There are a few condos that I think are worth checking out. One of them is the Parc in Belltown. The building was completed late last year and they have 24 homes remaining on the market. The developer is offering a couple of incentives. If you purchase a home, there will be a $15,000 buyer's bonus and an additional $1,000 referral bonus if you're a current Intra-corp homeowner. These homes are VA and FHA approved. The developer is also making some price adjustment on some of their homes so I think this condo building is worth checking out.
Related Posts:
The Parc Update
Pre-construction marketing and reality
Rent a condo or hotel?
The Parc
Looking at the price list on their website, they are still 30-40% overpriced, incentives or not.
Decent place, its fairly sold out so you knew it’s not converting to apartments
Price isn’t too bad either
Glorified apartments. In most cities, these would be considered mid-line apartments – not “luxury condos.”
Half a million dollars for less than 1000 square feet in a sketchy neighbourhood? With new lending regulations, you need somebody making at least $125k a year to buy this.
I agree with the first poster – these are still priced about double what they should be.
Since when was Belltown “sketchy?” That’s like saying Manhattan is a sketchy island. If you want to live in the countryside, enjoy Bellevue or Kirkland but calling Belltown sketchy is ludicrous. It is the only place any self-respecting single or DINC professionals would live.
I live at The Vine across the street, and have watched them build this place. I also know a few of the people that work at Intra Corp. Here are the two things about the building…1. They are build like shit. Look closely at the way they put the flashing (the metal thin pieces that fold around corners to keep moisture out) down. It is already coming up, and you can actually see the felt backing under it…right from the street.
2. The people that work for Intra Corp, say the building sucks also. They are using low end finishes and they are INDEED over priced. The seller told the agents to “Take any offer, and get rid of this crap!” at a meeting about 3 weeks ago. People in my building looked at it, because it is the same builder, and they were not impressed….at best.
@MikeR
Is the Vine in a sketchy neighborhood?
I think like all pockets of the city, there are good and bad parts to it. I walk my dog over at the P-patch and by the Millionairs club, and it gets a little sketchy there. But staying on Western, and the whole area by the Skulpture park is totally safe. I mean, walking down western to where the day workers are, and under the bridge is NOT wise, but Capital Hill, Central district, and Madison have areas like that also. So, to answer your question “is the Vine in a sketchy neighborhood?” I would have to say NO
I define sketchy as being crackheads going through people’s cars before midnight half a block from the sculpture park. I have a friend that lives right there and I see it first hand.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2004406289_danny11.html?referrer=digg
I used to walk from Wall & Western to Broad & Western. it is fine. Don’t forget Casa Latina is moving too so there will be less day workers (and I think most people are just nervous about this area because of how many there are) in the near future. I also live in Manhattan, lower east side. Neither of these areas I would define as sketchy. Is there drug use? Yes. Have I ever felt unsafe in either area? No. Have I ever felt unsafe in Pioneer Square? Yes…after leaving work (late night deploy) at 3am a few years back…
Whether you find it sketchy or not isn’t really the question. Belltown is considered to be the location for urban professionals, with maybe Cap Hill (if you want to talk about sketchy, then Cap Hill is at least as bad) and maybe SLU? But SLU seems still pretty shopping mall to me…
ANYWAY, My wife and I actually put down a deposit on a Parc unit before backing out. One thing that bothered me was in fact, the quality of the finishing. I thought the cabinets and whatnot were all fake wood / IKEA type stuff. For a condo this expensive, it felt like they were noticeably skimping. I walked by this building everyday along with the trio down the street and I will say that it didn’t seem to be cheaply built. It is all concrete construction so I imagine it is pretty quiet. It also has a pretty modern look to it that should stay that way for some time.
It is a nice place, but I think that prices could still come down a bit, but maybe you might be able to negotiate a good deal. A 1245sq ft 2bd/2ba for $499 seems pretty inline for the area…
I rented a studio from an owner at the Parc and it is a pretty good building, though I’ll admit I don’t have a very discerning eye when it comes to finishes, etc. The neighborhood is actually very nice, but as mentioned in other posts it is just a few blocks north of the part of town that (I guess) can be called sketchy by Belltown standards … I’m from Atlanta though, so added emphasis on the “by Belltown standards” part.
All in all I’d say it’s a nice building but, like in-city Seattle condos in general, still not worth the asking prices.
I only had to wait another few days:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/155327.asp?source=rss
to prove my point about Belltown.
That proves your point? Hrm. Check this out:
WOMAN’S DEATH IN REDMOND WAS A HOMICIDE
Redmond police say they’re investigating the death of a woman in her mid-20s as a homicide.
http://tinyurl.com/5na25e
provided_by_the_Associated_Press
Does this mean Redmond is a sketchy neighborhood? At least the guy in Belltown lived…
Look, if you think Belltown is a sketchy neighborhood then it is a sketchy neighborhood. It is pointless for us to try and convince you otherwise. Is Belltown a little more gritty and urban than other parts of the city? Absolutely. Do we have giant, sparkling lawns of green and bonus rooms and common jacuzzis and basketball courts in our condo buildings? No. We also don’t have cheap parking, easy access to a mega grocery or a giant mall like Bell Square. If those things are important to you, then you should live in a different part of town.
For some of us though, we value being in the city and amongst the bars and restaurants, the ability to walk to work, to the Pike Place Market and to the Sculpture Garden and Myrtle Edwards Park. This means that we have to live around people of difference economic backgrounds and ethnicity. Also being a denser neighborhood means seeing more drugs and probably more crime per sq mile. Like I said, I don’t feel unsafe here but I’m sure some people would.
With all of that, interestingly, condos here (and I’ll throw Cap Hill in here because it would seem to be on par with what I’ve written) seem to be the most valued in King County. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then you should live elsewhere. The nice thing is we all get to make these decisions for ourselves. 🙂
I heard about that thing in Redmond – incidents like that are rarely random and more often something that happens with somebody who knows the person.
You hear about several incidents a year where somebody will be acosted in Belltown by a complete stranger.
But I don’t need to convince you, obviously. You admit more crime per sq mile and more drugs. This is what people mean when they say sketchy.
I never denied the high points of living there. Goodo for you if you like to walk to the pub or Sculpture garden. I just get frustrated when people deny the faults with the area.
@ Ben
I don’t think that there is any denial about what goes on in the areas we live in, I think what they are saying is that it is an acceptable part, like the “cost”, of living in a place that you can walk to everything that you want. I live there, I walk to work, I walk home, I use my car MAYBE once a month. But that is the life that i paid for. This is the point. For you, that “cost” would be too high…you don’t think that amount of sketchyness is worth the risk….Mazeltov…don’t live there. For us, we are happy there, and are big city people. You’re taste are different…period. I don’t thin that anything said in the above posts are denialist. From eternal. OR FROM YOU!