Washington Park Modern Home: $2,595,000

This beautiful Washington modern residence with commanding views is now available! The home had a superb 2007 Geoff Prentiss remodel, and showcases a modern sensibility while incorporating several Eco-friendly features. Features of the home include an open concept floor plan, stone fireplace, peaceful gardens, vaulted ceilings, a sweeping Pennsylvania Bluestone staircase and kitchen-family room with Nanawall to a grand Ipe deck. This home is sublimely designed, and if you’re interested in this or other Washington Park homes please contact your local real estate agent today!

Status:	For Sale
Bed/Bath:	3/3.25
Price:	$2,595,000

Free Greenlake House - If You Can Move It!

*Synced From Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Build Urban is in the process of getting a lot prepared for new townhomes in Green Lake, and, they have a unique offering for anyone who can move it – a  2,190 sf 1914 built 5 bedroom home for FREE. That’s right- the Seattle Developer is offering a home, located at 6529 4th Ave NE absolutely free of charge to anyone who is able to move it, in hopes of saving it from demolition.
The new townhome project, Radius will feature 8 homes that have a contemporary edge, and each home will face the interior courtyard that winds through the site. This project is going to be designed for a Built Green 5 Star rating, and features could include in-floor radiant heating, fabricated metal railings, and a livable rooftop terrace equipped with sink and BBQ hookups. But if you’re interested in the home that is sitting on that lot now, contact Build Urban today to learn more details. If you're interested in Seattle real estate, contact your local real estate agent today!

Seattle City Council Limits Building Heights On Small Lots

*Synced From Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Five of nine Seattle City Council members voted yesterday to set limits on building heights for homes built on small lots in single-family zones, an issue that has come to the forefront after an uptick in developers building tall (30 feet plus) narrow homes on lots that have been carved from back and side yards of stand-alone houses. The Seattle Times reports that the council vote set the height limit at 18 feet plus a five-foot pitched roof, or the average height of the surrounding homes, whichever is taller.
Residents have complained that homes built on these small lots sacrifice lawns, open space and trees in the name of density and are often out of scale with the more traditional homes in the neighborhood. Along with the building height limit, regulations will now prohibit development on lots smaller than 2,500 square feet, and neighbors will have the right to appeal proposed development on lots smaller than 3,200 square feet, according to the Times article. Council members also voted down what was called the “100 percent rule”, which would have allowed building on smaller lots if the lot was the average size of others on the same block.

UW Planning 50 Story Tower Downtown Seattle

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog

The Columbia Center tower could have some competition as the dominating presence in Seattle’s skyline in near future, as the University of Washington’s Board of Regents has approved plans for a 50-story office/apartment/retail/hotel complex that would share a block with the iconic Rainier Tower on the UW-owned Metropolitan Tract of land downtown, according to The Seattle Times.

UW is working with developer Wright Runstad & Co. to develop the complex, which would rise to 795 feet, making it the second tallest tower in the city behind the Columbia Center tower at 937 feet. The tower will house 30,000 square feet of street-level retail, 750,000 square feet of office space and at least 182 apartments, while a 15-story luxury hotel will sit beside it in a separate building. The unique shape of the tower, which consists of a wide base of 33,000 square feet and tapers to just 15,000 square feet at the top, was conceived so it wouldn’t block views of and from the Rainier Tower, which has occupied its precarious-looking pedestal since 1978. The complex will replace the Rainier Square retail mall.

The university has owned the 10.7-acre Metropolitan Tract, which comprises most of the blocks bordered by Union and Seneca streets and 3rd and 5th avenues (where its original campus was located before moving to its current location in 1895) for more than a century, and is hoping a new 80-year ground lease will increase its earnings from the tract to about $4 million per year, up from the $1.5 million it making from the current lease on the Rainier Square property.

While the university’s deadline for beginning construction on the complex is 2021, Wright Runstad is hoping to begin as soon as the second half of 2015. For more information on Seattle real estate, contact your local real estate agent today.

Eastside Neighbors Sue PSE Over Power Lines

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
People who own property between Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton and Newcastle Beach Park near Bellevue have filed suit against Puget Sound Energy over the placement of a stretch of the proposed 18-mile long high-capacity power lines between Renton and Redmond that are part of PSE’s Energize Eastside project, according to an article in The Seattle Times.
Their lawsuit stems from PSE’s suggested plan of installing power lines on parcels of land on Lake Washington that were originally intended for BNSF Railway use, and later sold to the Port of Seattle after the railroad plan was abandoned. The 74 property owners filing suit contend that the Port only had rights to the corridor’s ground surface, but sold the aerial and subsurface rights to PSE as well. The land owners, along with many other Eastside residents, are hoping to preserve the land as a pedestrian and bike trail, and say installing the power lines would require clearing vegetation and would obstruct shoreline views from the trail.
PSE is considering several alternative routes for the power lines, which are being installed to service the Eastside’s growing population, and the property owner group is encouraging the utility to choose one that doesn’t disrupt plans for the lakeside pedestrian park. PSE will not be applying for permits for the power lines until early 2015, and have said they are dedicating 2014 to gathering public input on the project. If you’re interested in learning more about Seattle Real Estate, contact your local real estate agent today.

Housing Market Experiences First Growth in 4 Months

* Synced from the Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Bucking the national trend that saw home prices stay relatively flat from January to February, The Seattle Times reports that the Seattle-area market saw prices rise ever so slightly in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Index. In the biggest monthly gain since July 2013, the average price of a home in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties rose by a whopping, wait for it…0.6 percent. While that may seem like a small number, annual gains tell a different story, showing prices rising 12.8 percent over the previous 12 months. However, we have 17.3 more percentage points to go to catch up with the market’s peak in July 2007.
Along with Seattle, Portland and San Diego round out the top three cities with the strongest price gains in February. Surprisingly, San Francisco appeared to show slowing monthly price growth, though its prices were up 23 percent from same time last year.
Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, stated in the article that although the national housing market is showing signs of slowing in recent months, it is just a snapshot of a market that is slowly returning to normal. Nationally, prices rose by 12.9 percent from February 2013 to February 2014. The National Association of Realtors also reported that the number of pending home sales rose in March for the first time in nine months.

Mark Your Calendar: Northwest Green Home Tour This Weekend

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Hydronic heating, solar panels, and rain catchment systems are just the tip of the sustainable iceberg for the 35 homes and 12 “sustainability stops” featured in this year’s Northwest Green Homes Tour. If you’re curious about sustainable building practices, or just want to get a close-up look at some of Seattle’s most innovative green homes, print out a site map, jump in the car (or on a bike – we are talking sustainability, after all) and spend Saturday learning from builders, suppliers and homeowners about this growing industry.
The self-guided tour is completely free to the public and includes homes and stops all over Seattle, with a few as far north as Mountlake Terrace and North Creek. A sampling of the sustainability stops includes the newly remodeled Taproot Theater in Greenwood that is targeting LEED Gold certification; and RainWise, a South Park organization that is working on green approaches to storm water control. A wristband that you’ll receive at your first stop on the tour also gets you some great perks at two more sustainability stops that will be essential on your daylong tour- a free coffee drink at Equal Exchange Espresso Bar in Ballard and discounts on food and drinks at Hale’s Ales.
The tour runs from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Feel free to start at any home or stop you’d like, or meet at Hale’s at 11:00 a.m. for a 5.1-mile walking tour around North Seattle guided by Dave Ramsay of Feet First, an organization that promotes walkable communities in Washington.This is a great chance to see some stunning green homes around the city and connect with people in the industry, including the sponsors, the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and Built Green. Visit the website for more info and a complete map of sites.