Looks like the market for developers of multi-unit buildings in Tacoma is coming to a grinding halt, much like the area’s housing appreciation. After seemingly countless delays, extensions, redesigns, reconfigurations and rethinkings, a proposed boutique hotel on downtown Tacoma’s Foss Waterway faces a deadline Monday. The hotel’s Seattle developers must produce all the permits, designs…
Street of (Materialistic) Dreams 2006 Revisited
There’s lots of blah, blah, blah going on about the latest Street of (Materialistic) Dreams, where every-day commoners like you and I can pay $18 to tour a bunch of over-the-top abodes. The local press seems to have stars in their eyes, and spends most of their time talking about all the low-flow toilets, and…
Newspaper Earnings Sink with Housing Market
Some of you may recall the Rhodes / Gardner real estate Q & A a few months ago in which the following question was asked by a Seattle Bubble reader: I can’t help but notice that the Times’ take on local real-estate prices is often excessively optimistic. For example, during the last NWMLS report, we…
Condo Conversions and Increasing Density
There have been a few mildly-interesting articles in the last couple days on the subject of condo conversion projects and Seattle’s increasing density. Here are a few highlights. Aubrey Cohen updates us on the status of the proposal to condo-ify the Smith Tower: Owners of the Smith Tower have one of two key city approvals…
On the Radar: July 22nd date for new borrowing standards.
Yesterday Inman News had (subscription needed) a piece by Lou Barnes regarding this large blip showing on the Radar screen. The blip kept showing July 22, 2007. The Boston Globe picked up Lou’s piece and you can read it here. New guidelines making it tougher to qualify under interest only mortgage terms begins on July…