Best Condo Neighborhoods 2008

With Views
Downtown Tacoma, Interbay, South Lake Union

For all its spectacular water and mountain views, downtown Tacoma has been slow to arrive at the condo party. But that’s changing—at least for those who can afford to pay a dear price for their view. Several new luxury developments have condos on the market, including The Commencement, a six-story complex with view condos technically in the teeny burg of Ruston, says Dick Beeson, owner-broker of Windermere Commencement. At this complex, a 2,300-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and sweeping views goes for $1.5 million. “It’s about as good a view as you can get from Tacoma, both mountains and Sound,” he says. There are other new luxury condos in the area, Beeson says, including Stadium 302, set to open in July, with condos priced at $1.15 million to $1.25 million;, and the 505 Broadway, with units between $1.3 million and $1.5 million. It’s set to open in late summer.

Properties in the developing neighborhood of South Lake Union offer views of Lake Union as well as the city’s iconic Space Needle. While you may still feel a bit like an urban pioneer living here—new buildings are sprinkled amongst the area’s original warehouses and industrial properties—the landscape is rapidly changing as high-tech businesses move in, retail expands and condos reach completion. Properties coming onto the market include the Veer Lofts in late summer, priced from the high-$300,000- range for partial lofts to the high-$400,000 range for full lofts. (One off-beat amenity: bocce on the roof!) Also coming is the Rollin Street in early 2009, with condominiums ranging from approximately $400,000 to more than $1 million. Also scheduled to open in early 2009 is Enso, luxury condominiums blending “European grace and Asian-inspired flavor.”

Views of the Sound are the draw for the Queen Anne side of Interbay, such as those from The Interbay, with unit prices ranging from $300,000 to $600,000, with more condos planned. The area’s desirability is also being boosted by a new Whole Foods market that is being built south of the Interbay Golf Center along 15th Avenue W and Armory Way. The Whole Foods complex will include a fitness club and other stores and restaurants. “With the Whole Foods…under construction now, that is going to positively impact prices on the lower Westside,” says Windermere agent Rene Stern. Added attractions: the proximity to Ballard’s hip shops and restaurants, and a quick commute to downtown.

For Singles on a Budget
Columbia City

Columbia City is a more affordable option than many popular neighborhoods (Belltown anyone?), with condos and townhouses in the area starting in the mid-$200,000 range on up. Many more are planned, encouraged by the light rail station there, says Gerrard, Beattie and Knapp specialist Eric Premo. “If you live there, you can have a nightlife in Columbia City and enjoy yourself. If you work downtown, you don’t even have to have a car.” Those nightlife offerings range from the wine bar Verve to first-run movies at the Columbia City Cinema to the Columbia City Theater, with live music, burlesque and cabaret on its stage.


For Young Professionals
Pike/Pike, downtown Bellevue

Young professionals are snapping up condos in the Pike-Pine neighborhood of Capitol Hill—and competing with boomers for them, says Eric Premo of Gerrard, Beattie and Knapp. Younger people love the nightlife and easy access to downtown, while his boomer clients like the smaller scale of the buildings in the neighborhood with their correspondingly lower monthly maintenance fees. “The addition of the Trace Lofts has been great,” he says. The project is a 42-loft renovation of a 1919 warehouse, done, he says, with panache and intelligence, with units selling for $300,000 to $800,000. “It’s a wonderful project. They go together very well, they flow. The one-bedroom floor plans are just wonderful. It’s a fun building.” The area will also be home to a highly anticipated condo project by lauded Seattle architect Tom Kundig. It’s Kundig’s first condominium project, and units will be priced from the mid-$200,000 range to about $500,000.

Downtown Bellevue is drawing young professionals for its increasingly fun nightlife (particularly in the Lincoln Square complex with its 16-screen movie theater, Lucky Strike bowling alley and billiards parlor), as well as its proximity to high-tech jobs, says Eastside condo specialist Anna Novikoff with ek Real Estate Group. (Microsoft recently announced it is leasing 740,000 square feet in the Bravern complex, currently under construction downtown.) “They like places where they can congregate, not too far from where they work.”

Young professionals also seem to like condo complexes that have business centers where they can get out of their condo units and work, whatever the hour, because they’re frequently doing business around the world. One such high-visibility project with a business center is the Washington Square project on 10.5 acres in the heart of downtown Bellevue. The project features five condo towers, plus townhouses, priced from the high-$500,000 range to more than $2 million. One tower opened early this year, with the second scheduled to open this summer and the others to follow, Novikoff says. Also piquing the interest of her Gen X and Gen Y buyers are the Bellevue Towers in the downtown area, in part because this development offers green construction techniques and materials, and environmentally responsible operating and maintenance practices. Those units are priced from $529,000 to more than $3 million, with the first phase set to open in the fall.

For Boomers
Downtown Bellevue, Kirkland

Downsizing baby boomers are flocking to condos around downtown Bellevue—but for different reasons than those of young professionals, Novikoff says. “The better restaurants: that appeals greatly to empty nesters.” Bellevue’s restaurant scene—though favoring regional and national chains over small independents—will blossom further with recent announcements that El Gaucho, Purple Café and Wine Bar and Wild Ginger have plans to open restaurants there. The Bravern, though still being built, seems very attractive to boomers, Novikoff says, with its higher-end shopping (the area’s first Neiman Marcus) and restaurants. Kirkland’s condo scene—many of its properties feature views of Lake Washington—is attracting older buyers who are not interested in high-rise living. “People downsizing from Mercer Island usually aren’t the ones who want to be on the 42nd floor,” Novikoff says. “Those buying in Kirkland like the lower rises, the height restrictions.” The galleries and shops that line downtown Kirkland also are attractive to this group, she notes.