A Look at gProjects Townhouses on Capitol Hill

Yesterday, I got the skinny on the latest happenings with gProjects from owner Graham Black, including a look at their current work in progress that is already sold out.

Set to complete in July, the 3-townhouse project at 18th and John already has buyers committed at prices ranging from $510K-$540K for the 1,500+ square foot units. Graham says it helped that potential buyers could easily get an idea of what to expect from the condo project they built in 2005 that is right next door.

Finishing up at 18th and John is only the start of gProjects’ summer though. On the east side of Volunteer Park at 1530 Grandview Pl E is the next scheduled development of four more townhouses. If you move fast, you can get an offer in for the Grandview townhouses, but you should know that a group of interested buyers is already knocking on his door.

It certainly seems like gProjects developments are capturing the attention of buyers — but why? The answer is probably found somewhere between gProjects ethos of “Contemporary Homes with a Conscience”, the prime locations on Capitol Hill, and the in-demand features that they focus on:

…a blend of community-oriented site planning, contemporary architecture, and green building. The results are generally dense townhouse projects that are pedestrian focused and feature a variety of green materials and building practices.

Promoting a more sustainable, community-oriented lifestyle is part of the pull for the group of friends interested in buying the not-yet-built Grandview townhouses. They want to share vehicles, the community garden, and (my personal favorite) add a climbing wall in the common courtyard.

However, at the sold out development at 18th and John, reclaimed materials take center stage. In addition to the builder’s normal focus on reusing as much of the demolition materials as possible, reclaimed wood from an old Oregon mill building is used on the exterior:

Despite sales flowing at 18th and John, the townhouses themselves presented unique design challenges. The units are three long, narrow boxes in a row, each spanning a width of about 13′. gProjects could have shrewdly maximized the amount of square footage in each but that would have resulted in interiors that felt small because each level was closed off from the other. Instead, they retained an opening up through the center of each townhouse so you can see the skylights from the ground floor and the result is a more livable space overall.

At about the same time as the Grandview townhouse development, gProjects is going to take on something completely different: six luxury homes located next to Harvard Estates at 728 Boylston Ave E. The homes will range from 1,700 square feet all the way up to 3,200 square feet, and include luxury-level finishes. The street-facing exterior will hit more traditional notes to fit the neighborhood; however, inside Graham is aiming to continue the gProjects signature — contemporary homes with a conscience.

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Of course, my chat with Graham wasn’t all shop talk, I also found out that the drummer for the rock band, The Presidents, owns one of the condos next door to 18th and John. And on the opposite side of the development is a huge tree that the City of Seattle values at nearly $15K: