Condo Chatter
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.
hi ben – 7th & Westlake is the latest casualty? any details?
I don’t have a lot of info. 7th & Westlake was a joint venture between Clise and Murray Franklyn and I was notified by a MF principal that the project won’t be moving forward. But, that’s not to say Clise won’t be doing something else with the property in the future. On the other hand, MF is looking at developing another condo project in Belltown.
Looks like the Clise family waited too long to sell off their land. I’d be surprised if they made 2/3rd of what they were hoping for a the peak.
It’s too bad, really. A “downtown” Seattle that stretched from Pioneer Square through South Lake Union with combinations of residential, retail and offices all throughout would have been really nice.
It’s also interesting that deep-pocketed and not over-leveraged RE investment companies are continuing to build, I’m assuming, to be “ahead” of the next expanding market.
This assumes the “inventory glut” smooths itself out of the market in 2 or 3 years (i.e. by 2010 or 2011, the time when a lot of these projects come on the market).
Will be interesting to see if that’s how it happens.
I walked by the location of the proposed Insignia Condo project and yes, as you indicated, the sign was freshly painted over and the structural steel that had been stacked on one side of the lot had been removed. Back in the day, the site had been occupied by the now defunct Fredericksen Cadillac (later also Range Rover) dealerships and service location. I drove a Cadillac Seville there several times for servicing and the business, like Olsen Cadillac on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, was patronized by the old money crowd there and ditto for Seattle’s old money establishment. A sign of the times that the younger up and coming crowd of Seattle’s trendsetters and blue blood heirs probably wouldn’t think of a Cadillac as their first choice for a luxury purchase; witnessed by the steady stream of Audi, BMW and Mercedes vehicles that are seen around downtown and the close in neighborhoods. There seem to be neighborhood blocks on upper Queen Anne where the lack of a late model Audi might be construed as a sign of economic distress—-is that person sneaking off for a weekly visit to a food bank?
Michael N.