Downtown Seattle: decent jobs, passable entertainment, increasingly unaffordable housing. So what’s the solution? According to today’s P-I, the time has come for the incredible shrinking condo.
Park two of GMC’s biggest Sierra pickups next to each other. That’s a lot of truck, but a small condominium — at least by Seattle standards.
But a local developer is betting Seattle urbanites are primed to carve out their own two-truck chunks of Belltown. The moda condos, set to break ground in October, promise "New York-style living," with units as small as 296 square feet that start at $149,950.
"I think there’s unmet demand for affordable new construction in downtown," said developer G. David Hoy, president of HMI Real Estate Inc. "I also believe downtown needs more diversity."
You have to respect a guy that can so artfully spin what is essentially a glorified dorm room with phrases like "affordable new construction" and "diversity." I guess this is what it takes to get into a home downtown. I don’t doubt that there will be plenty of people anxious to get their very own 296 square feet of American Dream™.
I think I’ll get a few steps ahead of the curve, and look into opening an outlet where I can sell the affordable housing of the future.
(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 08.31.2006)