Can't Afford a View Home? Try this.

A view is a highly subjective thing, sure there are some views that are objectively beautiful, the ocean, mountains, waterfront, etc. Many of us cannot afford that spectacular objectively gorgeous view, but there could be some opportunities for something more affordable. 

Locally here in Vancouver, WA I have discussed neighborhoods with peek-a-boo view ops and the notion of looking out over trees or other pleasant views. One way to increase the potential for such views is to consider a house in an established neighborhood with mature trees situated at the end of a culdesac. This opens up the area in front of the house and often exposes nice mature trees. Sure you have a large paved culdesac in front of you, but just beyond the pavement you can see the surrounding area because you don't have a neighbors house right in front of of you blocking the view.

If you happen to find one on a slight upslope where the end of the culdesac is a little higher than the bottom the effect is dramatically increased. Now you get a slightly elevated view that takes in a little more of the territorial view that just opens things up a bit. This is by no means an objectively great view, but it is usually better than looking at your neighbors house. 

Sometimes a corner house can offer this open view but the end of a culdesac is hard to beat. There are other advantages to culdesacs as well that you may appreciate. No through traffic, small easy to manage front yards with oversized backyards, these and other advantages may suit you as well.

This type of "view" can't really be marketed as a view, so it is often a non-factor in the price of the property. If it comes down to deciding between tow similar homes at similar prices and one has a soft "view" and the other is just looking at your neighbors houses, then take to one with the better view, right?

Columbia Palisades on the Rise

The Columbia Palisades development is finally starting to build out after a slow start. The biggest project thus far is the Ledges which is topped out and nearing exterior completion. This project features two tower atop a three story podium. One tower is 7 floors the other is 6 floors. The project reportedly will house both condos and apartments. The buildings sit atop a steep bluff overlooking the Columbia River. This project will have many units with spectacular views.

The development also has a single family home neighborhood atop the rim of the former mining pit. There are still several a few lots available, some of which have truly remarkable views. 

This neighborhood and the one developing across 192nd called HQ, will combine to create a small city within a city. It will form a gateway to East Vancouver and Camas.

We already featured the townhouse development just east of the Ledges and some of those units remain available with awesome views. Check that out here: https://vistavancouver.blogspot.com/2024/11/columbia-river-views-never-get-old.html

If you have driven around this upcoming area in East Vancouver check it out by exiting SR14 at 192nd Avenue and it's right there!

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

 

Vancouver's New 'Heights District' May have some views!

Vancouver has designated the area around the former Tower Mall complex as The Heights District and intends to curate a 15 minute city centered on that location. This will not be a super dense urban area like the Waterfront, but will have a smattering of short mid-rise buildings with 4-6 floors of apartments and ground floor retail. The vision is actually pretty good and if the city can execute the plan as shown the local area will enjoy a bit of an economic boost and become much more walkable even for the nearby suburban neighborhoods of South Cliff, Dubois Park, Broadmoor, and Northcrest. 

I suspect that any apartments on the fifth or sixth floors of these buildings will likely enjoy some nice views of Mount Saint Helens, Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and possibly Downtown Vancouver and Portland.

Many locals are unhappy with this new district but I feel like it is a knee jerk reaction to change. The old Tower Mall by all accounts was an ugly eyesore and the area surrounding it was in dis-repair. Why would anyone not want to see that area cleaned up and made more functional and fun for everyone in the area? Yes it will have some higher density but it will provide a central point where everyone in the area can congregate, shop, dine, have a brew and hang out. 

I am looking forward to watching this new district come to life over the next 5-10 years.

A rare and spectacular unit in Viewpoint!

Viewpoint units in Downtown Vancouver don't come around often. But a local Realtor® managed to get the cream of the crop unit to market last week. #1125 is actually two units that were merged into one to create a full width home featuring glass on three sides! With the patios you have a nearly 360º view offering up the most spectacular perch in Vancouver. Due to Viewpoint being at 700 Washington Street which is about 20 feet higher in elevation than Smith Tower, these 11th floor units are in fact the highest residential units Downtown offers a slightly taller perch than the 15th floor at Smith offers in their top floor apartments. 

You get a grand vista sweeping from the northeast across the southern sky to the northwest with almost all glass. This home has been completely updated with the latest in modern design and style and features a distinctive urban feel. There are gorgeous patios on each side so wake up to a glorious sunrise on the east patio and then hang out and watch El Sol slide into dusk on the west patio. 

This unit is offered at a list price of $2.25 million and I think it is the best deal in town. Sure you can spend another $1.1 million and get a similar sized brand new unit at Kirkland Tower, but this one has a better view. You will get the Cascade Quintet of giant volcanoes, on those really clear days it is possible not only to see the two local hot heads, Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens, but also Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Rainier. The Columbia River passes along the entire view with all of Vancouver's new Waterfront development offering an urban landscape with lovely city lights by night. 

The home features 2 beds and 2 baths with a nice den. The floor space is a nice and spacious 2964 SF. Again the entire space from east to west on all three sides is towering glass nearly to the top of the 11-12 foot ceilings. This is one of my personal favorite Downtown condos.  

Take a look at the photos below and also I have a link to a video presentation of the property. I unfortunately toured this unit on a rainy day, but I assure you I have been in the Viewpoint units before on clear days and it is amazing to see the Cascades, the Gorge, and the city at night. 

If you are thinking about a modern high rise condo contact me and I will show you around this amazing property.

Video link.

View looking southwest over Esther Short Park

View looking southeast towards Mount Hood and the Gorge

View looking northeast towards Mount St. Helens and Adams

Parkview Unit Offers Value and Views!

I have written about the Parkview Condominium tower on this blog before, but it has been awhile. I recently listed a park facing unit in the building and thought I would revisit the development. One of the nice things about condos is that there are smaller units in buildings like Parkview that are much more affordable than a single family home and often have nice views. 

Parkview is an urban condominium project in Downtown Vancouver. It is located on the east flank of Esther Short Park in Downtown Vancouver. Despite the rise of Vancouver's spectacular Waterfront district a few blocks away, Esther Short Park remains the beating heart of Downtown. 

Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the Pacific Northwest and one of the oldest in the entire Western USA. It covers four city blocks in a nice square shape with some "old growth" Fir and Cedar trees that rise more than 100 feet above the streets. The rest of the park is filled with lovely Maple trees that provide gorgeous fall color in the autumn. The park is host to festivals, concerts, and events throughout the year. There is a fantastic Farmer's Market on Esther Street along the west flank of the park and a full block of 8th Street that now runs year round.

The unit I listed is on the 4th floor and offers lovely views of the park. The balcony patio is 90% covered and large enough to host a small patio set to enjoy the views outside. It is a one bedroom unit with about 550 square feet of living space that truly feels bigger than it is. Parkview is a type one concrete building which makes it very quiet inside compared to a wood frame building. It is truly one of the absolute best locations in Downtown Vancouver flanking the heart of the city and walking distance to just about every essential service from the Post Office and local government services to the grocery store, and literally hundreds of restaurants, pubs, shops, and entertainment. You live car free in this building with ease, but should you desire to own one, parking is available in the secure garage underneath the building.

This unit is currently listed by me, Rod Sager, Weichert Realtors® Equity NW for $280,000. MLS #102456262. There are a few others listed in this building facing the Park as well as facing the east which offers a more quiet experience on the patio.  

Here is a link to the currently listed properties at Parkview and neighboring Viewpoint. 

Parkview Unit 410

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.