Vancouver may finally complete her annexations.

Vancouver is way behind on annexing large swaths of urban density unincorporated neighborhoods. It seems the council is seriously considering a one time "go big or go home" approach that would swallow the entire urban growth boundary. 

I am actually in favor. The State of Washington in 1990 passed legislation aimed at doing just what Vancouver may do now. Many years ago Mayor Pollard attempted to complete the Orchards annexation and ended up in a duel to the death with the County. The whole thing stalled out. Since then Vancouver has been taking little bites out of the large UGB slowly and well behind schedule. 

The council is looking at four options the last of which is aunt just nibbling away like they have for the last 20 years. The other three are big chunk acquisitions, one adding 75,000 residents to the city, another adding 95,000 residents to the city, the third and my personal favorite the full enchilada, the entire UGB adding 171,000 resident to the city.

Keep in ming the City isn't growing new residents, they are in fact already here simply outside the city boundary. It is essentially a jurisdiction change. Cities are much better suited to managing urban areas and counties are really supposed to run the rural areas. The Vancouver UGB is no longer rural, it is mostly suburban housing areas with a few commercial sections.

If they select option three, and they should do just that, the city would officially have 380,000 people placing it ahead of well known "big cities" like, Pittsburgh PA, Cincinnati OH, New Orleans LA, Cleveland OH, and several others. 

This annexation option would put Vancouver on the radar on par with big cities including our neighbor Portland as far as companies looking to expand or relocate. It would be a boon to the local job market.

Vancouver has done an effective job increasing housing density and that will help younger people get into the homeownership market.

Is Daylight Savings Time Real Estate Time?

This article was published yesterday on "Urban Living in the Couv"

We are now more than a week into Daylight Savings time. I held two open houses for a listed condo at Parkview recently. The first was on Saturday March 8th the day before the time switched. It was a beautiful day with the Farmer's Market open and lots of foot traffic through the Vancouvercenter Plaza. I was out there 'barking' like I was in the red light district in the 1970s. "check out my open house...right here. overlooks the park..." I managed to get a few groups of people to look at the unit and handed out a gazillion flyers, but despite my online advertising I didn't get a single person that came specifically to see the unit. You could say the success of the open was 'all me' :) The following week I decided to do Sunday instead of Saturday. In the winter months the Farmer's Market is only open on Saturday so there was less traffic. The weather was also damp and chilly with a temp around 45º. I was thinking this is gonna be a disaster. I loaded the FEMA hotline into speed dial, just in case ;) I did the same advertising as the previous week and I got twice as many people though the open house and all but one group came specifically to see the unit via my ads. No barker required.

OK this is literally the definition of an anecdote and it could have just been a random action of the universe. But I notice every year right after Daylight Savings time arrives, there is an uptick in real estate activity. Even when the weather is more like January than springtime, they come. I think Daylight Savings time is a 'trigger' whether conscious or unconscious, people start engaging the world a little differently. Daylight Savings time is Real Estate time or so it seems to me. 

This morning as I was prepping to write this article and updating the Urban Living website with data from the local MLS, I noticed a significant uptick in new listings and new pending sales. Hmm, my anecdotal experience has legs me thinks. 

Esther Short Park and the Vancouver Waterfront definitely have massive increases in visitors, activities, and a general "buzz" as we move from the dark and dreary winter into the 'funshine' of spring and summer. Now is a great time for people considering a move into the urban core of the metro area's hottest urban living neighborhoods. Yeah that's us right here in America's Vancouver.

Take a look at the active listings in the area click here.

Houseboat in Felida

I have written about houseboats over the years as they are often an affordable way to own a home right on the water, literally ON the water. I had the pleasure of showing a houseboat to a client recently at the Felida Moorage. Most of the houseboats in the Portland - Vancouver metro area are located at North Portland Harbor between Hayden Island and the Portland mainland. But Clark County has three houseboat communities as well. This was a very nice home that is only about 20 years old. Houseboats give a unique water view that some find very soothing. I have written about this concept of water views as well as about houseboats in general check these out: 

Another look at Houseboats

Why are Water Views so Coveted?

This houseboat was modern with roughly 1700 SF on two levels. 3 bedrooms and a nature lover's paradise as it sits along the Lake River and is next to both the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and the Shillapoo Natural Area. The amount of wildlife particular birds is amazing. There are nesting Bald Eagles in the area, hawks, geese, ducks, cranes, herons and scores of other birds of all sizes. 

The Lake River provides access to both Vancouver Lake just a half mile upstream, and the Columbia River about 9-10 miles downstream. The Lake river is unusual in that it can actually with flow directions depending on inflows from creeks and the flow and height of the Columbia River. 

The Lake River is fairly narrow and is really more like a slough with its calm slow moving water. Tidal influences on the river are minor but noticeable with tides ranging from 1 foot above sea level to a couple of feet above sea level. The river's height is more about inflows from streams than the tides. Unlike houseboats closer to the ocean the tides are not a huge factor. 

This particular houseboat is currently listed at $350,000 with a $500 monthly moorage fee that includes water, garbage, and sewer.

Whatever you do please enjoy the view.  

Lovely View from Columbia Palisades

Boulder Ridge is a development of townhomes atop the bluff at the Columbia Palisades master planned community in East Vancouver immediately adjacent to the City of Camas. Some of these luxury townhomes offer spectacular views of the Columbia River and Mount Hood or Portland City Lights depending on the unit. The view is protected by virtue of the sheer cliff they are perched on, some 100 feet above Brady Road. 

Not all the units in this development feature views but the eight or so that are right on the cliff definitely do. These clifftop units are priced in the $1.3 million range, but offer an attached two car garage and more than 2500 SF of living space. These are true townhomes as you own the dirt underneath. They are brand new construction that offers a luxury alternative to local premium condo living.

Contact your preferred real estate professional for a private showing of these amazing townhomes. Some additional pics are below.

New Public Space offers Urban and Columbia River Views

The ZoomInfo office complex consists of two high rise towers, well one high rise and one mid rise, semantics ;) Between the two towers is a very lovely stepped garden with a patio on the sixth floor. To access this garden you can park in the new garage and take an elevator to the fifth floor and one flight of stairs or you can traverse all six flights of stairs through this stepped garden and enjoy the view all the way up. The two towers rise several floors above you to the west and east, a skybridge connects them on the eighth floor. But the view to the south and to the north are unobstructed. 

Vancouver has done a good job working with developers to incentivize building public space. This was well done and serves as a potential connecting point for a future public skybridge over the rail berm and into the new Gateway District. 

Few of us own view homes, so sometimes public spaces offering generous views are an outlet for contemplative thought, enjoyment, or socializing. This is an urban view so it's not in everyone's taste range, but I like urban views so I like this spot created at Terminal One. Kudos to the Port of Vancouver. 

Here is a panorama to the north I made with my iPhone. Happy Holidays!

 

Columbia River Views Never Get Old

The Columbia River provides a wide variety of views from sunrise and sunset to the various shades of day and night from season to season. Today I am featuring two homes in Vancouver that feature nice river views. 

The first is a brand new home at Columbia Palisades. Although the zip code for this development is 98607 the property is actually located within the Vancouver City limit. It does however reside in the Camas school district. Columbia Palisades is in an unusual jurisdictional situation. Water service comes from Camas. Sewer, Fire, Police, zoning, and permitting all from the City of Vancouver. These attached townhouses are perched along the bluff with a spectacular view from high above SR-14. This elevated site allows for unobstructed views of the river and the city lights of Troutdale, Gresham, and Portland on the Oregon side of the river.

This particular unit is listed for $1,299,900 by Knipe Realty and is new construction. It features 3 beds and 2.5 baths spread over 2502 square feet of living space. This is a very modern city style home and will soon enjoy access to a new urban city style community at the bottom of the hill. 

The second home is along the Evergreen Hwy in one of Vancouver's well established river view neighborhoods. This one is listed at $2,000,000 by Berkshire Hathaway and features 4 beds and 3.5 baths spread over 4340 square feet of living space. The home was built in 1990 but has extensive remodeling to give it all the amenities of a 21st century home. 

The home has a bit of Mediterranean flair with lovely open air verandas overlooking the Columbia River and beyond to Portland with a wonderful display of city lights at night. 

Both of these fine properties offer wonderful views as well as desirable living elements in excellent locations. This is just a couple of listings from more than 200 I reviewed for this article. There are view homes in nearly every price range from entry level to the billionaire class.

What ever you do, be sure to enjoy the view.

Kirkland Tower Impresses

Most people familiar with Kirkland Tower probably associate it with its waterfront location and amazing views of the mighty Columbia River. But Kirkland Tower does have many exceptional homes that do not face the river. The building was well designed to create Columbia River view corridors even for units facing away from the river. Unit 1000 is situated on the 10th floor on the north side of the building and has a sweeping cityscape view looking north towards Esther Short Park and Downtown. But the west side of the unit is angled to create a view of the Waterfront Park and the Columbia River as it flows towards the Pacific. It is a clever design and adds value to the less expensive north facing units. 

This unit offers 3+ bedrooms and 3.5 baths with 3056 square feet of living space. It resides on the 10th floor which in this building is the defect 11th floor. It is high enough to look right over the top of the 8 story apartment building across the street. This gives a fantastic view of the ever changing Vancouver skyline. From the balcony style patio a wonderful panoramic cityscape view awaits with both day and nighttime enjoyment.

View from patio unit 1000

This unit is currently listed at $3.3 million which is nearly a million dollars less than the comparable unit on the south side of the building that faces the river. Kirkland Tower is one of only two true lifestyle condominium developments in the metro area, the other is The Ritz Carlton in Portland. It is not a hard argument to make that Kirkland features the superior neighborhood and pricing at Kirkland is a bit favorable as well. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Kirkland Tower, it is located right on Vancouver's new Waterfront facing the river and the Waterfront Park. It is the fourth tallest building in Downtown Vancouver and is connected to the Indigo Hotel. Lifestyle developments offer much more than just property amenities, Kirkland has full concierge services, room service with the quality of El Gaucho, and yes the building amenities are pretty nice too. Kirkland Tower has an owner's community penthouse with a complete kitchen indoor and outdoor spaces that capitalize on the spectacular views from atop the 13 story tower. It also features Vancouver's highest workout space and rooftop community garden space.