News
CHEAP LAND’S LAST STAND
March 8, 2012
| With investors from Asia to the Adirondacks showing interest in Seattle, is there any bargain land left in the area? We posed the question to Windermere Commercial broker Lauren Hendricks. Her answer: Absolutely. |
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| Lauren likes Interbay, the valley between Queen Anne and Magnolia, best known for housing the BNSF's Balmer Yard. (And this is a photo of Lauren in a NYC subway station. We see a train theme here.) The area might even be Seattle's best-kept cheap land secret. (Seattle's best-kept personal secret: the city has a huge crush on Denver.) Interbay is not exactly trendy now, but you could have said that about a lot of places once upon a time. "No one ever thought of Ballard as a hot spot," Lauren reminds us. "Interbay could be the same thing." She's not the only one who thinks so—in November, Unico broke ground on Slate Apartments & Lofts, a 236-unit project on the corner of West Dravus and 16th Avenue West, scheduled for delivery next year. |
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| Above, a rendering of Slate by artist Anita Lehmann. Unico Properties SVP Jonas Sylvester says they're serious about giving more than usual—architect Fish Mackay has designed units to have nine-foot ceilings. But unless you're an NBA player (and goodness knows there aren't any of those in Seattle anymore... yet) the bigger draw may be the nearby Red Mill Burgers, pegged by at least one developer we've talked to as the best burger in Seattle. |
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| Who's buying apartment buildings these days, anyway? Everyone, says Lauren, who notes even investors not typically interested in multifamily are intrigued by the lack of supply, easy financing, and low interest rates. With so much selection to choose from, what to do? "I tell my clients to get something new, or get something old and unique," Lauren says. Conversely, buying portfolios of single-family homes has also become popular lately, even among commercial agents. |
