View Comments so far ↓

• 1 EconE // Apr 5, 2007 at 1:09 pm

  I’m concerned that the 2100 3rd unit is going to lose it’s view quite soon when I look at picture of the “view corridor” and see that big yellow crane. Plus I agree…it needs a full gutting.

  A building called the “Los Angeles” in Seattle….I don’t even know what to say about that.

• 2 EconE // Apr 5, 2007 at 1:35 pm

  Matt…question…

  Is there any way that a gas stove can be retrofitted into some of these older buildings? I know it’s a strange question but one that I have pondered for years.

  Could a stove/cooktop be hooked up to one of those gas BBQ grill cannisters? I know that it would be a hassle doing the refills and that the refills would be expensive…but am I dreaming with this idea?

• 3 Seattle // Apr 5, 2007 at 1:36 pm

  The other thing about this one is that I am not sure of its value even once it is updated. If you look at unit #1502 one floor down, it is fully updated and still sitting on the market for a long time at $620,000. Who wants to put $40,000 in only to find out that it isn’t worth $625,000 when you are done?

• 4 Seattle // Apr 5, 2007 at 1:39 pm

  EconE, in Royal Manor (1120 8th Ave), we have gas fireplaces and several people have piped the gas into the kitchen for cooktops. We are currently doing an engineering investigation to find out whether they should have been allowed to do that, but the consensus seems to be that the main issue is adequate ventilation. Therefore, if you have a way to get the gas there, by piping an existing gas line or refillable tanks, I don’t see why not as long as the range hoods vent to the outside rather than recirculate through a filter.

• 5 EconE // Apr 5, 2007 at 2:18 pm

  Thanks for the info Seattle…I always thought that it was a huge design flaw IMHO when a unit has a gas fireplace yet an electric cooktop.

• 6 Jared // Apr 5, 2007 at 2:25 pm

  Actually its often not a design flaw but the result of “updates”. Many, if not most, of the buildings built in the 1920s & 1930s used gas but then were switched to electric in the 1950s and 1960s. Often the building still can still access the gas with just a little remodelling and work–a friend of mine went through this with her 1918 unit.

  I’ve always lived in older Cap Hill buildings and am continually shocked at how many “much needed updates” are merely undoing some other era’s idea of a “much needed update”. I suspect those granite countertops may suffer from this in about 10 years.

• 7 EconE // Apr 5, 2007 at 5:17 pm

  I’m actually referring to buildings that were built in the late 70′s and early 80′s that I have lived in where it was actually built that way…gas fireplaces and electric stovetops. I do see what you mean when you mention the result of updates so there are probably examples that fall within both the update and the original design camps.

  I love your example of undoing another eras idea of an update.

  I have also wondered to myself what the kitchen/bath materials will be in the future as we have pushed the envelope pretty far in recent years for what is standard.

• 8 Chris // Apr 6, 2007 at 9:05 am

  no worries about the corridor views. The crane’s for a senior supportive projects that’s a 6 story woodframe

• 9 Nark // Apr 6, 2007 at 2:26 pm

  Yeah, 1602 in Royal Crest needs work and there aren’t many amenities. Both 1602 and 1502 are overpriced for the Royal Crest.

• 10 marksparky // Apr 8, 2007 at 7:00 pm

  2100 3rd Ave? Puh-LEEZ! Across the street from the YWCA on one side and a major drug-deal parking lot on another side. I work two blocks away from there and the sirens coming to pick up the sick and suicidal from the YWCA are very frequent. I see senior-citizen tourists wandering in the direction of that intersection in summertime when they’ve gotten off their cruise for a day, and I want to warn them to walk a different direction…

• 11 LumenBuyer // Apr 18, 2007 at 7:02 am

  I bought at Lumen!! The inventory on the MLS is *NOT* correct. The unit they say is available for $350k has in fact been off the market for well over a month. There is inventory left, mostly only lofts and townhomes though. I fell in love with the building from the minute I stepped in the flashy design center. I’m fine with the location, close to everything and stumbling home distance from the lower QA bar scene. Definitely not for everyone, I can see how not everyone digs concrete ceilings and floors, and pricey. You almost need a second mortgage to cover HOA dues at $0.58/sq ft, not to mention I have a 2nd floor 1 bedroom with 300 sq ft courtyard and am charged HOA on the sq footage of the courtyard.

• 12 EconE // Apr 18, 2007 at 9:19 am

  MLS not correct?

  The Horror.

• 13 Mike // Sep 6, 2007 at 2:46 am

  Lumen has a lot of false marketing. Units do not look as advertised at all, some one bedrooms are plain studios and to put a sliding wall is extra$$. There are no promised high speed elevators either, in fact they are extremely slow. Building has a lot of unlocked entrances, so security is also questionable.

Leave a Comment