Livin’ it up in Downtown Seattle

Yesterday I toured the Via 6 Apartment project at the corner of 6^th and Lenora in downtown Seattle. This project is the latest and greatest from developer Pine Street Group, well known for bringing us Pacific Place, the redevelopment of the Seaboard Building and the expansion of the Seattle Art Museum.

Already at about 70% occupancy, you need to hurry down there to get a unit before they lease up! For a downtown renter, I don’t think there is anything comparable in the downtown core as far as high quality rental space along with really modern and inviting common area amenity space. The entire first floor retail level has a groovy industrial “street” feel with coffee/juice bar, bakery, tavern, restaurant and grocery space – all part of the Tom Douglas empire. A florist, barber shop and bike shop are also on site with interior and street entrances.

The apartment towers each have separate elevator banks – and corridors that jog around a bit to keep it from looking and feeling like a huge building with long long hallways. Apartment units range from 500 square feet up to about 1,000 square feet, with pricing starting at $1,175 for the smallest unit I think.  This is not for the budget living types.  This is for downtown tech types with big paychecks and cool style. I think the tenant age range here is 25-35.

Here’s what is GREAT about this project and others coming online in the downtown core this year and next - The addition of more downtown residential units means the addition of more downtown amenities – including more service businesses, restaurants and retail in the core. Seattle is a fabulous city with plans for a really fantastic waterfront redevelopment too. Check out Friends of the Waterfront for info on that, but get ready people. Seattle is going to be world class – get downtown and be part of it! 

Here are some pics I took during the tour.