Thanks to Stewart L. for the photo and tip. It was demolition time today for the houses at 1778 and 1780 Alki Avenue SW [map], 82 and 110 years old, respectively. They’re making way for a 3-story, 6-townhouse project with 9 offstreet-parking spaces. It’s been in the works since August 2018; the site changed hands this past February, for $2.3 million.
In the 1930 US census the house at 1778 was occupied by the David Gooch family, he was a cook at a restaurant and the rent was $25. The house at 1780 was occupied by the Herbert Dorsch family, he was a bell boy at a hotel and the rent was $35.What strikes me is not the rental prices but the occupations of the head of the families. How times have changed!
So adjusted for inflation that’s around $384/mo for Mr. Gooch and $540/mo for Mr. Dorsch. Not too shabby for waterfront accommodations.
Ha ha just looked at that before I saw your reply, yes Gooch rent should be going for just under $400 today all things being equal. Things are not equal. They still had an operational bridge back then.
I question the wisdom of continuing any developments in West Seattle until the bridge crisis gets solved.
I question the wisdom of stopping or delaying the creation of additional housing before the homelessness and housing affordability crises are solved. If you think being in your car for an extra hour sucks, imagine having to live there.
Do you think that some waterfront townhomes have anything to do with solving or impacting the homelessness or housing affordability issue? Seriously??These will sell for over a million each.
I know this stretch of Alki has been zoned for greater density but it’s still sad to see these century old homes that provided affordable housing getting torn down and replaced by cheaply built townhomes that only the wealthy can afford. Probably inevitable…
No kidding! Especially since it will be replaced with cheap ugly housing that looks like something out of soviet-era Russia
AMD. At the price these units will sell for how will they help the homeless /affordability issue???
Housing is a finite resource which people have to compete over. We are experiencing a massive deficit with the amount of housing stock we have, and therefore prices and rents are out of control. Rich people will always make sure they are housed first and win the competition. Building townhouses will aliviare pressure on the lower end of the market because it will increase the amount of overall housing stock and reduce competition. Unfortunately for us, many of the types of housing that have helped low income people in the past are very difficult to build in Seattle due to zoning laws (IE, cottages, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cooperative condos, etc). While expensive townhouses are certainly not the full solution to the housing crisis, they are a small piece of the puzzle.
Given those two (derelict, maybe?–sorry, really don’t know the condition of them) houses sold for 2.3 million, I’d say the dozen new units will absolutely help with housing and housing costs. Every little bit helps, and the difference between 1+ million and whatever the new units sell for will be a big delta.
Do you not think that a series of cheaper townhouses is better than 2 million+ dollar homes with regards housing issues in Seattle?
Because the person that buys a $2M condo leaves a $1.5M comdo for the person who buys a $1M condo… and so on, until the affordable apartment is now open for someone who would otherwise not have a place to live. More housing supply at any price point brings supply up, and prices down.
I wouldn’t even call it trickle-down since the rich people aren’t miraculously granting living space to poor people. There are simply more houses for people to live in.
These lots are only 2 of 5 dilapidated houses in a row. Owners let them go to crap. I am glad to hear they will at least be town houses and not megabuildings. Expensive townhouses. Not sure how it will help decrease homelessness, as working class are having harder and harder time staying and affording Alki/west Seattle.
I was born in Seattle and I’ve lived for the last five years in an old shabby home on Alki Ave that my friends family has owned for decades. I used to be sad about the houses being replaced with condos but the longer I live on Alki Ave the less I care. It’s loud, busy, and crowded with disrespectful non-Alki visitors. There’s almost no community feeling and it’s devoid of Seattle culture. Most people who live on Alki are transplants who are retired or just live there until they can find something in a better location. There could be 4-6 dwellings where I live instead of one. Bring on the condos and continue to add density to Seattle as far as I’m concerned.
They only paid taxes for property value of $830k in 2019This is a example of how the rich pay less tax then the working class.It just sold for $2.3 million.So the investors hide the real value of the property to pay less tax.It was worth almost 3 times what they paid on taxesTax the rich
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