Ben Kakimoto - Seattle Condo Specialist

A couple of new condo developments are coming to Green Lake. With significant revitalization projects underway on the Northeast end of the lake, it’s good to see new developments on the West side. Information is sparse, and subject to change, but this is what I’ve been able to gather so far.

Tyee At Greenlake

Currently under construction at 7201 Aurora Avenue N, site of the old Twin Teepee’s Restaurant, is Tyee At Greenlake. The 4-story project will include 24-units plus commercial space on the ground floor. Note: early information referred to Tyee as apartments but the developer’s project summary report refers to Tyee as condos.

7200 Aurora Ave N
Proposed on the other side of Aurora from Tyee is a 4-story, 28-unit condo development at 7200 Aurora Avenue N. The project will incorporate retail on the ground level with a roof top deck for residents. The site is currently occupied by a Shell gas station so it’ll be some time before this project comes to fruition.

Both of these projects straddle Aurora Avenue with units facing Aurora. Other projects along Aurora tend to have a buffer (hallway) between the highway and the units to mitigate traffic noise, so these might be a tough sell. On the other hand, the location will draw people, especially for 7200 Aurora which is located directly across the street from Green Lake Park.

Nearby businesses include Beth’s Cafe, The PCC, Uber Tavern, Duke’s, BluWater Bistro, World Wraps, Aurora Suzuki and Stupid Prices. By the way, has anyone noticed the color scheme along this stretch of Aurora? It seems to have started with Stupid Prices’ loud yellow paint color. Since then businesses along Aurora, from 73rd to 80th, have followed suit with facades awash with a bold color palette.

The Downtown Seattle Association recently held its annual State of Downtown event providing an overview of downtown commerce, development and livability issues.

Here's a run down of downtown Seattle's housing highlights:

• Approximately 13% of Seattle’s housing units, or 37,320 units, are located in the downtown area.
• The number of residents increased nominally to 54,773 people. However, the number of children living downtown increased to 2,814, about 100 more than reported for the prior year.
• 16% of downtown units are owner occupied, 84% are rentals, unchanged from the prior year.
• Since 1990, population grew by 61.1% compared to 12.7% for Seattle as a whole.
• The average household income rose to 3.5% to $53,294 with a per capita income of $34,472.
• 39% of residents over 25 years of age hold a bachelors degree.
• Interestingly, there was a drop in the number of residents under 35 years of age, from 41% to 39% of all downtown residents. The average age is 43 years.
• There are approximately 5,700 new residential units currently under construction or permitted.
• Subsidized housing makes up 26% of all housing units in the downtown area.

Other downtown tidbits:

• The number of coffee shops increased 2.9% in the past year to 207.
• 231,532 employees, or 49.2% of all employees in Seattle, work in downtown, down slightly from the prior year.
• 44.4% of Puget Sound’s office market is located downtown.
• Over $1.1 billion in development projects were completed in 2007, up 44% from the prior year. Another $3 billion worth are currently under construction.
• The amount of open space and parks expanded by 38% from 42 acres to 58 acres.
• DSA reports that the number of tourists, entertainment seekers, conventioneers and sporting event attendees stood at over 18 million people.
• 190 cruise ship vessel calls comprising over 781,000 boardings were experienced in 2007. The cruise ship industry generated $268 million in revenue and contributed $6.7 million in local & state taxes.

The past couple of years Ballard has been a buzz with new condominium and townhome developments as well as witnessing the loss of apartments to condo conversions. Over the next two years the Ballard landscape will continue to evolve with the return of new apartment developments in this once sleepy enclave.

Here’s what’s on tap for the new Ballard:

Broadstone Ballard

Address: 1139 NW Market Street
Developer: Alliance Residential
No. Units: 163
Comment: Two 6-story buildings with retail along Market. Construction to begin later this year with a 2010 completion.

Ballard On The Park

Address: 24th Ave NW & NW 57th (QFC site)
Developer: Security Properties
No. Units: 268
Comment: Six-stories with a 45,000 sq ft QFC market on the ground level. A 2009 completion date is anticipated.

Alexan Ballard

Address: Market between NW 15th & 17th
Developer: Ballard Apartments / Trammell Crow Residential
No. Units: 260
Comment: Designed by GGLO who also designed the Hjarta on the north end of the Market. Two buildings, 6- & 8-stories, with commercial/retail on Market. Completion slated for 2009.

Additionally, the new owner of the Sunset Bowl is a major apartment developer and management company with 13 properties in Seattle and the Eastside.

The NWMLS just released its Brokers Report on 2007 home sales. Here are some highlights pertaining to area condos:

• The NWMLS reported $32.3 billion in total home sales in its 19 county territory. Just about one-half of that dollar volume, $16.5 billion, was realized in King County. And, of the $16.5 billion, $13.4 billion were single family homes sales and $3.1 billion were condominiums sales.
• Condominium prices jumped 10.6 percent from 2006 to 2007. The 19 county area-wide median price rose from $235,000 to $260,000.
• King County’s condo median price ($285,400) was up 12.35% over the prior year, but the number of units sold (9,420) was down 2.83% from 2006.
• NWMLS members sold more than 15,000 condominiums, about the same number as the previous year (15,038 in 2007 compared to 15,318 in 2006).
• 62.6% of all condo sales in the NWMLS territory were in King County.
• Condos represented 28.5% of all residential sales in King County.
• 1,115 condos sold for more than $500,000 of which 125 were priced over $1 million.
• Of the 1,115 condos high-end condos, 507 were in Seattle with 201 in Belltown alone.

The NWMLS press release can be viewed here. Note, some of the information above was obtained from the actual report which may not be reflected in the press release.

For additional information about condos, please visit The Seattle Condo Blog.

Condos in Seattle's Northeast neighborhoods realized a respectable 7.4% increase in appreciation, closely matching the citywide rate of 7.2%. The Northeast area (MLS Area 710) includes the U-district, Lake City, Northgate, Sand Point and the Pinehurst neighborhoods. While the demographics vary widely in this area, collectively, it's the most affordable area to purchase a condo.

Source: NWMLS. Appreciated rate based on closed sales reported as of 01/16/08.