Urban Visions, the company behind the proposed 30+ story 2nd & Pike condominium high-rise (not to be confused with 1521 or 2nd & Pine), purchased the Liberty Jewelry & Loan pawnshop building on Pike Street between 1st Avenue & 2nd Avenue.
The parcel is on the same block, just south of the 1521 project. Urban Visions plans to redevelop the property as another condo project, making it the 4th new condo building in a 3 block stretch of 2nd Avenue.
Informative article in the Seattle PI on the disappearing marine life from Puget Sound due to contaminants and shoreline changes, affecting natural plants, crabs, seabirds, salmon and the orca populations. Here’s a clip of the various sources of pollution affecting the sound.
The City of Seattle is underway with their Plant-A-Tree-For-Free program. Residents of Seattle can request a tree to plant in their yard (one per household). The trees will be available for pick up on October 28th at either Magnusson Park or the Southwest Community Center.
PSE mentions they will raise natural gas prices by about 10% as of October 1…just in time for Fall.
Seattle is finally keeping up with the Jones’ with a plan to implement a city-wide wi-fi system, by 2015. At least it’s a step in the right direction, but far behind the coffee houses and Tullys which provide free access.
Spotlight on Queen Anne:
Single-family houses and condominiums in the area that includes Queen Anne had a median price of $483,000 in June, up 13.7 percent over the past year, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
A friend of my regularly rents art work from the Seattle Art Museum, and it seems home sellers and stagers are too:
Museum officials say they’ve seen a spike in their art-rental business thanks in part to home stagers, who redecorate houses in hopes of boosting sales prices and increasing the odds of selling.
The Farm Bureau sponsored property-rights initiative I-933 is going at it alone:
powerful allies from 1995 either are sitting on the fence, decided to remain neutral or have embraced Initiative 933 only half-heartedly
First Methodist Church on 5th Avenue gets a reprive:
Church leaders have turned their focus to another local developer, Nitze-Stagen, which would build a thinner tower leaving room for the 1910 church featuring a red-tiled dome, brick walls and stained glass.
Another ornate church on Capitol Hill is getting a new life as upscale condominium homes.
On my Seattle Condos and Lofts blog I added a new article about a couple of construction quagmires impacting condos in the downtown area - the cement strike that’s now a month long causing sites to ground to a halt, and the impact of the viaduct decision which could close the downtown portion Highway 99 for 3-6 years rerouting traffic through the downtown street grid.
The 2nd Annual SLU Block Party is set for August 11th and 12th at the Discovery Center Park (behind Vulcan’s Discovery Center building). The event is hosted by Vulcan and will start off with:
Cinema on the Lawn @ 7-ish
Napolean Dynamite will be shown along with a photo booth so you can get a photo, Napolean style.
Taste of South Lake Union, Friday 5 - 7pm and Saturday from 11:30 am to 7 pm
Other events include:
For more info, check out www.SLUBlockParty.com.
The 5th Annual Paint Out is being held August 19-20th in several neighborhoods. The paint out is a national movement to clean-up and paint out graffiti. The Seattle neighborhoods included this year are:
