Remember Julia Place, the small but dense apartment development lovingly packed into a 22nd Ave E lot? Lots of people in CHS comments said they’d love to live there — especially considering the goal of keeping three of the five units affordable. You might be surprised to find out that the units are still available. Here’s a note we received from developer Elaine Nonneman:
Believe or not, the brand new Julia Place Apartments on 22nd Ave. is still vacant. Not because people weren’t interested in renting there, but because I had difficulty finding a management company that would agree to screen people with low incomes to qualify for reduced rents as well as applicants who could afford the market rate units.
Nonneman tells us she’s found a solution. At this point, the Low Income Housing Institute is going to take on management, and there are committed applicants for Units A and C, and possibly D,” she writes. “Maybe some of those who initially inquired will check with us again. LIHI will run a Craigslist ad, but my preference would be people who live locally.”
We’ve included the listing details, again, below. Good luck, neighbor.
…having been a homeowner so long. But if I could afford $1900/mo rent, I’d be buying my own place. I’m not surprised those are not full, though I guess plenty of people are paying that much in rent. I sure wouldn’t.
how many people on the Hill that can afford $1900 a month of rent would be willing to live in the same building with low income renters.
Some low income renters — much like some market rate renters and some home owners — are excellent neighbors. Some of each category? Not so much.
I guess so, cause I don’t know where you’re going to buy a condo (equivalent setup to renting a unit like this) that is:
– 2B / 2B
– Brand new
– Built green
– Heated floors
– Secure entry
– In the quiet area of Cap Hill
– Includes reserved on-site parking
For less than $1900 (including property insurance, PMI, property taxes and association dues).
Please, the rents on the “low income” units aren’t that low. The rents are about right for somebody who has regular office employment but isn’t manager of the department.
Unit C should be the one most in demand, not a lot of ADA accessible units on Capitol Hill for people who need them, but can’t get in public units.
My building is 20+ years old and the units (2BD/2BA) are selling in one day to one week for $425-450k. I can afford $1900/mo in rent, although I don’t pay that much. I can’t afford to buy a $450k condo. But, even more to the point, I don’t WANT to buy because I’m not ready to settle into one place and take on all of the responsibilities that come with ownership. If the fridge breaks or the place gets flooded because the neighbor’s water heater ruptured – both of which happened in my last place – I would much rather turn it over to my landlord to deal with.
Well, hillresident, the point is you DON’T find an equivalent house to these to buy for $1900. Nobody said you could. Most people don’t waltz right into a $450k place of their dreams in the middle of an area like Capitol Hill for their first home, unless they’ve been saving their money for a very very long time. Most people work up to it and build equity. If you’re always paying $1900+ in rent, you’d sure better be making a shitpile of money, or you’ll never save a down payment for a house. Basic concept of thinking long-term and not instant gratification. The alternative is to flush 2 grand down the toilet every month and rent for the rest of your life. Or have a helluva a good paying job, of course.
What an ugly, elitist, and bigoted thing to say. I, for one, love living on a block that is home to people of all income types, races, and interests. In fact, I’d love to see more affordable housing around my home, if it meant seeing young families, artists, students, and other diverse neighbors move to my block. This is why I choose to live in the city. If I wanted to live around the exact same type of rich people I’d move to Bellevue.