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!

Artist Housing in Tacoma

Last week I was contacted by the Tacoma Office of Community and Economic Development. They had read my blog posts here about our transit-oriented commercial development at the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station, and wanted to invite me to consider developing something similar in Tacoma.

"We are excited to discuss infill development opportunities in Tacoma with you. Your artist housing project in South Seattle sounds really great and we would like to do something similar here," they wrote.

We have scheduled a tour of their properties proposed for this kind of development next Tuesday. These sites include a 67,000 square foot lot on the planned route of the Link Light rail expansion, with heights up to 85 feet. The site includes spectacular views of Mt Rainier from upper floors, and is walking distance from downtown Tacoma. More than 11,000 employees work at regional hospitals and medical facilities within five blocks of the project site.

The City of Tacoma and Pierce Transit are also looking for a partner in creating a transit-oriented housing project at a comprehensive multimodal tranist hub, adjacent to the Tacoma Dome Station, Tacoma Link Light Rail Station, Sounder Rail, and the new Amtrak Cascades Station opening in 2017. This site is 22,751sf, with a maximum height limit of 100 feet.

My architect Scott Starr of SMR Architects will be joining me on this tour, and has also been contacted about surplus property that the City of Tacoma may be willing to devote for artists housing. We hope to be able to tour these facilities next week as well.

If you are interested in transit-oriented development or artist housing in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area, please message me privately at Wendy@VanGoghDev.com or leave a message at 888-621-4999.

Happy Investing!