I found where I saw the number.............it was in this article:

http://mynorthwest.com/874/2356231/W...eattle-Rentals

The article is about Seattle, the city.........however, not sure if the 800 per month is for the city or for the metro area. If its the city, Seattle's growth is going thru the roof.

If you count the entire city like North and West Seattle, I bet that total gets up to 12K units easily. To keep these numbers in perspective, Seattle added only 3800 units per year during the aught decade:

http://www.seattle.gov/dPd/cityplann...ng/default.htm

I just don't know about whether there is overbuilding or not. Right now, rent up in new bldgs is happening so quickly demand does look to be limitless. But we know that's very likely to be wishful thinking.

Laconia Revives 38-Story Icon Tower Plans At 6th & Wall

http://seattle.curbed.com/uploads/Sc...20PM-thumb.png

http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2...tower-icon.php

Downtown Parking Lot Sells For $16.75M To Hotel Company

Tuesday, September 24, 2013, by Sean Keeley

http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2...el-company.php

New Renderings For Ninth & Stewart, Seattle's Soon-To-Be Tallest Hotel

Tuesday, September 24, 2013, by Sean Keeley

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http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs...26.02%20AM.png

http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2...lest-hotel.php

New report shows no let-up in Seattle apartment building boom


Marc StilesStaff Writer- Puget Sound Business JournalEmail | Twitter

If you think there are a lot of apartments under construction in the region, just wait.

This year, developers in the tri-county region will open about 7,500 new apartment units, according to a report that Seattle company Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors issued Monday. That’s the highest level since 1991, but not a record.

The most eye-popping data are not the numbers; rather it's where the apartments will be built. Spoiler alert: it’s Seattle.

Overall, developers are building or planning 42,000 units that they hope to open between this year and 2017. More than 21,000 units are already under construction or completed, and another 4,100 units are scheduled to start construction by year’s end.

So how many will be built in King County and Seattle? A lot.

At the beginning of 2013, nearly two-thirds of the units in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties were in King. In the next five years, 88 percent of the development planned will be in King County.

Up until this year, the Seattle market had only 23 percent of the tri-county units planned or under construction. But over the next five years, 54 percent of the new units will go up in Seattle.

Typically, Dupre + Scott discounts projects planned for two of three years out because only about two-thirds usually are built. The company said that based on this experience, the overall market should see a drop in 2015 production, from the 11,800 units that Dupre + Scott reported in March.

Instead, the company has seen developers add more projects than they shelved. Dupre + Scott is now tracking 13,700 units that developers plan to open in 2015.


read more..........

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n...n-seattle.html

Wonder how this compares to the number of apartments that were lost in the condo conversions in the mid 2000s? They probably haven't all been replaced yet.

Oh, that 815 Pine Building! Iyiyiyiyiyiyiyi! :slob: Is it because it's so late in the night I'm looking at it, I'm not appreciating something here?:???:

I don't recall a huge number of those, despite being a buyer at that time.

At least one article I found has a number for units "sold" for conversion (2000+). http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...doconversion16

They count between the years of 2002-2004. It would be interesting to find the number of properties that kept same owner but just converted.

It's designed to be viewed in the dark of night. :-/

What about it don't you like? Its not breaking new ground architecturally but I don't think its horrific. One plus.......the site is small so at 40 stories, it should be a fairly slender tower.

As an aside, I have lost all sense of what is what when it comes to bldgs going up DT........esp if the bldg name is a street address. That's because there is so much under construction DT. So I had todo a search for this one up...........could not remember what it was. Not complaining for sure......just noting. :tup:

I really like the one at 6th and Wall of what little I can see. Looking forward to seeing the updated rendering.

I don't recall that period. But the last version had some failed attempts. The trend started right before condos crashed, and the concept was quickly not viable. I think some that actually sold units ended up reverting to rentals. Then of course a few buildings were built as condos but turned into rentals. That was a big part of today's tight condo market.

As for 815 Pine, I like it. It's not in my comfort zone, but it's growing on me.

I'm guessing that these apartments may have still been "lost" in terms of their previous affordability (new luxury apartments/failed conversions) after the conversion work or even just the multi-selling in the high market and continuous rise in rents.

Just thinking that the current construction volume has to be in context. It's still not enough for affordability given that our incomes are not just stagnant but shrinking.

This week it was reported that King County incomes grew the fastest of all large US counties. I think it was 1.6% year-over-year. That doesn't necessarily apply to all income groups of course.

Rents are rising for a reason. Our economy is booming relative to much of the country, and people are moving here. This is outstripping our sizeable apartment boom.

As for the failed conversions, I suspect a lot stayed cheap. Those that renovated then stopped might have gone with high rents. Those that failed to renovate might have kept the lower prices. Just guessing.

Construction Is Everywhere, But Industry Still Fragile

By Carolyn Adolph

Housing is another example of how the recovery looks different for different parts of the construction industry. Apartment buildings have been going up all over Seattle.

But starts of apartment buildings actually declined this spring. The state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council says the number of permits being issued for housing fell more than expected. The decline was in apartment building permits, which fell by more than half – a bigger correction than expected. This may just be temporary; the state’s forecasters expect that segment to pick up again.

read more..........

http://kuow.org/post/construction-ev...-still-fragile

They're right....construction is still strong in niches but it's not broad based.

Seattle is doing better than the rest of the state, core districts are doing better than suburban (except some nodes like Downtown Redmond).

We're buiding hotels and offices, but on a smaller scale. Retail construction is still relatively rare. Public building construction is way down. Hospitals have mostly finished their big projects. Even the military has cut back.

Oct 2, 2013, 7:22pm PDT

Major redevelopment planned for Rainier Square in downtown Seattle (slide show)


Marc StilesStaff Writer- Puget Sound Business JournalEmail | Twitter

The University of Washington plans to select a developer next month to transform a large portion of Rainier Square, part of the university's prime property holdings in downtown Seattle.

The university plans to enter into a long-term ground lease with a developer on the Rainier Square property, according to documents that the UW issued earlier this year.

The redevelopment site wraps around Rainier Tower at the southeast corner of the block. The 40-story tower, known for its distinctive pedestal, is not part of the project.

A collection of restaurants and mostly high-end shops, Rainier Square is part of the university’s Metropolitan Tract — 10 acres of some of the most valuable real estate in the Pacific Northwest.

UW documents state that more than 1 million square feet of office, residential, hospitality and retail space could be developed on the 1.4-acre Rainier Square redevelopment site, which takes up most of the block between Fourth and Fifth avenues and Union and University streets.

read more............

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n....html?page=all

Trammell Crow plans office tower near Amazon.com campus (slide show)

Trammell Crow Co. has the Williamsburg Court Apartments under contract and plans to buiid an office high-rise on the property, public records show.


Marc StilesStaff Writer- Puget Sound Business JournalEmail | Twitter

City of Seattle records show that Trammell Crow Co. wants to develop a 14- to 22-story office building in downtown’s Denny Triangle neighborhood.

Currently on the site at 1007 Stewart St. is a 101-year-old brick apartment building called Williamsburg Court. It’s next to where another real estate developer, Seattle-based Touchstone Corp, is building an office/hotel project called Hill7.

Trammell Crow and the owners of the Williamsburg have signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the quarter-block property at the intersection of Stewart and Terry. That agreement was recorded last month with King County.

The move comes a year after Dallas-based Trammell Crow announced that it was re-opening a Seattle office.

On Monday, Mike Nelson, who oversees development and acquisition efforts for Trammell’s Seattle office, said he could not comment on specifics of the 1007 Stewart project, such as whether the Williamsburg would be demolished.

read more............

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n...ice-tower.html

But where are the windows................

Downtown Seattle hotel-condo project planned

Marc StilesStaff Writer- Puget Sound Business JournalEmail | Twitter

http://www.urbnlivn.com/wp-content/u...etower-600.png

Officials of GIS International Group said Wednesday that they’re starting to plan development of a hotel-condo building in the Denny Triangle area of downtown Seattle.

The project is planned for the corner of Stewart Street and Minor Avenue, according to a press release on GIS’s website. The site, which is now a parking lot, is the same place where GIS planned a 25-story hotel and residential project six years ago.

In 2007, Eugene Gershman of Seattle-based GIS told the Puget Sound Business Journal that the project would have 150 cube-shaped, studio condominiums with 16-foot ceilings. The condominiums were to be on 14 floors above a 14-story, 150-room hotel. A restaurant or retail was planned for the first floor.

A year later, when the real estate bubble burst, Gershman said he was looking into changing the project to apartments, office space or all condos. GIS put the project on hold in early 2011, according to city documents.

read more..........

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n...o-project.html

Tommy Bahama moving headquarters to new Seattle building

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.45129...7&rs=1&pid=1.7

Skanska USA plans to break ground Wednesday on its 400 Fairview office and retail project in Seattle now that it has poached tenant Tommy Bahama from Vulcan Inc.

Doug Wood, president and chief operating officer of Tommy Bahama, confirmed his company will pack up the headquarters of its casual clothing company to become the anchor tenant in the new Skanska office building. He said his firm is growing fast and will need more space by 2015 — when the building is ready for move in.

Wood said his company is leasing around 110,000 square feet of office space at Skanska’s 13-story project, 400 Fairview Ave. N., in the South Lake Union area.

It currently occupies around 78,000 square feet at 428 Westlake Ave. N., a Vulcan property that’s about three blocks west of its future home.

read more.................

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n....html?page=all