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

We have all followed The Alex for over 2 1/2 years now and it looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel- VOLTA. 

Situated on the corner of 1st and Bell (on one of my favorite stretches in Belltown)…this 9-story, 34 unit building is nearing completion with the Sales Gallery opening this coming spring.  According to the website, there are 20 different floorplans (live/work, 1bd & 2bd) to choose from and square footages range from 524SF to 1250SF.  Surprisingly, the 1 bedroom located on the NW corner looks to be the largest in the building- would be my first choice in terms of view, storage, SF and flow!  Pricing is rumored to start at $299, 950! More details to follow… 

I am glad they finally replaced the old and outdated sign with the new and improved…much better!

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!

SEATTLE – Jan. 20, 2009 – Executives at OPUS NWR Development, LLC today announced that The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has recognized Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue with eight awards including a silver finalist for “Project of the Year” for 2010 – one the most prestigious honors in the national homebuilding industry. The NAHB held “The Nationals” awards ceremony on January 19, 2010 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Hundreds of industry representatives and guests attended the black-tie gala, which kicks-off the annual International Builder’s Show. Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue was selected by a panel of judges during a three-day evaluation of more than 700 individual award entries. 

“We continue to be honored by industry peers for our collective accomplishment at Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue,” said Tom Parsons, senior vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest – Seattle, the managing member of OPUS NWR Development, LLC. “It’s tremendously gratifying to be singled out as a success story nationally.”

Judges awarded Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue with three gold honors nationally for “Best Black & White Ad,” “Best Interior Merchandizing of a Model Home over $1 Million,” and “Best Internet Marketing Campaign – Banners.” The high-rise project was also awarded with five silver honors for “Best Special Promotion,” “Best Landscaping Design,” “Best Staging of a New Home,” “Best Graphic Continuity” and “Attached Community of the Year.”

In addition to The Nationals awards, Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue has also been recognized with the following honors:

-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

-The “Project of the Year” during the national Multifamily Executive Awards held in Las Vegas on October 13, 2009

-The “Multi-Family High-Rise of the Year” by NAIOP during their annual “Night of the Stars” gala held in Bellevue on November 6, 2009

-The Green Building Council rated Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue with a “Silver LEED” certification on December 18, 2009 – a ground-breaking accomplishment for a residential project under the City of Seattle’s new land use code

“To my knowledge, this is an industry first for a single project to earn so many awards and certifications from this many respected institutions,” 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. “But then again, there were many firsts on Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, which is in part what makes this development so unique.”

Justen says numerous pioneering attributes led to the project’s success. This includes being the first “tall and skinny” tower under downtown Seattle’s new zoning; having all larger, two-bedroom homes ranging from 1,650 sq. ft. to 3,000 sq. ft. (average 1,916 sq. ft.) and having secured protected views of the city and Elliott Bay for each of the 143 units.  

“Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is inherently differentiated in our marketplace and continues to earn praise from both national judges and homebuyers alike,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of Realogics, which represents the marketing and sales of the condo tower. “That said, the most critical endorsement is consumer validation now that two-thirds of the homes have closed with established market values.”

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.”

Seattle Times, 11/05/09- click here to read more!:

A developer who had proposed a $900-million, twin-tower development across Fifth Avenue from the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle has lost part of the property to foreclosure.

The Heron and Pagoda towers project, which was postponed indefinitely last year, would have included two 550-foot towers with 1.2 million square feet of condos, retail, hotel and office space.