Seattle Rental Market Is Hot

It's great new if you are landlord and not if you are in the market for a Seattle rental. The article, Hot Apartment Market Settles in For a While, in the Seattle Times gives details about what is going on with the Seattle apartment market. Basically with less people owning their homes, whether they are scared to buy (debate per the article), they lost their home, or if they are just moving here and do not want to commit until they experience Seattle, the demand is going up for Seattle apartments. And that applies to the luxury rental market as well. For example, The Bravern, the Bellevue 440+ unit building that was converted from condos to apartments, is already half full even though not all the units were on the market until past October. In addition, the supply for rentals is increasing slowly since there are not as many apartments being built as there were in the past. According to the graphs on the article vacancy in King county apartments is down to 4.3% from 6.8% two years ago. In the same time period, average rent has gone from $1,015 to $1,045.

To get more details, read the article by clicking the link above. It is an interesting article if you are looking for a Seattle apartment or if you are a landlord.

Colman Tower Design Approved

The Weber Thomson design proposal for the new Goodman Real Estate project, The Colman Tower Apartments, was unanimously approved this week by the Seattle Downtown Review Board. The proposal for a 6-story, 208-unit mixed-use apartment complex came earlier this year and is geared towards young, urban professionals. The building will feature rooftop amenities such as a terrace, dog run and common barbecues. The building’s interior will include a gym, lounge center, theatre room and game room. Goodman Real Estate has owned the property the tower will sit on for 10 years, and plans on developing 2,000 apartments in the Seattle area. These first 208 will be loft-style and an average of 700 sf in size. This is a good time for development as renters are on the rise. We hope this will help boost the real estate rental market in Seattle. The new construction and beautiful (proposed) building and almost-waterfront location at 888 Western Ave. next to Colman Dock should only make the project more successful.

New Apartments in Belltown

Just as the McGuire Apartments are headed to demolishment, a new apartment project is proposed for Belltown. The 17-2tory apartment building, to be called “Alto”, will be located on 3rd and Cedar. The expected 184-unit building ‘s construction will be the first of multiple proposals in Central Seattle in the last three years to start. The building will also have 2,700 sf of retail space. The developer, Harbor Properties (who is well known for Downtown’s Harbor Steps project) bought the land in March of last year, but decided not to build until the financial market had improved. The high demand for rentals in Seattle, especially among the younger populations in Belltown, has increased substantially in the past few years. As many of the projects in Belltown are condos, it is a nice change of pace to see some new apartment buildings. This will be the newest among a number of other buildings including 2300 Elliot, The Avalon, and Archstone Apartments, to name a few. The apartments will be aimed at middle-income renters as well, which is a plus for the younger population. Looks like Belltown living is back on the rise, as we expect the residential project from Goodman Real Estate (located on Western) to start in the near future as well.

McGuire Apartment Tear Down

In a previous blog, agent Michelle McMahan wrote about the McGuire Apartments in Belltown. Yes, that building on 2nd and Wall surrounded by scaffolding, you’ve seen it. In April of this year, the first demolishment announcement was made after reports of structural problems and cable corrosion. Debate (details here) over who was at fault ensued and in the meantime, tenants were asked to vacate with monetary incentives for prompt vacation. Well according to the Daily Journal of Commerce, issues have been resolved and the property owner Carpenter’s Tower LLC and contractor McCarthy Building Companies Inc. have come to a decision-McGuire is good to go. To the ground, that is. Settlement terms and a tear-down date were not disclosed, but Belltowners can be sure that the building will undoubtedly be demolished. We can only hope that construction closures and the like won’t be affecting the surrounding roads and businesses too much.

Waterfront Living

Time and time again we get clients looking to find a condo rental in Seattle that has a view. After all, the top two reasons for downtown/belltown living are location and views. Most realize the higher the condo rental, the better the view, and consequently the more expensive the condo. Renters are finding that they simply can’t afford that style of living. Sometimes renters come across impossible deals that are almost too good to be true, like two of the condo rentals Ewing & Clark have currently listed. What’s the cost of living ON the waterfront with some of the best views Seattle has to offer? No more than $2400-and that’s for two bedroom condos!! These rentals are located at the beautiful Seattle condominium building Waterfront Landings, and the name says it all! Located on Alaskan Way, Waterfront Landings’ residents enjoy breathtaking sunsets with views of the Olympic Mountains and Elliot Bay. The building is mere steps away from historic Pike Place Market and a variety of Seattle restaurants and entertainment. Real estate agent Merrily Jacobs has listed a 2 bedroom, 1,378 sf condo and agent Ridge Marshall has a listed a 2 bedroom, 1,121 sf fully furnished condo. Both rentals are ready for move-in! Please contact one of these real estate agents today and be able to call this wonderful building “home”.