Seattle Growth

Have you been to downtown Seattle lately? I hardly recognize the north-end neighborhoods with all the construction going on. There is no doubt that Seattle is prosperous when one notices all the new building and construction fences.

But where exactly is this new development happening? It seems as if it is all over Seattle, but is it?

The Sunday Seattle Times reported on a cool new website designed by Ethan Phelps-Goodman, formerly of Facebook, which displays every big new development project as a pin on a map of the city of Seattle. Seattleinprogress.com charts all the developments from day one of the development application through permitting and construction, based on daily updates from City records.

Currently there are 476 large-scale development projects in the works in Seattle - and exactly ONE of which is located in Rainier Beach: MINE. My Van Gogh Studio Lofts mixed-use commercial development is currently stalled because of the dramatic increase in construction costs over the past year - due, of course, to the boom in local construction.

To say that there is a significant difference between development in downtown Seattle north, versus south Seattle, would be an understatement. Just look at the map:

But I digress....

Check out this really cool website, seattleinprogress.com, to see what's happening in your Seattle neighborhood. Click on any pin on the map to instantly see the architect's vision for the property, review documents, and connect to the City Department of Planning and Development to comment.

Happy Investing!

Seattle Department of Planning and Development

Due to an unusually large number of applications, we are running behind on our reviews by up to 4 weeks for Initial Plan Reviews and 2 - 4 weeks for Corrected Plan Reviews. Your project will be assigned a reviewer as soon as possible. Instead of calling us for your project status, please use Permit & Complaint Status or get real-time status updates through the DPD Project Portal. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work through this spike in applications. 

This is the message that accompanied the submittal this week by our commercial real estate company Van Gogh Development Corporation to the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) for a development in the Rainier Beach community.

Wow! Four weeks!?

What is "Initial Plan Review?" I am having a hard time finding a definition of what this involves from the DPD website. I am hoping that this does not mean it will take FOUR WEEKS for a City staff person to make a site visit to our property.

DPD's Design Review Program reviews multiple aspects of a building and its site, including some of the following:
The overall appearance of the building
How the proposal relates to adjacent sites and the overall street frontage
How the proposal relates to unusual aspects of the site, like views or slopes
Pedestrian and vehicular access to the site
Quality of materials, open space, and landscaping

DPD holds public meetings for full Design Review that includes review by City staff and the Design Review Boards. Their review process includes an opportunity for public comment and involvement.

But why the big delay?

According to City of Seattle stats, there were 440 building permits issued in the month of January 2014 alone, valued at almost $87million. This compares to 306 building permits issued in January 2013 for a total value of roughly $55million.

U.S. builders broke ground on homes at the fastest pace in more than five years, strong evidence that the housing recovery is accelerating despite higher mortgage rates. Construction of single-family homes jumped 21 percent to an annual pace of 727,000, also the highest in more than five years. Apartment construction soared 26 percent to a 354,000 annual pace. Though new homes represent only a fraction of the housing market, they have an outsized impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year. For more information, please see:

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/US-home-construction-hits-highest-pace-in-5-years-5074701.php


Happy Investing!