson) and three townhomes ranging in size from 800 to 1,264 square feet.

The two-bedroom loft homes provide approximately 1,035 sq ft of living space on three levels. The main level + loft span 19 feet in height providing an open and airy living area while the bedrooms are located on the lower level. In the rear are the townhomes, 2 two-bedrooms and 1 two-bedroom + den unit.

The homes have a modern, industrial appeal with polished cement floors on the lower level, steel encased stairs and bannisters, cantilevered walls and ceilings, “rusted” corrugated siding and industrial style light fixtures. Georgetown Lofts won’t appeal to everyone. On the other hand, it provides a fantastic edgy alternative to the run of the mill townhomes popping up throughout the city.

Prices for the homes will likely range from the mid-to-high $300,000s. More info to come.

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I’ll be hosting an open house at The Portal Over Lake Union on Sunday, May 18th from 1 - 4 pm. The Portal is located at 655 Crockett Street, access is from Dexter Avenue.

Unit #A102 is one of only a handful of live/work lofts available within the complex, perfectly suitable for office or artisan studio space. The unit is a spacious 1,214 square feet of open living space with 12′ ceilings. Other home features include:

• Master suite with walk-in closet, built-ins and a huge 5-piece master bath
• Open living/kitchen space with oversized windows
• Separate loft area with an adjoining closet. The space is completely customizable - use it as an office, studio, 2nd bedroom or media room - whatever fits your need.
• 2nd full bathroom
• Stone countertops, stainless steel appliances, gas fireplace
• Bamboo, carpet and tile flooring
• Private deck, in unit w/d, parking & extra storage
• Pet friendly

The Portal was constructed in 2004 consisting of 76 condominium homes in two buildings overlooking Lake Union. Though the buildings back to Aurora, the homes are on the East-side with the common hallway buffering the homes from Aurora. Amenities include a courtyard off the community club room and an expansive roof top deck. Access to the Portal is via Dexter Avenue.

As previously mentioned, there has been a few changes occurring with the Stadium Lofts project. Since its initial debut Stadium Lofts has been through a redesign and acquired a new lead developer, Barrientos, which has resulted in delays.

Recently, Stadium Lofts announced that they retained the architectural firm of Weinstein A|U to revisit every detail of the project. Weinstein’s other noted Seattle projects include the Banner Building, Agnes Lofts and the Bernard.

Stadium Lofts will be hosting a focus group event later this Spring to unveil its new design concept. More info to come.

Trace Lofts (website) report they are down to their final 5 units. Four of the units are on the 4th level with the remaining unit on the 5th level. Prices range from $485,000 for a 703 sq ft loft to $850,000 for a 1,154 sq ft loft.

Next door at Trace North, construction is expected to be completed by June. About 30 of the 100 units have sold and the developer just released another 20 units. Current prices at Trace North range from $230,000 for a 474 sq ft studio to $525,000 for a 952 sq ft two-bedroom home.

Trace’s New Neighbors

1210 11th Avenue
Union & Madison LLC has proposed a 5-story 91-unit complex on the triangular block SW of Trace Lofts. The building is designed by Runberg Architecture Group whose other projects include The Crawford on Capitol Hill and the Selano in Lower Queen Anne.

1111 East Pike
Designed by Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, 1111 East Pike is just west of Trace North on E. Pike Street. The proposed 6-story project will feature 27 condominium homes. See also.

There’s been some shuffling going on with Stadium Lofts but things seems to be falling into place. Barrientos is now the sole developer of the project after spearheading a recent design change. Information about the new design will, hopefully, be announced in the next few months. Construction is now expected to begin late this year. On the other hand, the pre-sale / reservation time frame is still to be determined. I’m told it could begin as early as this Spring or as late as this Fall.

At any rate, I encourage people to register online at www.liveatstadiumlofts.com to be kept in the loop regarding pre-sales and project info.

Late last year Belltown welcomed the completion of two condominium projects - The Parc & Mosler Lofts. With resale units in both projects hitting the market, it’s as good a time as any to take a peek at what investors are looking to score.

The Parc
To date, there have been nine resales at The Parc; seven are active listings and two have sold. The two resales garnered a 12.4% & 13.9% increase in value over their pre-sale price, respectively. That’s a decent return given Belltown’s slowing appreciation rate which dipped into the single digits in 2007.

Here’s a look at the seven active resales (information subject to change). For the most part, the sellers are realistic. Though, I anticipate more resales popping up which will likely suppress values over the short term.

Mosler Lofts
As of today there are eight resale listings at Mosler Lofts (competing with eight developer listings), one pending transaction, and one sold resale unit. The owner of the unit that sold realized an 11.9% return on their pre-sale investment. I’d expect a higher rate of return, however, this was the first resale to sell and the seller was an agent.

Most of the owners actively flipping are hoping for higher returns. The list prices are not unreasonable for a new concrete & steel building in Belltown. Though, a few seem unrealistic given the current market conditions combined with the characteristics of their specific units.

Here’s a look at the eight active resales (information subject to change).

Stadium Lofts has delayed accepting reservations until early next year. Originally, reservations were to begin this month but it appears they are still finalizing interior finishes and pricing. There was also a hold up with permitting approval after the developer altered the original design with additional floors.

Latest rendering:

Previous rendering:

Gallery Belltown
Buyers speak with their pocketbooks. And, apparently buyers spoke loudly at Belltown’s Gallery Condominium project. When the Gallery project first came online it was touting its SkyLofts concept, true two-level loft homes with 18′ ceiling heights located on the upper floors that offered spectacular city and sound views. But, it seems buyers just weren’t ponying up the big bucks for these units and most of them are now history, replaced with 600 sq ft one-bedroom flats.

Stewart | Minor
The lack of loft living enthusiasts at Gallery hasn’t deterred the developers of the Stewart | Minor high-rise loft project in Denny Triangle. But, Stewart | Minor is somewhat unique. The concept is based on 600 sq ft cube units that’ll offer owners the opportunity to add a mezzanine/loft level, increasing livable space by nearly 50%. The homes feature 18′ ceiling heights that’ll provide ample head room on the mezzanine level, which buyers can add at the time of purchase or at a later date.

The idea behind these convertible homes is Move Up or Move Out. The most common reason people move is because they’ve outgrown their current space. When considering the cost of moving (selling costs, moving costs, time, etc) an average person might spend around $40,000. Stewart | Minor offers the option to finish the mezzanine level for about the same price. Though, to built-out the upper level fully (sleeping area, master bath and closet) may cost up to $100,000.

Unlike Gallery, Stewart | Minor is striving to offer a more affordable price point (starting at $400,000) and has been gaging interests and opinions through a series of design preview events. Construction is expected to begin late 2008/early 2009 with pre-sales beginning next Spring/Summer and occupancy in 2011.

1 Hotel & Residences
The Seattle Times report that New York-based Equinox Fitness will occupy 35,000 square feet of space at 1 Hotel & Residences. Equinox is an upscale fitness center known for its celebrity clientele. Monthly dues will likely start around $130, a premium compared to dues at nearby gyms. The gym, as well as the 5,000 square foot spa managed by Equinox, will occupy the 7th & 8th floors.

Took a short hard hat tour of Mosler this morning, mostly to view the penthouse and sneak a peek at townhouse 2 and #703. The place was a madhouse packed with construction crews and building inspectors. I snapped a few photos, but unfortunately, the TH and 703 were both in rough shape and they only had the studs up in the penthouse.

From what I did see, the TH and 703 have quality interior finishes and I liked the industrial feel with the exposed duct work, concrete walls and ceilings. The little coffee shop is a nice touch but a little too convenient being accessible from the lobby.

If you’ve been considering Mosler, you might just want to snatch up one of the three remaining units. Sources indicate the developer is likely to increase prices once the building is completed.

Though, buyers should do their due diligence in respects to new developments in the area and potential blocking of downtown views. A 13-story apartment building has been proposed at the SE corner of 3rd & Cedar.