Yay, Bicycle Commuters!

More and more folks are getting around on their bicycles these days, and that is a good thing! It has a profound impact on creating a livable urban environment. Here are some cool bike facts from the good folks at Washington Bikes:

Washington is the #1 Bicycle Friendly State in America for the 7th year in a row


We have some of the best new bike lanes in the country.


The greater Wenatchee area became the state’s first multi-jurisdictional Bicycle-Friendly Community.


Bike touring is better than ever with the release of Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Bike Tours in Washington.

We rolled out US Bicycle Route 10, the first US Bicycle Route on the entire West Coast.


Thousands more students walk and bike to school thanks to our Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education Program.


WA Bikes partnered to rally support for the 27-mile Whitehorse Trail connecting Arlington to Darrington, aiding in the region’s recovery from the devastating Oso mudslide.


Washington is #1 in America for rail-trails—over 1,000 miles and growing.


Local bike advocacy is growing by leaps and bounds, and Washington Bikes opened an office in Spokane.


More and more elected officials at every level “get it”—and work for better bicycling.


Open Streets events are held in more communities.


Bike challenges from serious to off-the-wall (coffeeneuring, anyone?) inspire people to ride more.


Bikes mean business: Biking was recognized as part of the $20+ billion outdoor economy in the state, with Gov. Inslee naming a Blue Ribbon Task Force and appointing the WA Bikes executive director as co-chair.


For nearly 28 years Washington Bikes has made connections for better bicycling.  Learn more about the work that happens thanks to people like you: Read our blog and follow us onFacebook, Twitter (@WAbikes), Instagram and Pinterest (#WAbikes).

What does this have to do with real estate investing, you ask? It means that more and more people will be living near public transit and looking for easy commutes to their places of employment. Look for big increases in Transit Oriented Developments in major urban centers like Seattle.

Happy Riding! Happy Investing!

Green Development in Seattle

This was my view on my sunrise bicycle commute over Lake Washington this morning. You will notice the other cyclist on the left side of this photo, also commuting in by bicycle early this morning.

I love living where I can easily commute by bicycle or by other means of alternate transportation. Seattle is especially attuned to environmental awareness, and it is becoming a more and more bike-friendly city. Riding a bicycle to work or play is good for the environment, good exercise, much more affordable and fun than driving alone.

It is also a good example of green development. If you live close to where you work, you save money and save the earth. You pollute less and exercise more.

I have been taking a lot of real estate classes recently on Low Impact Development (LID), Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), and green development. All are closely aligned to living a more comfortable and sustainable life.

My most recent class was this past Friday, understanding the new listing input fields for green development that have been incorporated into the standard NWMLS real estate forms. The NWMLS is recognizing that green development is the wave of the future. Collecting this data through their standard forms will provide better information about the premium that consumers are willing to pay for built-green construction. This data will also make it easier for clients to search for homes that meet their environmental standards.

Fiona Douglas-Hamilton is the lead instructor for the majority of the green development classes that have been offered to the real estate and appraisal professionals in the Seattle Area. Many of her courses are offered free through the generous sponsorship of supporters such as Green Canopy Homes. For more information on green development education for real estate professionals, please visit Fiona's website at www.SeecSolutions.com.

Happy Investing!

More Transit-Oriented Development

Seattle is one of the top-ranked cities in the country for alternative modes of transportation. 

The Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota recently compiled in-depth transit commute rankings based on how easily jobs could be reached. Seattle comes in as the 8th-best city for commuting by public transit. Seattle ranked sixth when the rankings were focused on number of jobs reached by public transit within ten minutes. The study also published a zoomable map of Seattle's job accessibility.

In addition, hundreds more bicycles will be on the streets of some Seattle neighborhoods now as the Pronto bike-share system launches. The city, as part of its bicycle master plan, plans to add more than 400 miles of cycling facilities to its existing 135-mile network over the next 20 years. Residents and visitors will be able to rent bikes from one of the several dozen Pronto Cycle Share kiosks in the University District, Eastlake, South Lake Union, Belltown, Downtown, Pioneer Square, Chinatown/International District, Capitol Hill, and First Hill neighborhoods. 

All of these developments bode well for Transit Oriented Development (TOD), such as my artist live/work apartment complex slated for development at Seattle's Rainier Beach Light Rail Station.

Happy investing! 

Transit Oriented Development

Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD, is HOT right now. As gasoline prices in Seattle hover near $4 per gallon, many residents are looking for alternate methods of transportation. Living in an urban environment, where it is possible to get to employment using public transportation, walking or biking, is a lifestyle that resonates with many commuters (myself included!).

To have affordable housing in an easy transit location is a bonus, and is what many urban planners are attempting to develop. That is one reason why yesterday's grand opening of the Mt Baker Artists Lofts was such a big celebration.

It is a major reason why my company Van Gogh Studio Lofts LLC decided to purchase land in the transit district around the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station. We will be developing 36-46 units of artists live/work apartments (depending on whether we decide to build up to five floors), in a mixed use commercial development half a block from the station at Martin Luther King Way S and S Henderson St in Seattle. It is scheduled to open in 2016.

Like Mt Baker Artists Lofts, we hired the same architects to design our project. It too will have no parking garage, but will have very similar amenities.

Unlike Mt Baker, Van Gogh Studio Lofts will be market rate rentals, as opposed to subsidized below-market rents. Nevertheless, "market rate" in Rainier Beach is "affordable," as defined by the City of Seattle.

And unlike Mt Baker, Van Gogh Studio Lofts will not screen for artistic quality, only for creative entrepreneurs who are interested in living in a like-minded community of home-based entrepreneurs.

And unlike Mt Baker, Van Gogh Studio Lofts will not reject artist applicants because they - or someone in their household - makes too much income.

Nevertheless, TOD is the way to go, and our proposed Van Gogh Studio Lofts project has caught the attention of neighboring cities. I was invited by the Tacoma Office of Community and Economic Development on Tuesday of this week to tour their TOD opportunities. I brought along architect Scott Starr to join me, and we were both impressed by the variety of commercial development opportunities that the City of Tacoma is considering. Best of all, they understand the important role that artists play in revitalizing and developing neighborhoods. Their permit and development process promises to be faster and less costly than in Seattle, so we are excited about the possibilities there.

Happy Investing!

Artists Lofts

Included here are a few photos from this evening's grand opening of the Mt Baker Artists Lofts at the Mt Baker light rail station:

 Speeches given by various dignitaries, including King County Executive Dow Constantine

 The roof top patio and gardens

 Common laundry room on the roof top

 Corridor with artwork

 Kitchen in artist live/work unit

 Artist live work unit, ten foot ceilings

 Exterior artwork

This building was designed by SMR Architects, the same architects who are designing our Van Gogh Studio Lofts project at the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station.

Happy Investing!