Jul 13 2006
The Other Side
Seattle’s strong housing demand & lack of adequate supply for units under $400,000 has seen a rise in condo conversions. To meet the demand, developers have found it less expensive and more profitable to convert apartments into condos. Some of the conversions this year include:
- Asia
- Harwood
- Epic
- Mezzo
- Residence at 5th Avenue
- Urban Terrace
- Plaza del Sol
- The Morgan
- Onyx
- Cooper Square
- La Toscane
- Maison
- Biscayne
- francisFremont
- Taylor Anne
- Residence at 500 Elliott
- Site 17
- Pacific Rim and more.
The Seattle Times wrote about the other side, the tenants who are being displaced and the inconvienence and cost of moving. For every silver lining (another homeowner) there is a dark cloud (someone being forced to move out of their home). Owners only need provide 90 days notice, and for low-income tenants, $500 toward moving.
[…] A while back I wrote a post about the human cost of conversions with the new owner/developers only needing to provide 90 days notice and $500 to displaced tenants. It looks like the increasing number of conversions, and thus, more displaced tenants, who undoubtedly are unable to afford to purchase the snazzy conversions, are getting noticed by the politicos. From the PI’s Forced Out Tenants article: (State Senator) Fairley’s plan would ban construction, remodeling or repairs during the required advance notice period for conversion or until at least 12 hours after the last tenant moved out. It also would increase the minimum payment to $2,500, then adjust it each year for inflation. […]