Downtown Housing Study is Online (14. March 2007, 12:31 by Derek) ~ Buy Now!
The City of Tacoma recently funded a downtown housing study. I was fortunate enough to sit in one of the presentations and hear from the researching company their perspective on how we’re doing. Lucky for all of you, the Powerpoint presentation and the data will be freely available. The overview is now online (Powerpoint).
To me, it’s interesting to see the inventory numbers and where we’re at today. What’ll be more interesting, however, is where we’re at in six to eighteen months. Why? Because that’s when a lot of these big projects we keep talking about will be open for new residents.
I know several people that are waiting on the big projects to complete before buying a condo in Tacoma. They believe in Tacoma. They believe that they want a condo here. But they don’t want to be the first to enter the market. There is standing inventory, but that’s going to appeal to those willing to be part of an incomplete city. Once the momentum begins to swing, they’ll come. I suspect there are a lot of folks like that waiting to see what happens. So, while fifteen months of inventory today seems scary, I wonder how that may change as the folks waiting in the wings commit. Even if sales are slow, communities will form, people will move in, retail will develop, and even more projects will finish. In the end, Tacoma will be a different place.
I’m not worried.
The Overview Presentation (Powerpoint)
Link to Community and Economic Development
The News Tribune’s take on the presentation is here.
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“Once the momentum begins to swing, they’ll come.”
And probably pay tens of thousands more dollars. In new construction it is almost always best to get in early and lock your price ASAP.
1 | Posted by Jake | Mar 14, 01:00 PM
Here’s a TNT blog snippet/comments on the same article
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/realestate/?title=many_many_condos&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#comments
2 | Posted by nitsuj | Mar 14, 01:56 PM
I’m fighting the urge to discuss the prospects of the regional/national housing market. Must…not…assault…sacred…cow.
I’ll settle for mentioning that Doonesbury was priceless yesterday. Anyone that wants to check it out can do so at:
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/
Use the “Previous” button to see yesterday’s strip.
3 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 14, 02:09 PM
That does it. I’ve been in Tacoma long enough that for me there has been way too much optiminsm posted for one day. Even for Exit 133.
:-)
Seriously, I hope community and diversity (and employment) is a part of our future. Are people holding back just because they don’t want to be first, or because they wish, but don’t actually believe it will happen. I was able to catch some of the series of pieces KUOW had on the changing face of downstown Seattle, and a lot of it sounded familiar. One thing that struck me the most was that in the report on Belltown (what more than one person has told me they think Tacoma will be like) one long-time resident said that despite the influx of residents and money, “community” is what is being lost. I do hope all your predictions come true.
4 | Posted by Dave L. | Mar 14, 02:50 PM
(Dang, I wasn’t done editing or spell-checking.) I hope we turn that corner as soon as you think, but that’s just an aggressive timeline. I hope those people you know in the wings come through. I’d expect people in the industry to encourage early purchases, but can anyone say for sure (as mentioned by others in this on-going discussion) that it won’t swing the other way? Could that be why some are waiting to see? Even though I live downtown, I know I’m slow at jumping on the bandwagon. I hope it stops to let me on later.
5 | Posted by Dave L. | Mar 14, 03:32 PM
To be clear, I’m actually pretty optimistic (at least by my curmudgeonly standards) about downtown Tacoma’s future. I think that the market for downtown Tacoma condos will improve along with it relative to other markets in the region/nation. To put it another way, I’m bearish on real estate generally (repeat after me: “credit crunch”) but bullish on Tacoma’s continued revitalization.
6 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 14, 03:38 PM
Considering downtown Tacoma had been on the decline for most of the last half century, 15 months is a drop in the bucket. Even when all of the units come on-line, we will still be shy of the vibrancy and density we once had. In my mind, there is still much more room for growth and possibilities.
7 | Posted by morgan | Mar 14, 03:45 PM
“curmudgeonly standards” LOL – I resemble that remark! Regarding the vibrancy we once had that Morgan refers to, sitting in an establishment at the north end of Pacific Avenue the other evening with a long-time Tacoma jazz musician, I asked once again “what was it like” on that very block, when things were happening. And dense. Just listening him talk about all the restaurants, bars (many of them bottle-clubs), stores, and people out and about (many of them from the military) it was hard to imagine. We can’t rewind; we’ve gone too far, but if we only had a fast-forward button. Or the ability to click the next scene selection.
If interested, the KUOW broadcasts I referred to above are archived HERE. As someone from Tacoma, yet by occupation indirectly as involved in Seattle development, I found the contrasts and similarities fascinating.
8 | Posted by Dave L. | Mar 14, 06:54 PM
I wish I could live downtown. Heck, I wish I could live in Tacoma. I work for the flippin city and I’m still suck in Puyallup. I wish I could convince my family to move here…. :(
9 | Posted by snoopy | Mar 14, 09:26 PM
Snoopy, do it now while you still can – take the initiative to convince your family to take the plunge and move to Tacoma –
Use the argument that the median value for a house in Puyallup dropped in the last year, while the median value for a home in Tacoma went up, so it’s a good investment.
Discuss the excitement of being in on the ground floor of building the cultural urban core and community base of a city the size of Tacoma, the opportunities of which are almost non-existent anywhere else in our country.
You can do it Snoop – if everyone does their part, Tacoma can develop into the thriving, multi-textured community that everyone on this blog is so excited about.
Everyone has something to contribute to make it happen – Drizell’s letter petitioning the city to change its regressive parking requirements for new development; Snoopy’s crusade to get the family to establish new roots in T-Town; Derek’s courage to give up the day job; ...my caped (obsessive/compulsive) crusade to create a safe downtown that people want to visit after dark.
It might be scary but everyone can contribute something…. What can you contribute?
10 | Posted by Laura | Mar 15, 12:10 AM
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