Recent Stories with tag apartments

Earlier this week I was up at Northgate, and decided to drop in at the Thornton Place complex for the first time. I've been interested in the area ever since Seattle Public Utilities mounted a restoration project for Thornton Creek, which, fed by over 11 square acres, drains into Lake Washington. In former days, the creek had salmon and trout.

The creek has been daylighted, and its banks are coating themselves with greenery, but Thornton Place remains caught between the future its developers (Stellar and Lorig) hoped for and the recessionary one that appeared.

While apartments are renting, some 20 of the condos, which were not selling like hotcakes in the cooling housing market, developed a settling problem that was announced in early April 2010. Today, the 109 condos sit there, empty, aging, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. They're not Lorig's only problem.

In the meantime, Stellar is still looking for commercial clients for its retail space in the complex--they'd love a brewpub, and are considering hosting a farmer's market. And it's not precisely a ghost town: Regal Thornton Place, notes the Seattle Times, is raking in $17.50 per ticket for Shrek 3-D in IMAX.

But there's no denying the feeling you've stumbled onto the set of Life After People when you walk, all by yourself, down the promenade, to your right a revitalized creek pooling and tumbling over rocks, and to your left bare granite-top counters, one after another. Sooner or later, something's got to give.

Bing's Streetside view captures the scaffolded look of The McGuire

Yesterday, the news broke that a 25-story high-rise in Belltown, The McGuire, would be torn down just nine years after construction, due to "defects." The $31-million apartment tower, at 210 Wall Street, had been clad in scaffolding for months, as the owners tried to deal with cracking and spalling of the concrete exterior, due to problems with reinforcement placement in the building’s frame.

Further investigation revealed that post-tensioned slabs--widely used in high-rises to help support and strengthen the concrete, and allow for thinner floors--contained cables that were corroding. (After it opened, The McGuire fairly quickly had troubles with water entering the building's envelope, and then the wrong paint and grout had been used to protect the cables from water, as well.) The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development told the owners to repair it or vacate by the end of 2010.

Given the costs of repair, the Carpenters Union Local 131 and MEPT, the Multi-Employer Property Trust, gave hundreds of residents notice to vacate. (The McGuire's original developers were the Carpenters Union Local 131 and Harbor Properties.) Ronald Holden, Belltown's eyes and ears, reports on his blog Cornichon that residents are being offered substantial incentives to quit the building by May 15.

Legal advisers Kennedy Associates said the owners were suing the general contractor and architects. Emporis.com and the city's permits confirm that the general contractor on the project was the national firm McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., one of the top ten commercial builders in the U.S. Here is their differentiator:

Because we are true builders, owners get more and better options. Faster and safer execution. And a clear cost/benefit solution that yields the best final cost, every time.

Structural engineers were ABKJ, who also worked on Harbor Steps and Belltown's Arbor Place. Architecture firm Hewitt has a long list of Seattle projects, from Harbor Steps and Belltown's The Klee lofts and suites, to the Capitol Hill light rail station and University Village. Most recently, they are working on Belltown's Third & Cedar project, a 17-story tower with about 200 units, funded by HB Capital.... (more)

I just got an email about Taylor 28, the new apartments on Taylor at Denny Way. They have a move-in special of two months free (with a 12-month lease), and even offer month-to-month. The building opened its well-appointed doors in July, boasting a fitness center, a "clubhouse" with kitchen, and community WiFi. Stainless steel appliances? You bet. They made the Luxe List top ten for Seattle, even.

There's only one slight hitch: you have to pay for it. A 538-sq.-ft. studio requires a deposit of just $200, but goes from $1,180-$1,385 per month. For context, that's about what I paid for my studio across the street from the San Francisco Opera House during the dotcom boom. (And Denny, I am sorry, but you are no Market Street. You're not even a Gough.)

Everything about the email suggests barely concealed desperation: the 2-months-free, the month-to-month "leasing," the $200 deposit...but it's all undone by that deluxe price point. If someone can afford $1,200 per month for a studio, would putting down a full deposit... (more)