A conversation with Seattle
“One sore spot,” admitted Richard Conlin recently, “has been the way that developers have used their ‘unit count’ in different ways depending on what City regulation they are working with.” Land use code counts units, as mentioned earlier, by kitchens. But “some developers,” Conlin says, also applied for a Multi-Family Property Tax Exemption (MFTE). Continue reading City Council Looks into Micro-Housing’s Free Lunch
Since our great nation’s presidential candidates will be squaring off over all sorts of issues, including housing, the infographic gnomes at Estately thought they’d compare the housing of the two men who hope to make the White House a second or sixth home for the next four years. “Comparing Obama’s Chicago home with the five homes Romney has owned within the past few years we discovered that both men have no shortage of spare rooms and upscale amenities,” says Estately. See for yourself. Continue reading Infographic: Does Size Matter? How the Presidential Candidates’ Cribs Stack Up
This morning, a half-acre of former SHA property (official sale price: $2.88 million) at 12th Avenue and East Yesler Way is on the way to private hands–private Canadian hands, in fact, since the new owners are Gracorp Capital Advisors Ltd. of Calgary, Canada. They’re partnering locally with Spectrum Development Solutions, who have been very busy around Seattle providing housing for college students. Continue reading Sold! $2.9 Million Sale Launches First Private Development at Yesler Terrace
The Grand Hyatt conference room was packed with Puget Sound Business Journal readers who, if they sympathized with Ray Davis’s optimism, also have had their expectations tempered by the experiences of the past several years. Yet the takeaway was that while double-dip recession risks have risen, at the same time, so have recovery “risks,” due to the length of time people have cut back on spending. At some indefinable point, the dam is going to break. Continue reading Washington State Economy’s Upside and Downside Risks Grow
Then Gates took aim at family homelessness, saying that contrary to the public image of homelessness–that destitute guy panhandling on the street–the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families. “Think of a mother tucking her child into the back seat of cold car,” he said. “Soon one out of four children will live below the poverty line in the U.S.” Continue reading Bill Gates Sr. Rallies Habitat Crowd to Take on Family Homelessness