The Seattle Condo Blog | Seattle Condos and Lofts

Updated 7/30/2010: Additional 30 newly minted FHA approved condos.

Ever since conventional mortgages implemented additional fees, tighter requirements and acquired a general distaste for condo purchases, it has gotten a bit more difficult to secure a condo loan. Those of us who work the condo market have seen more and more buyers shift to FHA backed financing for their purchases. FHA’s qualification guidelines are a bit more lenient and only require a minimum 3.5% down payment.

Add to that the number of first-time home buyers enticed to homeownership as a result of the tax credit, many condo associations have sought HUD/FHA approval for their buildings. This year alone, over 60 condominiums obtained HUD/FHA approval under FHA’s DELRAP or HRAP program, which means the approval is good for 24 months.

Here’s a list of newly minted FHA approved condos that received FHA/HUD approval this year (as of 7/30/10):

Have a question about buying a condo using FHA or if you’d like more information on getting your condo building FHA approved, drop us a note.

Veer Lofts, located in Seattle’s South Lake Union district, has reduced prices and is offering a limited time $8,000 seller credit on any purchases before December 1, 2009. It is timed with the November 30th expiration of the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit. For purchases that close by November 30th, buyers will effectively receive $16,000 in savings ($8,000 seller credit and $8,000 tax credit).

Veer Lofts offer three styles of home layouts: flats, full 16′ two-level lofts and a hybrid flexi-loft layout. Flats start from $259,500, Flexi’s from $282,500 and the full-lofts from $379,500.

Website: www.veerlofts.com

Remember when we used to hear of a new condo development practically every week back in the day. At one point, there were 30 or so projects planned, or being dreamed of, that were forever going change the cityscape. A reader wanted to know and asked if I’d do a follow-up to this Midtown post. Here’s what I’ve got so far.

Heron / Pagoda: Twin condo/hotel project at 5th & Stewart – Dead, with the property having gone into foreclosure.

The Martin: Vulcan’s cinematic condo at 5th & Lenora – Indefinitely tabled. As far as I know Vulcan still owns the property and could develop it during the next construction cycle.

7th & Westlake: An office/condo combo – It was pretty much a goner when I wrote about it back in 2007.

2105 6th Ave: Twin tower apartments – I have no idea. I assume financing and competition (Aspira, Olivian) kept this on the sidelines. Update 8/31/09: Per a Seattle Business magazine article, Sixth & Lenora Apartments are expecting to break ground next year with leasing beginning in 2011. It’s good to get an update but the timeline seems ambitious.

Icon Tower: a sleek condo tower on a tiny footprint at Denny & Wall – Dead. There’s a “For Sale” sign on the lot now.

Hyatt Place: an interesting mix – hotel and apartments – currently under construction at 6th and Denny.

Rollin Street: Vulcan’s brick at Denny & Westlake – Converted to apartments.

Equinox: nearing completion on Eastlake – Converted to apartments. I just confirmed this today. Presale buyers are being given the opportunity to purchase homes at a discount at other Schnitzer properties such as Brix and Gallery. Those choosing not to purchase will be refunded their earnest money deposit.

Seneca Towers: a twin tower condo project at 8th & Seneca – To be developed as apartments. I happened upon a property management website showing the property renamed the Park Seneca, its original name.

Stewart and Minor: Dead. The property was put up for sale.

1 Hotel and Residence: at 2nd and Pine – Comatose, possibly dead. Financial difficulties, the concrete strike, construction financing and not meeting the city’s use ordinances did this one in. Now, the great hole of Seattle.

AVA: at 8th and Pine – Comatose. Not really sure, but nothing is likely to happen until the next construction cycle.

Insignia Towers: Vancouver does Seattle at 5th and Battery – don’t know. Hoping this one goes through. Developer paid $50M for the lot which is being used to house cars and DOT equipment.

Art House: at Battery and Elliott – apparently Dead. The project is no longer on the developer’s website.

2015 2nd Ave: a 40-story residential project adjacent to Cristalla and One Pacific Tower – the parcel is listed for sale.

Moda: small and affordable in Belltown – Converted to apartments. Unfortunately, during construction the units shrank from their already small size.

Those that survived:

5th and Madison
1521
Olive 8
Gallery
The Parc
Mosler Lofts
Enso
Veer Lofts
Escala (?)
Four Seasons
Marselle
Trio
Lumen
Brix

Somewhat old news now, the Stewart + Minor loft building site has been listed for sale for $3,995,000. This was a rather unique project – a sleek, glass enclosed tower with 14 stories of customizable two-level loft homes above a 14-story hotel base.

Besides market and economic factors, the Seattle Times suggest that DPD’s approval of the Kinnects apartment tower on the adjacent lot also affected Stewart + Minor as a viable project. The property’s owner, GIS International, previously shelved its European Tower project in Bellevue.

UPDATE: This unit has sold and is no longer available.

View other Trace Lofts units available for sale

Hip and urban open one-bedroom loft in the heart of the eclectic Pike/Pine neighborhood. Trace Lofts #308 is the first resale available at the recently converted 1919 building.

This inviting home features large South facing windows creating a light-filled, warm interior that’s accented with exposed brick walls, timber ceiling & reclaimed Douglas Fir floors. The richly appointed modern kitchen features mahogany-stained oak cabinets & Inca Basalt tiled countertops and is equipped with GE Profile stainless steel appliances including a gas range.

The home’s industrial loft character includes high ceilings with exposed duct work and piping. Trace Lofts is in the center of the revitalized Pike/Pine triangle and is close to everything – entertainment, nightlife, shops, cafes and bistros.

Offered at: $315,000
Unit info:  615 sq ft, includes extra storage and assigned parking
Pet friendly: Yes
MLS#: 28185785

This property is listed with TSCB’s Ben Kakimoto & Barb Andersen.

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.

View available Veer Loft units for sale.

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
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.

View photo gallery

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.