Olive8 Condo – Midtown Seattle
The Olive8, at the edge of downtown and Capitol Hill, is in the mix for urban living. It’s steps away from the Paramount Theater, the downtown shopping district, close-by the new Whole Foods and a short hop over to Capitol Hill. This area of downtown is generally less active, aside from the cars on Olive heading to the I-5 at rush hour.
Olive8 follows the lead of The 2200 and Madison Tower by incorporating a hotel and many upscale amenities. The Grand Hyatt will reside on the lower 17 levels with residences from the 18th thru the 36th level.
The project includes more than 180 one-, two-, two + den and penthouse residences. The homes come with upscale interiors including Pedini italian cabinets, stone countertops, hardwood floors, stainless Leibherr and Bosch appliances, A/C, 10’+ ceilings and private balconies.
Residents will have access to the Hyatt’s amenities, including a full-service spa, fitness center with a 65 foot lap pool, housekeeping, 24-hour room service and concierge services.
Back a little on it’s location. It sits right next to the 33-story Qwest Plaza which blocks most of the west-facing views except from the “00” NW corner units. And, expect to spend at least $1,000,000 for those units. On the north, you need to be on or above the 28th story to have a view that’s unobstructed by the 720 Olive Way building (red brick). Finally, towards the east are additional projects that are proposed or under construction. Over the long-term, residences may feel boxed-in, but that’s fairly common for downtown living. The point is, just because there’s some open spaces now, doesn’t mean it’ll be there in 4-5 years.
Homes are on sale now and range from $500,000 to well over $2,000,000. Amazingly, many of the homes that face directly into Qwest Plaza have sold. At this time, most of the available homes are on the east and north side of the building. Visit Olive8.
I’m a pre-sale buyer planning on not closing on my unit at Olive 8. It wasn’t an easy decision to make and I had several conversations with the folks at Olive 8. You can read my take and analysis on the deal at http://www.inspiredstartup.com/my-23750-mistake-at-olive-8/.
Back in January Condoboy and I discussed whether supposedly “airtight” contracts like Olive 8’s could be cracked. Well, we now know that it’s possible. My partner, Craig Blackmon, and I just won a case against the Washington Square condo project in Bellevue. Interestingly, it would appear that the same law firm that was involved in drafting Washington Square’s contracts was also involved in drafting Olive 8’s contracts and will also be representing both of them in litigation over those contracts.
Washington Square sued my client and the case was subject to mandatory arbitration. The bad news for WA Square was that the arbitrator agreed that its contract violated a federal law called the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (“ILSA”). As a result my client was awarded 100% of his earnest money plus attorney’s fees and costs and interest. Unfortunately for all the other WA Square buyers, this ruling is not binding on any other buyer.
Olive 8’s contracts contain numerous similarities to WA Square’s so we continue to believe that Olive 8’s contracts are far from airtight. However, this blog comment is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. If you have a contract with Olive 8, Washington Square, or any other condo developer and want to find out what your legal rights and obligations are you should contact a licensed attorney of your choice as soon as possible. Time is of the essence so do not delay.
If anyone would like to discuss their Olive 8 contract or to learn more about the group of clients my firm represents feel free to contact me at 206-357-4224 or marc@lawofficeofcraigblackmon.com.
For more information on ILSA go to the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development’s website at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/ils/ilshome.cfm.
Have my unit closed about three weeks ago but not satisfied with the work. Very unprofessional. The CDW group in working with the construction company to redo the work but they seem just to do some minor work for the visual effect instead of completely redo the work. It is still not in moving condition yet and I do not know when it will be.
Location is great but the quality is totally unacceptable.
That makes me feel better about my decision to pass (although not $40,000 better).
The close rate on the building is pretty bad according to the stats posted on olive8.blogspot.com…that enough is telling me it is a bad investment.
Hello, has anyone worked with a lawyer and successfully got your earnest money back? Please post and help us out. Big thanks!
Marc (above) makes some very good points about ILSFDA. Our law firm is also representing buyers in earnest money disputes with a number of condominium projects. I have drafted condominium documents for a number of local projects so I have experience with these types of matters. If you are interested in a consultation, feel free to call me at 206-438-3851 or send me an email at imants@lawhg.net.
Imants Holmquist
Holmquist & Gardiner, PLLC
imants@lawhg.net
It’s crazy to come back to this blog posting over a year since I last visited, and they’ve only closed 49 sales in the Olive 8 building according to the King County website. That’s less than 25% by my reckoning.
Are there any plans for discounts? I haven’t seen them marketing Olive 8 much around town.
Prices have started to creep down. Some of the recent closings are under $600 sq ft.