Finally…and patience is truly a virtue.  The tremors started back in October (when we were hoping to close the first week of January) and I have to say now, my clients have been through it all! 

The dust has settled and it seems the larger majority of the kinks have been worked out…just looking forward to a successful close and the epic outcome of all the hype the new pricing has created.  More details to follow!

Just an FYI- the individual wine cellars in the wine cave will be managed and leased by the HOA.  Cellar capacity ranges from 18-30 bottles and will lease anywhere from $225 to $300 per year- renewed annually.

Escala cutting condo prices by 50 percent
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Kirsten Grind

Downtown Seattle condominium tower Escala will lower prices by as much as 50 percent on unsold units, the luxury building’s new marketing firm said Tuesday.

Rennie Marketing Systems and the building’s listing agent, Bellevue-based Teambuilder, declined to release price cuts on each unit, but said savings will range from 20 percent to 50 percent.

A 1,878-square-foot penthouse once priced at more than $4 million will now sell for $2.3 million, said Erik Mehr, a sales manager at Teambuilder. The building’s top-priced unit — a $12 million penthouse — is now selling for just under $7 million.

A one-bedroom, 952-square-foot condo will start at $384,000, a two-bedroom, 1,607-square-foot condo will start at $699,000 and a three-bedroom, 2,442-square-foot condo will start at $1.6 million.

Click here to read more!

I just received this notice from Escala!! Sales Center opens on 3/27/10…more details to follow!

Dear Ashley,

The Escala Seattle Team
1920 Fourth Avenue
Seattle WA  98101

602 W Highland Drive
6bd/7.5ba (7000SF)
FOR LEASE- $15,000 per month, fully furnished

Located on Seattle’s most coveted West Highland Drive, surrounded by heritage homes, manicured lawns and well-established estates, this fully furnished 6 bedroom, 7.5 bathroom 7000 SF home is poised on private corner lot adjacent to a dedicated drive circle with iconic views of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay and surrounding mountain ranges. It is within walking distance of Queen Anne’s most famous view parks and play areas, as well as several residential amenities such as Metropolitan Market, Trader Joe’s, Top Pot Doughnuts, Via Tribunali and local coffee shops. 
 
Completed in 2006, this grand residence is a blend of traditional French provincial architectural design with transitional aesthetics and modern conveniences. The formal home plan is designed for entertaining flexibility and features five terraces including a roof top terrace with a fireplace, adjacent wet bar and full bath; a view terrace with a Blackpine™ eight-person hot tub with audio/visual system; and an expansive main level terrace with a NanaWall™ window wall system that opens to the living room- perfect for those warm summer days! The double height entry, interior Juliet balconies and voluminous ceilings (10’ main level and 9’ second level) create a very open, bright and inviting ambiance that magnify the commanding vistas of the city, Elliott Bay, Mount Rainier and Olympic Mountains throughout.

For the culinary entertainer, French doors off the main entry lead to the formal dining room with an oversized gas fireplace, seating for up to twelve guests, chocolate-stained solid cherry hardwood floors, vaulted ceiling with indirect valance lighting accented by silver leaf ceiling, custom-designed chandelier and wall sconces on dimmer controls. There is also an adjacent wet bar with wine chiller and direct access to kitchen.

The kitchen features chocolate-stained cherry hardwood cabinets with frosted glass doors and under cabinet lighting, knife-mitered slab onyx island surrounded by double-edge slab granite countertops, self-closing drawers with Valli & Valli™ cabinet hardware, Kohler™ Professional Series™ 48-inch three basin stainless steel sink, chef’s choice overhead faucet with ½ hp disposal, 8-foot+ kitchen island with bar seating for four, 48-inch, Dacor™ six-burner gas range and oven, Viking™ stainless-steel range hood with variable speed and direct venting, KitchenAid™ vented trash compactor, Sub-Zero™ under-cabinet refrigerator, two built-in Bosch™ dishwashers adjacent to kitchen sink, Viking™ 48-inch side-by-side refrigerator / freezer with water / ice dispenser, Dacor™ wall oven, two microwaves, Miele™ espresso machine and integrated Sony™ TV.

The generous master retreat showcases panoramic views of city lights and Elliott Bay with south facing exposure and a wrap-around terrace. Offerings also include an expansive custom walk-in closet with a built-in safe, options for additional his-and-hers closets, a gas fireplace with limestone surround featuring an integrated 50-inch Pioneer™ flat screen TV and a large master bathroom with private his-and-hers water closets, ebony wood and silver leaf vanities with separate make-up area, an oversized Kohler™ jetted bathtub with ceiling-mounted tub filler and a custom glass shower featuring Kohler™ “body spa” systems and steamer.

This home is complete with a home audio system with multi-room sound controls, custom furnishings by Garret Cord Werner, radiant in-floor heating, multiple-zone air conditioning throughout home and a Honeywell™ security system with video camera pre-wire. 

View more details at www.602WestHighland.com or www.seattlerentals.com/13514

With all the insane new construction price reductions going on right now, the Four Seasons has officially joined the club by slashing original pricing by as much as 47%! 

There are 13 units available- check out the new pricing!

Please let me know if you would like additional information or to arrange a private tour!

Just in!

SEATTLE – Nov. 9, 2009 — Executives at OPUS NWR Development, LLC today confirmed that the Washington state chapter for NAIOP (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association) has recognized Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue as the “Multi-Family High-Rise of the Year” for 2009. NAIOP held its annual “Night of the Stars” awards ceremony on November 6 at the Bellevue Hyatt. More than 650 industry representatives and guests attended the event. Formerly known as the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, NAIOP has recently expanded its focus to recognize mixed-use and residential projects within its corporate mission statement.

“We’re thrilled to have earned the respect of our industry peers and the confidence of our many homebuyers,” said Tom Parsons, senior vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest – Seattle, the managing member of OPUS NWR Development, LLC. “These accolades provide further validation that Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is a truly exceptional development among a national landscape of world-class projects.”

The high-profile, high-rise condominium located above Pike Place Market has been popular with national judges and homebuyers alike. In addition to the recent award by NAIOP, Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue was also recognized as the West Coast’s “Outstanding High-Rise” for 2009 as part of the Gold Nugget Awards held during the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference in San Francisco on June 18, 2009. Most recently, the project was awarded “Project of the Year” during the national Multifamily Executive Awards held in Las Vegas on October 13, 2009. Each award is judged by a panel of industry experts, which analyze excellence in design, development, marketing and sales.

“Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue has become well recognized for challenging conventional residential design and succeeding,” said William Justen, a partner in The Justen Company, which was the project visionary and collaborated with Opus Northwest in the development of the project. “By differentiating our product offering through innovations in design, development and marketing, we’ve managed to establish our own market niche. We are fortunate to have pushed through the headwinds that our industry faced during the recent economic downturn.”

Judging panelists noted that Opus Northwest has closed on two-thirds of the 143-unit project representing more than $170 million in sales to date. Unlike typical condominiums, Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue’s homes average 1,912 square feet and are selling at an average price of $1.88 million— twice the size and approximately four times the median home price of condominiums in downtown Seattle. “This sales success is notable because it demonstrates that real estate is intensely local and that market trends in aggregate don’t speak for each project individually,” said Dean Jones, a principal with Realogics, which represents the sales and marketing for the project. “Outlier developments like Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue have created real estate microclimates where success begets success.”

“Peer endorsements and established market values have really helped to provide homebuyers, appraisers and mortgage lenders with a high level of confidence in this development,” Jones continued. “Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is proving to be a standout development on many levels.”

OK- been a little busy, but yet again, 1521 wins ANOTHER award…

SEATTLE – Oct. 15, 2009 – Opus Northwest today announced that its Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue condominium development in downtown Seattle received top honors at the annual Multifamily Executive Awards Gala in Las Vegas. The 440-foot-tall tower won the 2009 Grand Award for the “Project of the Year” in the prestigious “High-Rise” category.

Over the past decade, Multifamily Executive has honored the industry’s best and brightest with its exclusive MFE Awards. The gala was attended by more than 500 people annually and attracted more than 200 entries from across the United States.

“We’re very proud of this recognition, as it substantiates the continued success of our sellout process,” said Andy Taber, Senior Real Estate Director for Opus Northwest – Seattle, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire development team. “The same week that we took home this award, we closed on our 90th sale—a solid affirmation of the truly limited opportunity to live in a widely acclaimed landmark.”

Project-of-the-year award finalists must demonstrate innovation in architecture, floor plan efficiency, suitability to a target market, creative use of materials, interior design, landscaping, creative financing solutions and the ability to work with government and community officials.

“In a truly tough economy, this year’s winners not only showcase the talent and creativity of the multifamily industry but also the business acumen to transform neighborhoods and submarkets with innovative solutions to difficult real estate sites,” said Rachel Azoff, managing editor of Multifamily Executive magazine. “Opus NW used creative construction techniques to design a luxury high-rise on an extremely tight site. Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is a brilliant addition to the Seattle skyline.”

MFE Awards judges define a high-rise as a building of at least 12 stories.

Positioned a short walk from Seattle’s Pike Place Market and offering unmatched views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains beyond, the 143-unit project was designed by Seattle-based architectural firm Weber Thompson and Opus Architects & Engineers, the architect of record. Realogics handles marketing and sales.

Starting at $1 million, and averaging $1.9 million per home, sales at the development constituted more than half of the top 25 residential sales closed in King County in recent months.

The Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue development team has been recognized with more than two dozen peer-reviewed honors for excellence in design, development, marketing and sales. Most recently the project was honored as the West Coast’s “Outstanding High-Rise” at the Pacific Coast Builders Association’s 2009 Gold Nugget Awards in San Francisco.