Features in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Seattle Times, Puget Sound Business Journal, Seattle PI, King 5 News and Urbnlivn Emerge
Just one day following the announcement of NEXUS Condominium Tower, local media outlets have spread the news, highlighting both the project and Cityscape 2020, a video simulation of what Seattle’s skyline will look like four years from now.
As King 5’s John Langeler reports in a feature entitled “Video previews future of South Lake Union,” Seattle will soon look different and may be imagined in Cityscape 2020. Langeler says that “the video simulates flying over downtown and South Lake Union, and using information on projects currently under construction or on the verge of breaking ground, imagine what the city will look like when it is finished: busy.”
The feature turns to Dean Jones, President and CEO of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) who told King 5, “we are going to witness one of the most explosive growth cycles in downtown Seattle history,” adding that a coming shift will be that “the difference between renting and buying homes will have a little more balance.”
The Daily Journal of Commerce Staff says the “403 new condos in 40-story Nexus will anchor ‘glimmering new neighborhood.’” The feature quotes much of the press release that went public April 14th, as the staff writes that the developer “expects to break ground by the end of the year and begin occupancy in 2019.” It also quotes Christian Chan, Executive Vice President of Burrard Group, who says “Seattle is a global city on the rise, and values are following the trajectory of more mature gateway cities like Vancouver, San Francisco and New York.”
In “A New Condo Planned for Denny Triangle – NEXUS,” Ben Kakimoto writes that “with less than 275 new construction units remaining throughout Seattle, this will be a welcome addition,” as “NEXUS is anticipated to have 403 units with commercial/retail space on the bottom level.” Kakimoto then quotes Christian Chan, who “said the downtown residential market is a ‘tipping point,’ where the mortgage payment on some condos is comparable to a rent payment.”
Marc Stiles of The Puget Sound Business Journal covered the announcement in his article, “40-story condo tower coming to Seattle’s new ‘vertical village.’” As Stiles describes, “The 40-story project at 1200 Howell St. is called NEXUS. It would be the first downtown Seattle condo high-rise to start construction since 2012, when work began on the two-tower Insignia development in Belltown.” Stiles likewise looks to Dean Jones, who “said that Nexus will anchor ‘an emerging vertical village’ northeast of downtown, where more than two dozen residential, hotel and office high-rises are planned.”
Stiles also highlighted the origin of the building’s name as he writes that “Seattle architecture firm Weber Thompson designed Nexus, which is named for the building’s interconnecting cubes and the project’s location between the South Lake Union, downtown and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.”
The Seattle Times Business Staff was eager to share “This simulated flyover of Seattle shows the future skyline of South Lake Union” as they quote Dean Jones who “says Seattle residents are understandably astounded at the pace of growth in the formerly sleepy South Lake Union neighborhood, but it has happened elsewhere. ‘We have to look to other cities, (areas) such as South of Market in San Francisco, or Yaletown in Vancouver B.C. – there is a precedent for this much development to emerge in this amount of time.”
The article also cites Jones as saying that “density and regional traffic tangles will create more reasons for people who work downtown to live there as well: ‘Much like Manhattan, I think in downtown Seattle we are going to feel like we are living on an island.’”
Over the weekend, Urbnlivn picked up news of the project in a feature entitled “Nexus Seattle Condo Details Revealed.” As Matt Goyer writes, “The Burrard Group has revealed a ton of details about their condo project at 1200 Howell St, NEXUS Seattle, via a press release.” Goyer highlights the 403 units that will range in price from the $300s up to $3 million, comparing those to other projects currently selling in the city: “considering that the cheapest unit at Luma is now $490k (Luma is 55% sold) and Insignia is $737k (Insignia is 90% sold) and not many interesting resales I suspect many will jump at the chance of a $300k condo downtown.”