urbnlivn, a seattle condo blog

Sorry for the slow down in posts. Work has been busy. Though I was in San Francisco for four days last week and on the weekend visited X21 Modern which proved to be the coolest store ever. For my birthday I’d love a spotlight to go in the corner of my place:

So back to lofts in Seattle… While I haven’t been inside, I am a fan of the Banner Building in Belltown designed by Ed Weinstein, and there is a new listing on the market. #302 is 1,071 square feet of concrete floors. Only $525,000.

I am shocked and appalled that the listing agent has only posted two interior photos. Are they that confident it will sell since it’s a Banner Building unit?

Bonus link: If I move to Newport Beach, I’m going to live here.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I so want a 1,500 square foot loft to spread out in.

#207 just came on the market at $585k.

The marketing remarks says it has been recently remodeled but from the looks of it in the photos I’m not a fan of the remodel.

Popularity: 21% [?]

I’m down in San Francisco enjoy some beautiful weather but a few listings finally caught my eye…

The Crawford

I’ve always had a soft spot for The Crawford and a new listing is now available. #401 is $589,000 for 1,150 1 bed place. Here’s the kitchen:

The DeLorges

After their opening party The Delorges, at 325 Harvard, has put some listings on the market. Price per square foot for these listings range between $468 and $553.

The Klee

Penthouse #PH08 is back on the market with a slight price reduction. After being on the market for a couple hundred days it might be time to consider something larger than a $30,000 price drop.

Meritage

#204 is back on the market after getting pulled off. Looks like they switched listing agents and dropped the price a bit to $329,950.

Mosler Lofts

Few more price reductions…

Pomeroy

#206 is a 1,146 square foot place available for $699,995.

Nice views…

But what do you think about the bedroom!?

Popularity: 24% [?]

Live Historic’s next project, De Lorges, on Capitol Hill is hosting a party this Wednesday from 11 AM to 7 PM. You can find it at 325 Harvard Ave E. RSVP at rsvp@livehistoric.com.

They’ve got studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms from $235,000 to $430,000 from 475 to 898 square feet. No parking.

I may swing by and take some photos…

Popularity: 28% [?]

This weekend the New York Times had an article on Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Condo:

Then there is New York City’s recent condominium boom: Its in-your-face ubiquity and fantasy-minded marketing have raised the bar for apartment seekers exposed to an excess of spa bathrooms, Zen gardens and Boffi kitchens. That’s fine for those willing to pay new-construction prices and wait up to a year or two for the keys.

But buyers lacking patience or money are finding their tastes have gotten more expensive, as apartments that might have thrilled them five years ago have come to resemble throwbacks to an age of portable CD players.

In other words, said one real estate agent frustrated by her frustrated clients, it can be hard to shop at Bloomingdale’s after visiting Barneys.

I know that when I first started looking for a condo two years ago I started looking for something similar to what my friend owned; an older 700 square foot condo in the low $200’s. A few new construction sale trips later I locked on a 750 square foot $345k place. A year later, before even moving in, I signed a purchase and sale for a new construction 880 square foot place for $460k. And neither of those places had many of the amenities mentioned in the New York Times article! I don’t have a spa bathroom, my kitchen can’t accommodate a 36″+ Wolf range and I don’t have a room service. So I can certainly relate to how easily one’s expectations can rise once they get a taste of something better.

A number of people have asked where I’m buying next. Olive 8 seems to be the choice of the agents I know who play the game of always having money down on a new construction project. Escala would be the project in “second place” amongst that same crowd. But on my radar are 1 Hotel & Residences and Stewart and Minor. However, these days I’m spending my money on “finishing” my Trace unit instead of saving for another 5% reservation deposit.

Popularity: 34% [?]

A reader wrote in earlier this week about a sign on Aurora advertising that Carbon 56 was for rent. I interpreted that as meaning there was a small sign advertising one unit for rent but driving down Aurora this evening I saw a full billboard advertising it for rent. A sign indeed.

I’m puzzled since the Carbon 56 website doesn’t work, they still have units on the MLS, and people have bought there.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Update: edanger found this rental page on Move.com. 20 units from $1,675-$2,200. I wonder what’s happening to the people who bought there?

Popularity: 44% [?]

A reader writes in with their own update on Brix:

Being on the Hill, I’m surprised that you haven’t done any recent posts on Brix, given that it’s getting close to being finished. They told us August 1st completion on the Broadway side (July for the 10th Ave side). Seems pretty aggressive to me, but I guess we’ll see. :-)

And included photos:

Photo credit: Eric

Have any other readers bought at Brix?

Popularity: 37% [?]

From the Seattle Times, Queen Anne condo manager accused of stealing from neighbors:

The live-in manager of a posh Queen Anne condominium building with multimillion-dollar views has been accused of stealing from her well-to-do neighbors, possibly for up to two years.

Popularity: 33% [?]

The Seattle Times had a front page article on town homes today, Town homes spark neighborhood debate.

It’s been a long day so go ahead and bitch. I’m going to bed.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Thanks to Megan for the invite to join the broker hard hat tour of Olive 8 today!

We checked out the floor with the game room and patio area (only 4 BBQs), a walk through of the 26th floor, and then walked down from the 3rd floor and saw the pool, spa, lobby and restaurant.

Here’s the pool featuring an underground sound system.

Photo credit: Megan

The views from the 26th floor are definitely spectacular. One of the people on the tour was Erica, whose listings I recently mocked, and she’s bought an x09 unit and was absolutely thrilled with how the view turned out.

She was worried about the office just 18 feet away but her unit was spared with x08 taking the brunt of it.

The hotel opens December 15th with the condos closing January 2009 to June 2009.

As it turns out I know a shocking number of people who bought at Olive 8. Only one of them is not an agent. Probably half these purchases are doing it as an investment.

Other interesting tidbit. The crane they use is $130,000/month to rent and taking it apart the most dangerous part of building a high rise condo these days.

Photo credit: Megan

Leslie Williams, another Olive 8 purchases was of course there. She only made one joke about holding me down while Erica could beat me up :).

More photos…

Popularity: 45% [?]