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Echo Woods is a new townhome community in Shoreline from local builder Sage Homes. These 4-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom homes are 1,870 square feet and include garages and stylish open floor plans. The neighborhood is close to a large variety of amenities, walking distance to the upcoming light rail station and a short commute to the heart of Seattle.
You may have detected a hint of sarcasm with our choice of the Words to Live By above. In the case of Washington’s Condo Act, the threat of spending more time in the courtroom than the boardroom has pushed practically all developers to go apartment. Now, we sit with an apartment vacancy rate of 18% in some areas (10.5% regional average) and rents continuing to fall due to oversupply (and, yes, market adjustment), yet, the demand for more affordable housing options is sky high.
Here’s a possible light at the end of the tunnel for both the condo industry and hopeful condo buyers. Last week, a new bill was finally introduced to the state senate, SB 5334. As Dan Bertolet at Sightline Institute describes it, “The proposed bill would tighten what qualifies as a warrantable defect, and it would more explicitly shield condo association board members from personal liability so they would be less inclined to file lawsuits just to protect themselves.”
I won’t go into all the details of the situation (Mr. Bertolet already does a great job of that), but overall, it seems like a much-needed revision to get us back on track. I’m hopeful.
For now, I’ll just leave you with this chart from the article. Those gray bars represent lost opportunity.
This just about made me spit out my coffee. A large company investing $500M in programs to help solve the local affordable housing crisis? Really?
This new investment by Microsoft is, “Likely the largest-ever housing commitment by an American corporation,” according to Samantha Sharf of Forbes.
It’s hard to complain about the way Microsoft is going about it, either. Since it is cost prohibitive for many builders to build starter homes, they’ve decided to provide low-interest construction loan options to help make it an attractive segment again.
Another $225M will also go toward “the preservation and construction of middle-income residences” and a grant to fight homelessness.
Good lookin’ out, Microsoft. I’m very interested to see how this unfolds.