Home › Forums › Open Discussion › What's with the apartments?
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
March 23, 2015 at 5:05 am #817038
AWill23MemberI’ve lived in West Seattle all my life and all these new apartment complexes are killing my small town feel for WS. I understand these companies are expanding housing but what’s the deal? They are ruining West Seattle in my opinion. Thoughts?
March 23, 2015 at 5:23 pm #823036
datamuseParticipantI don’t understand the question. You’re aware that Seattle has one of the tightest, most expensive rental markets in the country, right?
March 23, 2015 at 5:50 pm #823037
KBearParticipantWest Seattle was annexed to Seattle in 1907, so this ball has been rolling for a long time. You might as well complain about all the tall buildings downtown while you’re at it.
March 23, 2015 at 8:37 pm #823038
kgdlgParticipantMy quick summary:
1990s
-State Growth Management Act
-City Comp Plan, Neighborhood Plans, Urban Village Designations to “plan for growth”
2000s
-Urban Villages zoned accordingly to take growth
-Some plans updated to further increase zoning from NC 40 to NC 65
-The Great Recession occurs literally stopping almost all development in City for 3+ years
2010s
-Seattle comes out of recession going gangbusters, places like Amazon go on hiring binge
-In 2012-2013 18,000 people move to Seattle making us fastest growing City in Country
-National investors take notice and market rate apartment projects as investment vehicles take off all over City due to demand outstripping supply of housing
A footnote to all of this is that despite our baby boom happening right now, Seattle has the second smallest family size to San Francisco, i.e. our demographic is young, single or small childless families, and relatively wealthy and well educated compared to the rest of the country. On top of this millennials are buying houses later than generations before them. THIS IS WHY SO MANY MARKET APARTMENTS ARE GOING UP. For every young recent college grad moving here to make 75k a year to start at Amazon, there is a lack of housing (I know, hard to believe, but supply is only now catching up to demand).
The ongoing challenge is going to be “where do all the regular people live”. And I don’t mean to be pejorative or condescending here. Childcare workers, Baristas, anyone in the service economy NOT making 75k a year will have a tough time in this market and may likely have to leave the City in search of affordability, thereby increasing carbon footprints until we have a more regional functioning Light Rail and rapid bus system.
March 23, 2015 at 9:39 pm #823039
skeeterParticipantAnd then in 2023 the millennials all decide they want big homes with big yards so they move to Kent and all the apartments in West Seattle are vacant. I love it!!
March 23, 2015 at 10:14 pm #823040
datamuseParticipantThey’re already having a tough time, kdglg. I know quite a few longtime residents who’ve been priced out.
The thing is, if you look at where the new development is in West Seattle, it’s really confined to a very few areas–the Urban Villages mentioned above. This is discussed in this recent Seattle Times blog post, which also contains the interesting observation that 60% of Seattle residents work outside the city. (I’m one of them.)
My house and yard aren’t especially big, though.
March 23, 2015 at 10:15 pm #823041
wakefloodParticipantSkeeter, I’m banking on at least ONE of those families wanting to take my big spread off my hands so I can move into um…SOMETHING smaller, but hopefully not too far from my beloved peninsula?
March 23, 2015 at 10:46 pm #823042
skeeterParticipantYou can stay Wake. I’ll take some of my Goldman money and buy a whole complex. I’ll set one unit aside for you. Maybe even with a view.
March 23, 2015 at 10:54 pm #823043
wakefloodParticipantBless you, kind sir.
March 23, 2015 at 11:46 pm #823044
kgdlgParticipant@datamuse, I build affordable housing so I am well aware of how tough it is for the average working person in this City. On a recent project in which I am building 3 bedrooms apartments, our market study came back to say that the market rent for this type of unit would be over $2400 a month. That is so out of reach for the single parent or low wage two parent household working a $15 hour job.
I am sure there are some on the blog who will say, “just go to Kent or Burien” to find an affordable place, but then that person is potentially commuting all the way back up to Seattle, which is terrible for the environment. Or alternatively they are on a bus for one hour plus, which is not great for kids if their parents are spending all this time commuting. It is so problematic on so many levels. Hoping the HALA committee comes up with some good recommendations beyond increasing the existing housing levy…
March 24, 2015 at 12:38 am #823045
waynsterParticipantyears ago my friend in the real estate industry said that developers would put condos/apartments on every major arterial in West Seattle and go from there so if one looks you see happening a surprise no…….do we need to do something about rising rents you bet rent control a idea it works back east…..will it work here…?
March 24, 2015 at 12:54 am #823046
JanSParticipantI am one who is being priced out. Since Sept. 2014, my rent has gone up $225/mo, and I expect it will go up again by this coming September. I have lived in WS for 40 years/ My only family lives in WS. I am 68, on a semi-fixed income. Move to Kent? Move to Fed. Way? Where I know no one, and have no family. Does the city, do the developers, give a damn? Of course not. To those who have told me in the past that I didn’t plan well, and should just up and move to a different, cheaper part of the country, I offer a big raspberry. I am near the healthcare that I need. It’s frightening. I look at stories like the one about the Linda Arms, and I keep thinking I’m next..wonder if we can have a Nickelsville for only seniors.:-. Hoping the waitlist for senior housing isn’t too long :(
(BTW, have you all priced the new apts. where Petco used to be? Studios starting at $1625. Two bdr. apts at $3000/mo. Might as well live downtown.
March 24, 2015 at 3:01 am #823047
LisaParticipantI too am caught up in this conundrum! I’ve been living in West Seattle for the past 8 years and renting in the same building. I’ve gone from married to single and moved into a smaller unit. Rent went up when I took over the unit and will go up another 20% (as much as the law allows) the second my lease is up… which means another $318 per month over what I can just barely afford now.
.
I’ve been searching for months for something around 1000 per month… within a 1.5 mile radius of the Junction … I’m beginning to understand… I may as well be searching for Unicorns and winning lottery tickets :(
March 24, 2015 at 4:47 am #823048
JeannieParticipantI agree that the cost of rentals is getting way out of hand. But I’d like to get back to the OP, who made a perfectly fair and reasonable observation. Yes, apartment buildings are sprouting up, and yes, we need truly affordable housing, but there’s a downside to all this building. First of all, most are not affordable. And, while some of you may scoff at this, remember much of the appeal of West Seattle has been a genuine community feel. A clean, walkable community.
But these mega-buildings mean more traffic in West Seattle and on the bridge, more crowding, more idiots letting their dogs run loose on the beaches, less much-needed natural light – blocked out by these humongous structures, more sewage, more air pollution from traffic, etc., etc.
March 24, 2015 at 5:08 am #823049
kgdlgParticipantWaynster having lived in NYC once I am suspect of rent control as a solution as it immediately sucks a huge chunk of supply out of the market and forever places these apartments essentially in the hands of the lucky few housing lottery winners, to then be hoarded and passed down to relatives and friends in a very inequitable way. If there were a way to match rent control units with the most needy, like is done with section 8 vouchers, I would support it more. I just hate the stories of super well off people or kids of some poor grandma who passed living in a 300 a month 3 bedroom while a truly poor family is on the streets!
These personal testimonies of people having a hard time with rent really get me, especially JanS who we all know is a longtime community member here. I worry we are losing our soul.
March 24, 2015 at 5:13 am #823050
kgdlgParticipantJeannie the OP asked “what’s the deal” with the apartments so I think it is reasonable that we are trying to talk about why these developments are happening and the impacts. You are right that lack of infrastructure will continue to be a huge deal. Hence the 900 million transportation levy just proposed. And the recebt parks district levy and the upcoming housing levy. We are growing faster than any other city in US so have to figure out how to keep up. It is gonna be tough growing pains.
March 24, 2015 at 4:08 pm #823051
datamuseParticipantGood observations, kgdlg. Some friends of mine who couldn’t afford Seattle were living in Everett and if y’all think the commute out of our little peninsula is bad, try commuting into Seattle from Snohomish County. I’m from DC originally and no stranger to bad traffic (my dad used to leave for work at 5:30 am to miss rush hour, which is about 3 hours long in the mornings), but it’s ridic.
Now I’m thinking we could potentially be building more housing than we are, which might well ease the market a bit at the admitted consequence of increasing density (which I don’t see as completely negative, just to be clear) but since you’re in the biz, kgdlg, I’m curious about your thoughts on this. (I don’t think the neighborhood I live in is zoned for these larger developments; we have some apartments but they’re small buildings and no more than two stories high.)
March 24, 2015 at 5:38 pm #823052
KimberleyParticipantThe D.C. rush hour I could deal with, the West Seattle or Seattle to Tacoma rush hour? Um. No. It makes my bloody boil and sets off road rage feelings I never knew I had.
March 24, 2015 at 7:47 pm #823053
datamuseParticipantReally? I commute to Tacoma every day and so far have failed to kill anyone. Even though nobody knows how to merge. ;)
March 24, 2015 at 9:54 pm #823054
SueParticipantAs a native New Yorker, I wanted to comment on rent control. Rent control is something NYC had been trying to get rid of for ages. That’s where someone got grandfathered into an apartment that’s worth $3,000 a month, and yet they’re paying $400. Very few apartments remain under rent control, from what I understand. The main protection for renters in NYC is rent stabilization, which is something I’d like to see here. There was a certain percentage of maximum rent increase for a 1 year lease and a 2 year lease. I don’t know what it is now, but it was 4%/7% when I lived there. when you moved, the apartment could be raised to market rents. But they didn’t penalize current renters and try to price them out.
March 25, 2015 at 7:22 am #823055
JanSParticipantI’d like to see that, too, Sue. Seems we do have some greedy bastards out there under the guise of “landlord” :(
March 25, 2015 at 6:11 pm #823056
kgdlgParticipantThanks Sue for clarifying. I clearly was thinking rent control not rent stabilization. I think a cap on how much rents can go up per year and ample notice requirements would be great here.
Datamuse, I have so many opinions on the density = affordability argument. Obviously more supply helps keep prices down or at least more stabilized and I think soon we might have an over supply which will further help even things out (for a while). But I think what we are struggling with now is just crazy demand from an insane amount of people moving here, and in the face of this high demand, from people with relatively high incomes, i am not sure any kind of affordable housing program can keep pace. Sorry, I am in a pretty depressed place about it.
March 25, 2015 at 6:57 pm #823057
skeeterParticipantKgdlg – I really enjoy your contributions to these forums. Thank you.
I agree the challenge is a fast-growing city. The growth is spurred by high paying jobs. You put that together and you’ve got rapidly increasing rents. I know the Mayor has some sort of commission to study housing affordability. I just don’t see any solutions coming from that. Gov’t can tweek the market but they can’t really put much of a dent in it without enormous costly subsidies.
Are we going to be the next San Francisco with 1 br apartments going for $5,000/mo? I don’t know.
The good news is America is a big country. Once I no longer need to work I can leave the high-priced city and live in other very affordable places. I think retiring and living in Wenatchee or Spokane would be lovely. Maybe we need to rethink our cities. Urban areas for high-paid workers and the rest of the country for the rest of us. Why are we trying to jam so many people into such a small area anyway??
March 25, 2015 at 7:12 pm #823058
datamuseParticipantThanks, kdglg. I know it’s complex. I have a bit of an outsider view since I’ve lived in a single-family house since 1999–I just have a lot of friends who are renters and are really struggling in the current climate.
skeeter, a lot of it is jobs; people are going where the work is, and Seattle’s tech industry is just exploding. Add a really rich cultural life and gorgeous location and that’ll draw people–I came here with the last big in-migration in the mid-1990s. But urbanization is a general trend worldwide and a lot of it’s driven by people seeking work. My husband and I drove cross-country last summer and a lot of those smaller towns just don’t have prospects, especially for younger folks trying to get started in life.
March 25, 2015 at 7:39 pm #823059
SueParticipant18 months ago I was in the middle of a divorce and looking for an apartment on my own. The house we rented 1/2 mile from the Junction was $1300 and 2,000 square feet. I ended up in a 1BR in the Junction, 1/3 the size of the house, and paying $1200. The building across the street from me was a similar price point (I was looking at both), and now that place is in the middle of major renovations and charging $1700 for 1BR. Even my own building – not a new or fancy one – is charging $150 more for my size apartment now than when I moved in 18 months ago. A new one being built in the Junction is advertising nearly $2,000 for a 1BR and $3,000 for a 2BR. What people don’t realize too is that most of these new apartments are asking for proof that you make 2-3 times the rent. So a $3,000 apartment requires you to earn $72,000 – $108,000 a year. If you’re not lucky enough to have a partner or roommate, that’s a lot. It’s a lot for a lot of couples I know too.
There’s a lot of talk about “affordable housing.” The thing is, I believe when they refer to “affordable,” it’s a buzzword for “low income.” I am not a low income person, but after I pay every last damned thing I’m required to pay each month, I don’t have a tremendous amount left. The amount of my annual raises is WAY surpassed by increases in everything, not just rent, so each year I am left with less and less money at the end of the month. I know I am not alone out there. I’m grateful that I was able to lock into a 2 year lease 6 months ago when I renewed, at a reasonable renewal. I’m not so sure what will happen when the lease is up in 18 more months. I know I certainly can’t afford any of the new construction alternatives in the Junction.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.