new homes at High Point?

[JasonG]

I’m interested in opinions regarding the “new homes” development at High Point — anyone live there? I had signed up for their email list early on because I’m interested in “green building” practices and so forth. Now I’m just curious what kind of neighborhood it’s shaping up to be, what the houses are like, and what other WS natives think of the development.

It’s not like any of us can forget the area is there, what with the guys toting the NEW HOMES signs up and down 35th all the time, pointing their arrows over to High Point! My 2-yr-old daughter has become so accustomed to seeing them that when we drive by and they’re NOT there, she yells “where’s the boy with the sign?”

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[Anonymous]

Jason, I live right near the new development. I personally love what they’re doing. It’s a nice, safe, well lit area to walk through. The new park is going to be a great attraction. It opens next month, I think. The houses look happy, for lack of a better term. I think this encourages pride and the desire to keep up your home and yard.

I think they may be too close together for some. But the layout and flow creates a real community feel. I see people on the sidewalks all the time and kids playing. I rarely see that in other neighborhoods. Even when you’re at the junctions or Alki, one street over is empty of everything but cars.

The old development looked ignored and depressing. I think this effected the residents as well. We would hear gunshots and police chases and aid responses all the time. Revving cars or broken cars on blocks. Trash everywhere. Even the construction sounds quieter. For renters or those on assistance, there’s a big difference between a house and a home. The old buildings could hardly be considered either.

I know many have their opinions about style and quality. All I know, for us, it’s been nothing but an extremely positive change. They’re good neighbors.

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[RonM]

I went with a friend to take a look at some of the High Point townhouses a few months ago. I was much impressed! We were told that much of the development was going to be by private ownership with some public housing mixed in. We looked at three townhouses that were available for purchase. The cheapest was $310K. Just from appearance and walking through they appeared well constructed and solid.

Conversely my friend also looked at those being built around Alaska and MLK. They seemed quite shabby, though their appearance were similar to those in High Point. They looked rushed to put on the market with less attention to quality and construction, but their prices were roughly the same as those in High Point. My friend eventually bought a townhome in Kenmore because he got a better price.

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[JanS]

JasonG…one of the frequent posters on here, Ken, lives there, I think. Hopefully he’ll see this and let you know how things are :)

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[Ken]

I live in the Highpoint neighborhood. However I live in the “old” Highpoint, rather than the “new” Highpoint.

Our house is across the street from the SHA subsidized rentals near the north west corner of the project.

I watched the old buildings torn down and the new ones going up.

The SHA rentals had to be built to federal standards and local building codes as did the developer units, but the SHA units included integrated smoke alarms that flash all the lights in the house as well as enhanced access in the ground floor units designated as handicapped/elderly apartments.

The for sale units vary by builder.

The stepdaughter is renting one from an investor who bought several of them from the developer.

Observations will have to be limited to “The Dwelling Company” http://www.dwellingcompany.com/

since I don’t have any direct experience with any of the other builders units, but I suspect there may be some similarities.

Most notable is the warranty service. There is one. It is limited to actual builder problems and does not address design issues or the stupidities that were drawn into the blueprints. Some will find these minor. Some will not. It depends on what you expect from modern townhomes and the abilities of marketing to deform every product it is applied to.

The most annoying visible issue to many will be the unusable garage. The height of the opening is already unusually low which is why most pickups and SUV’s are parked on the street or on the concrete pad outside the garage. Add to that the Duct work and pan underneath the gas fireplaces (I think they all have them) in some plans restricts the garage door from opening all the way so even some full size sedans or small pickups cannot use the garage. This is bad enough to call for a public flogging of the architects and the marketers who demanded the gas fireplaces be shoehorned into each plan. Also note, there is so little room in some garages that only some low clearance openers can be installed causing the top of the door to not seal creating a 1 in gap for heat to escape. We shall see more “green building” flaws next.

Lighting:

These units have lots of windows. I can see a few across the way that seem to have huge windows in the three floor stairwells. Good for light but I imagine the homeowners were not considering how they would either clean the windows or replace the lighting when they were admiring the design.

We shall see.

But I do have direct experience with the interior lights. There is not a single standard bulb fixture in the unit. They range from kinda standard expensive 300 watt halogen bulbs to insanely expensive halogens with mini candelabra bases (t-6) to damn near unavailable plug in blade style CF in fixtures where two hands and enough effort to break lesser fixtures are required to unscrew the 10 inch diffuser lens. Luckily I am tall enough to reach the ceiling without a ladder. Others will probably resort to adding normal lamps rather than replacing some of these bulbs.

The manufacturers of halogen lamps got them classified as “green” even though they produce immense amounts of waste heat, burn large amounts of energy and have to be installed behind heavy tempered glass shields in case of explosive failure. http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr01/tensor.html

Other issues with some of the for sale housing are the seeming inability of the warranty dept to get the various subcontractors to repair defects such as plumbing that hooks up hot water to outside faucets, cable connection vaults that have no drains and fill with water, and drains that sit above the surrounding pavement or too close to landscaping.

Some confuse the OSB that is used as sheathing when these units were built, with earlier generations of “particle board”. The OSB is much stronger and resistant to moisture than the old particle board. That said, older homes in the Seattle area were built using the old growth Fir and solid wood for both sheathing and sub flooring. These products are either entirely unavailable or prohibitively expensive in the current market.

On another note, read the HOA agreement carefully no matter where you look at new homes. Some people seem to have overlooked some of the responsibilities they were agreeing to and some of the rights they were signing away.

http://highpointblog.wordpress.com/

Finally, the neighborhood.

I like it. I live here and I know my neighbors. There are some things I like about the neighborhood that some may not like (read the archives of the above link to a dead blog)

It is diverse. Not just the SHA housing but the surrounding neighborhood and even to some extent the market rate housing. The surrounding neighborhood is 88% Democratic voters, many very active in local politics (I know because I am the PCO). The precinct that includes the entire SHA property (sea34-1485) had a vary large turnout at the Democratic presidential caucus in Feb.

If you like organic produce, the local farmers have one of the most beautiful and productive garden I have ever seen. The High Point Market Garden has a link for more info and to subscribe to get a share of the veggies. http://seattlemarketgardens.org/farmers.html

Site wise, it is a damn near perfect location (if they ever beef up the bus service on the 21) located 15 min from downtown via car or express bus, surrounded by parks, green belts, Camp Long, Longfellow creek trail, the municipal golf course and includes a library, medical-dental clinic and the future site of a small retail park. (no grocery store). Several current residents (both of the rentals and the market rate) bike commute via 25th ave and the upper and lower bridge path.

Views are of downtown, Cascades, and Mt Rainier for the most part and if you get a market rate unit with a view, current rules make is unlikely anyone can build into that view.

So. You pays yer money and you takes yer chances as with any large purchase. Just remember, the properties that are in developments will increase in value as long as the market in Seattle stays tight. But the units encumbered by Home Owner Association rules can have both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the older homes in the area have large lots that will increase in value over time, even faster than the townhouses on tiny lots that are measured in square feet.

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