West Seattle Blog…

Condo-mania: “Grand opening” day for Strata

November 3, 2007 at 12:01 pm | In West Seattle housing | 14 Comments

Got another one of those “Dear Ms. Blog” e-mails from the Strata mailing list; seems today is Grand Opening Day (as opposed to Priority Opening Day) for the condo-converted ex-Graham Street Apartments at California/Graham (map). The e-mail includes a link to this video tour for the curious, and florid design descriptions aplenty, so we screen-grabbed it to share:

We may have to go by just for the “European-inspired entry piazza.” (But does it have a direct view of the not-European-inspired ex-Chuck & Sally’s Tavern?) P.S. Since drafting this, we drove through the area. Even if you live in north WS, you have to go down to Morgan Junction today to see the scene. Haven’t ever seen anything like it around here. Sign-wavers and huge banners for Strata, West Water, and between the two, Domino’s. Maybe south West Seattle is the new … Lynnwood.

14 Comments

1. Oh please take that back WSB. I had the mis-fortune of being raised in Lynnwood, big hair and all. I would just curl up and die if WS became anything like that.

   Comment by JT — 2:45 pm November 3, 2007 #

2. I was almost killed today while trying to drive around the madness. There were Audis, BMWs and Volvos…oh my.

   I hope our lovely West Seattle doesn’t turn into Blah-vue, *YAWN*.

   Comment by Coffee Gurl — 3:02 pm November 3, 2007 #

3. If Gatewood is the new Lynnwood, could we get maybe a Top Foods down here? Maybe a good BBQ joint, a few more choices for pizza, something that isn’t either a salon for humans or dogs? I’m okay with the housing density, but (as I’ve said before) I’d like it to come with additional walk-to businesses.

   Comment by pam — 3:06 pm November 3, 2007 #

4. I’m with Pam. We need to form a retail coalition.

   Comment by Venkat — 3:08 pm November 3, 2007 #

5. Finally drove by West Water today and folks here were right about the excessive orange-ity of it. Strata is more pleasant from the outside.

   Comment by Kayleigh — 4:38 pm November 3, 2007 #

6. When My bus to work went by Waste Water this morning around 7:00, and it was still fairly dark out, it looked like they had every ding dang light in every ding dang unit in the ding dang building lit up, and all I could think of was “what a waste of electricity!”

   Mike

   Comment by miws — 7:31 pm November 3, 2007 #

7. Drove by this today, definitely looks impressive. I’m looking for somewhere to buy, and Strata seems like a good alternative to paying $800/ft downtown (unreal).

   Comment by James — 10:52 am November 4, 2007 #

8. My friend used to live in “strata” back when they were just crappy apartments. I cannot believe that they had the gall to turn these into condos! crappy apartments=crappy condos. a fresh coat of paint and a granite countertop do not a paradise make…

   Comment by JenV — 11:40 am November 4, 2007 #

9. I, also, used to live in the wonderful ‘Strata’ building. Unless they’ve done some serious upgrades to the infrastructure of the units, then I would say, “Don’t bother.” Even the largest units are cramped and anything on the north side stays pretty dark year round (not to mention the flooding that ground level apartments can experience). Let me just sum up my point by say that THESE CONDOS ARE RIDICULOUSLY OVER PRICED!!

   Comment by Jay — 12:58 am November 5, 2007 #

10. Overpriced for what? Even brand-new McMansions in the burbs have problems. I agree that these seem like awfully high prices to pay if you’re used to them not being so high, but if you can afford it, and if, after a couple of years, you can build up some equity and sell the place for a little more than what you bought it for…that means it’s not overpriced.

    If you can’t afford them, or the value of the place plummets, I guess that means they are overpriced.

    Comment by JW — 12:55 pm November 5, 2007 #

11. Looked at Strata and West Water this weekend out of curiousity. They both look cheap with minor cosmetic changes. I also went to High Point to check out some carriage houses since I was curious what they looked like. For the same price they were offering a one bedroom condo converstion at West Water (319k), High Point had a really nice 1600 foot carriage house with a garage for the same price. I was pretty impressed and could only wonder whey someone would buy the condo vs the carriage house in High Point.

    Comment by natinstl — 6:36 pm November 6, 2007 #

12. Lived at the Strata just before the conversion. Let me just say, unless they did something about the sound proofing, anyone below the top floor will know when their upstairs neighbor is taking a shower or vacumning, as well us some rather more embarrassing moments. Was okay as apts for the price but I wouldn’t buy one.

    Comment by eli — 1:53 pm November 7, 2007 #

13. I also used to live at the Strata before the conversion. There is no way I would buy a condo there due to the over rated pricing and the treatment the last residents had to put up with! I saw the units being worked on and how the space was being reduced. The sound inside is definitely another issue!

    Comment by former GSR — 6:13 pm November 7, 2007 #

14. i’ll pass on the condos… i want to rent out chuck and sally’s and remodel it. its a perfect bar space for me. i just got “gentrified” out of my job on capital hill and am looking to start my own place in my neighborhood.

    Comment by michele — 3:09 am November 8, 2007 #

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