Earlier this month, CHS reported on Capitol Hill’s La Quinta apartments hitting the market and the hopes of residents of the landmarks-protected building at 17th and Denny to have a shot at purchasing the property even as its listing was already live and a sale nearly ready to close.
Thanks to Seattle’s still relatively new under-used Notice of Intent to Sell ordinance, those residents now have at least 30 days to organize a possible bid.
According to an aide to City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, her office looked into the planned sale after learning of the situation through CHS’s coverage and found that at least one unit in the building is renting at rates affordable to those earning no more than 80% of the area median income, requiring the building owners to participate in the Notice of Intent to Sell program.
Updated in 2019, the NOIS process is intended to give the city, the Seattle Housing Authority, and community partners notification and information “to evaluate properties and deploy a range of property preservation tools, including incentives and acquisition.” The notice can also help residents “seek tenant protections and relocation resources if necessary,” the city says.
Earlier this month, CHS reported on the call for support from La Quinta residents who said they hoped to mount a bid for ownership as a sale on the Frederick Anhalt-designed building was about to close.
Herbold aide Christena Coutsoubos says that the family trust that owns the property and listing agent Kidder Mathews have now submitted a formal Notice of Intent to Sell to the Office of Housing following the CHS coverage and her office’s inquiries.
The notice triggers a 30-day period “during which the tenants or other interested parties can submit to the owners a letter of interest to buy the building,” Coutsoubos said.
“If a letter of interest is not submitted to the owner and City within those 30 days the owner is able to move forward and list the property,” Coutsoubos writes. “The owner is also now required to post tenant notices in the common areas as well.”
Kidder Mathews describes the sale offer as a “rare opportunity to own the first Anhalt Building in Capitol Hill” in its $4.5 million listing for the 13-unit complex.
The current version of Seattle’s Notice of Intent to Sell policy approved in 2019 requires the owner only provide residents time to make an offer. “When Council last modified this policy in 2019, it did not consider including a requirement that an owner accept a bona fide offer from a tenant, the City, or affordable housing provider, because the Supreme Court ruling in place at the time precluded such a requirement,” Coutsoubos says.
The future of the NOIS could have sharper teeth after that ruling was changed following the 2019 approval, Coutsoubos says.
The aide says it is Herbold’s office’s belief that the updated ruling means “such a requirement would be found legally defensible now.”
That won’t help the residents at La Quinta. But now they have a little more time to come up with a plan to buy the building they call home.
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So make 5% before expenses managing 13 units of disgruntled tenants for $4.5m. Bargain !
The solution for other property owners such as myself is to ensure my buildings have no low rents that trigger this notice requirement. I have historically offered very reasonable rents to my tenants, but with this requirement and the threat of Sawant’s highly punitive version of rent control, I am changing my approach. Too bad for my tenants, but this is where the city is pushing me.
Looking at the chart above the new owner will be increasing rent by almost 100% to cover the purchase price and updates. I can’t imagine spending $4.5m to have to manage a rental in the current conditions.
Hi all,
It does beg the question of how we preserve history and historic buildings in Seattle. How do we do it in a way that is fair and actually doable. It’s an important question, I think.
If the property owners can sell for the price they want and tenants can organize to buy the property, that sounds like a win-win scenario.
If you allow businesses to run unrestricted they will demolish/steamroll/burn every last thing in the name of profit.
This would at least allow the owner a sale and the renters the potential to buy collectively for the sake of preservation.
If this negatively effects the sale value of a building you’ll probably never see it approved or rents will increase to avoid triggering this.
Of course the tragic thing is, LaQuinta needs hundreds of thousands of dollars of work done to it. It was tragically neglected for decades and needs substantial work done to it. Whoever eventually does buy it, will need to spend another million on it on top of the purchase price.
I live around the block, so I see the building often, and, yes, I have to agree.
Just looking at the exterior you can see the issues: there are many roof tiles that are broken and in need of replacement (and any condominiumization of the property should have a discussion centered on how inappropriate clay tiles are in this environment), the windows/doors are in need of upgrading (read: replacement), the entire building needs a paint job (oh, and beige isn’t an appropriate color for the style, it should be white), and the landscaping needs an overhaul as it’s all overgrown.
Lots and lots and lots of work to do and who will be paying for this?
OTOH, there does appear to be a huge backyard space that looks like it’s an entire separate lot…which potentially could be a boon to the group as selling a second lot could easily help to fund renovations.
But, yes, this is a building in serious need of work. And in my comments I haven’t even hinted at the “hidden” infra issues of the likely need for new electric/heat/water/sewage systems….ugh.
All I can say is “good luck” and walk away thinking that many of the residents haven’t quite thought through all the structural issues the building is facing.
As an aside, while I very much wish there were more Anhalt-built faux-Tudor buildings in the city, I can’t say I like his forays into Spanish revival…this climate is just not appropriate for the style. The Laquinta is definitely not his best work.
The same owners also own the two buildings behind LaQuinta on 17th and they’re not protected and they’re coming down. The “backyard” of LaQuinta is shared with the building next door and while it’s a nice size, I don’t believe it’s an actual lot or large enough to be built on.
As for a “white” paint job…yuck. White stucco is impossible to maintain. And, does the world really need more fucking white paint jobs? (No, it doesn’t)
As for “not his best work”, that’s subjective. And, I would have to disagree with your opinion. LaQuinta is charming because it’s DIFFERENT.