Veer Lofts Floor Plans

I was told by the staff that these were just a couple examples of the floor plans available for each type, and that the rest would become available when they updated their website over the next couple of weeks. Did you hear anything different?

That seems about right considering the Informational Overview appointments will begin in a few weeks.

Similar… Surprising how many more floor plans there were available for Rollin and Enzo though.

Matt -
Which of the types of units are you looking to get into? My wife and I probably can’t afford the full lofts, so we were targeting the flexi layout. But I am pretty turned off about the upper level ceiling heights and ladder…

Hard to say without seeing prices for units. I’d really like a west facing unit so I’d be willing to sacriface to get that. Though I’d never go as small as that 615 sq ft flat. Also, depending on price, I’ll consider Rollin Street as well.

Do you know the height on the full lofts?

I didn’t get a firm response other than “normal” ceiling heights, so maybe 10′? What is ideal about facing west? I was thinking about a south-facing unit to get a view of downtown.

Also, I overheard one of the staff talking to a realtor (I actually attended the morning session with my agent, but they didn’t hand out floor plans for this one so I’m glad you posted!) and she said something to the effect that they were only going to have a few options at the “mid 200′s” level, and that from there the next level up would mostly be in the mid 300′s. They told me that the price ranges for the flats would top out in the 400′s, with the largest unit they had being the 755sqft floor plan they released. I’m interested to see how all the other floor plans price out.

After attending the event, based on the trim packages, floor plans and estimated pricing, I came away feeling like the project wasn’t as affordable and friendly to first time homebuyers as I had thought. I guess nowadays anything less than luxury units in the downtown area is considered “affordable”…

On west: I currently have a south-west apartment on Capitol Hill and since I work in a window less office I enjoy coming home and seeing the sun at least for a few hours in the evening :).

On price: Yikes. If that’s how they’re pricing Veer then ‘an average unit’ at Rollin’s is likely to be much higher than the low $400′s starting point.

I’ve been a little baffled about the success of conversions like Asia/Onyx/Plaza Del Sol and it’s gotta be this affordability issue for first time buyers. $350-$450+ to get into a ~725 sf unit in downtown is not cheap.

I have to say I’m starting to rethink my plan to buy presale in downtown. My wife and I rent in Issaquah currently, and I work just 2 blocks from the proposed site for Veer (UW research) while she commutes to downtown Bellevue. I have always wanted to live in DT Seattle, but the last thing I want to do is overextend myself and watch the housing market stagnate or go through a correction. And she isn’t exactly thrilled about downsizing 300sf so that I can sell my car, sleep in and walk to work everyday!

The full lofts are supposed to be 16′ total height, so the loft should be comfortable. For the flexi-loft, I heard the loft part is 5′, basically just a sleeping space. Can’t confirm just yet, but I heard prices up to the mid-$600′s. Rollin’s will go up to $1 million for the penthouses.

It is a bit discouraging that Veer is probably the most “affordable” project of those currently planned.

We’ve been told that the full lofts (located on the 1st and 6th floor) will be priced between the low-$500s to the mid-$600s. Based on that I would expect that the top floor lofts will start around the $600s and top out in the mid-600 for the 2 corner units facing down town.

$600 for an 880 sf loft with banana (literally) counter tops in a wood stick building located in an undeveloped area of parking lots? I think Vulcan lost it (and its potential buyers).

When we talked to the SLU people they told us about an entry level project that allowed regular people to move in in order to build a diverse community in a developing neighborhood. For the Veer lofts they told us they only want to sell the units to people that intend to live in them rather than turning them around for a profit. We believed them. Turns out once the greed came through that all went out the window.

I also think the flex lofts are not well designed. With a 12′ ceiling you only have 7′ left in areas where the upper level using up 5′. For me it just a marketing gimmick to put more sf on the flyer.

Anyway, we’re still hoping Vulcan is turning around and realizing that this is not doing any good to their SLU vision.

Great blog btw!

Andre and Matt –
Did you notice the order in which they plan on picking the lottery cards? The first five cards selected for each development (I’m assuming this is the same for Veer, since they didn’t specify otherwise) will come from the box holding EXISTING Vulcan RE buyers, before the “new” buyer and “existing” buyer boxes are combined and they continue with the drawing. Basically they are rewarded with a better chance in the lottery. Is there precedent for this?

As a potential first time homebuyer of one of their “high demand” units, it doesn’t exactly put a smile on my face to see first hand how the rich continue to get richer.

Tom – per Vulcan they wanted to “reward” their existing owners with the first opportunity to purchase. But, even so, that’s only 20 out of 616 total units (5 per project). Not sure if there’s precendence since it’s a new process in Seattle.

Also, since Veer will likely exclude investors, I really don’t see 2200 residents buying units in the Veer to live. And, if they do, the first 5 only account for 5% of the available units. I think the 2200 residents will likely opt for Enso or The Martin. Rollin will likely put a cap on investors.

Andre – I’m not a fan of the sleeping loft design, but it’s not uncommon. There are a number of loft buildings in Seattle with low height sleeping lofts.

Vulcan is adamant about restricting investors in the Veer per my discussion with the sales team. But, that doesn’t mean investors can’t purchase. Rather, they’ll try to discourage investors by invoking costly remedies if they flip. A number of developers have similar clauses in their contracts.

I don’t have a problem with them drawing five cards from the existing box. If I was one of the initial buyers I’d like it.

I wouldn’t worry much, pricing seems like it’s going to be so high it won’t matter anyway. I’m not going to bother with any of these projects.

Another factor that disuades me from the Vulcan projects is that unlike the Lumen, for example, where QFC’s rent contributes to the homeowners association (IOW, the building), it is my understanding that Vulcan will retain control of all of the retail space and the homeowners association gets nada.

So, if you buy a Veer loft, you can pay near $300K to walk like a hunch back in your “loft,” to be part of a condo association run by first time home buyers, to have your cars vandalized on a weekly basis (ever talk to people that live in this area?), and to have your building remain a profit center for Vulcan (rent) for eternity.

On the bright side, you can pay $500K+ and you will be able to stand erect. Where do I sign up?