Glenn Roberts | Ravenna Park | My Seattle | Lake & Co Real Estate

Pay It Forward: Parka Party

Glenn Roberts | Ravenna Park | My Seattle | Lake & Co Real Estate

The Roosevelt Neighborhood: Live Work and Bike

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The bike commute vs. the no commute.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Important Meeting for Roosevelt Land Use - Seattle

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On going concerns will be discussed in a public committee meeting as Roosevelt talks about zoning issues and change.

There will be an important Roosevelt Land Use Committee meeting this Monday, May 17^th at 7:00 PM at Calvary Christian Assembly. This will be a joint meeting with the Roosevelt Sustainability Group. Both committees are constantly exploring how to permit growth in the area, but also how to sustain the vitality of the neighborhood, how to improve the quality of the atmosphere, and how to preserve the quality of life as our neighborhood grows. The coming of the new light rail station has turned the eyes of the city and the state in our direction. Demonstrating community action and our positive growth position may set the bar for how other Urban Villages will grow as Seattle redefines itself for the coming century.

Joshua Curtis, Director of the urban advocacy group Great City, will be the main guest speaker. Great City is an organization founded in part my Mayor Mike McGinn, which focuses on public transportation, urban open space and neighborhood empowerment. 

A team of Great City people was at a meeting recently hosted by the Roosevelt Development Group (RDG) and were given a tour of the Hugh Sisley properties and a general idea how they, RDG, might develop the site given the go ahead on zoning changes and the approval of Sisley.

This meeting is an opportunity to let the Great City organization know how the residents and business owners of Roosevelt and Ravenna feel about how growth in the area should proceed.

Great City is a strategic urban advocacy group that believes smart and responsible urbanism is the solution to many of our social, economic, and environmental challenges. We are effective by engaging and empowering neighborhood groups (Neighborhood Assistance Program), developing and advocating for key urban strategies (Streets for People, Leadership for Great Neighborhoods, and Green Infrastructure), and bringing together public and private professionals to discuss and critique current projects and processes.

The Roosevelt Sustainability Group will be looking for new members and increased interest to help as we shape the way our community grows, rather than allow it to be shaped by the demands of outside interests.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

April 2010 Statistics for the Roosevelt Neighborhood - Seattle

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A look at the April statistics for the Roosevelt neighborhood.

The Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle has been suffering from a lack of enthusiasm this winter. I’m surprised at that. The light rail station set to open in 2019 is a for sure. There is going to be development ion the core area around the station. Yet there are many nice sub-section of the neighborhood with quiet streets, yet in close proximity to the station. The train itself will have no impact on the residences as the line will be subterranean all the way from the University station to Northgate. Nothing but the pitter patter of feet and the whir of bicycle tires through the side streets.

This table represents single family homes only.

I have information available on condominiums and multiunit properties. There are four condos available all priced in the $200,000's.

It is encouraging to see six pending sales this month even if there were no closed transactions. I’m looking for most of those to close next month. I’m also looking for more investors to show up and take advantage of the reasonable prices here. 

Give me a call if you’d like to invest here ahead of the boom that will take place over the next eight years and beyond.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Roosevelt Neighborhood Association Monthly Meeting

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Roosevelt Neighborhood Association meeting and bats, bees and bugs.

Last night at the April meeting of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association officers were elected for the coming year, it was confirmed that the Bull Moose Festival would again take place this year around July 17^th. The Sustainability Committee told of a new study that copper in our yards can prevent salmon from remembering how to migrate to their home stream by affecting their sense of smell.  In our area the Ravenna Creek watershed could be affected. Another report mentioned that the Friends of Cowen Park was ramping up a campaign to raise money and support for continued renovations to make the play area in Cowen Park cleaner and better. Volunteers are sought and you can find out more at the RNA website.

The bulk of the meeting was turned over to three speakers. We heard from Evan Sugden of Entomo-Logic who shared much information on bees, and how to recognize their habitat. He recommended the Xerces Society for continued study on pollinators. Evan noted that the bee box you often see on farms and at bee keeper locations is an American invention about 150 years old.

Michelle Noe, president of Bats Northwest, taught us that bats were identified as a keystone species, a species of animal, that when in healthy abundance in an area indicated that the region was in overall good health environmentally. Bats eat mosquitoes, beetles and moths, and are prevalent where there is a good water source and  night blooming plants. You may be able to attract bats by building a rocket box in your yard.

Marty Wingate from Seattle Tilth entertained us with slides and information on how to recognize the good bugs in our garden and the most sensible way to eliminate the bad bugs…with other bugs, bats, or birds, or with gloves, by squishing. No chemicals. No sprays.

The path to foster a healthy garden:

• Accept that some damage will occur.
• Use mechanical controls.
• Encourage healthy soil.
• Plant a diverse and appropriate range of species.

The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association April meeting then adjourned.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

The Roosevelt Sustainability Group April 27^th Garden Lecture - Seattle

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Bees, Bats and Bugs friendly to the sustainable garden.

The Roosevelt Sustainability Group’s vision is to make Roosevelt  a Seattle neighborhood of exemplary sustainable practices. Sustainable strategies include: energy efficiency, waste reduction, renewable energy, air quality, water quality, soil health, urban agriculture and neighborhood livability.

There will be a lecture on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM in room 242 of Roosevelt High School. This lecture is entitled Bees, Bats and Bugs : Secrets for a Sustainable Garden.

Evan Sugden of Entomo-Logic will share how to welcome bees in your yard.

Michelle Noe, president of Bats Northwest, will tell you how to build a bat house, and more.

Marty Wingate from Seattle Tilth will cover bugs - how to encourage the good and control the bad using sustainable methods.

The Roosevelt Sustainability Group is a part of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association. You need not be a member to attend this lecture. The group likes to think locally and act locally in hopes of influencing the greater community in a positive manner. Grass roots efforts like this should be started in every neighborhood. Wherever two or more people get together they should be cognizant of their environment and be interested in improving rather than using the space they occupy.  

Issues such as carbon footprint, the building environment, transportation, and local food production and use a but a few of the area of interest of this group. Come to the meeting on the 27^th and be a part of making Roosevelt, Seattle, and the world a better place to live.

If you would like to live in a community like this, please give me a call.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Roosevelt Development Group takes a new tack

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The Roosevelt neighborhood and growth issues.

Roosevelt Development Group, aka RDG or HB Management, brought the Great City Organization to the Roosevelt neighborhood April 14, 2010, seemingly to enlist their help in convincing the populace of Roosevelt, the Seattle City Council and Mayor, and anyone else interested that the development wishes of one property owner should be more highly considered than the decade long work of the community as to how the urban village of Roosevelt will grow over the next 25 to 50 years.

Great City  is “a strategic urban advocacy group that believes smart and responsible urbanism is the solution to many of our social, economic, and environmental challenges” according to their website. Five or six members of that group along with about 15 residents of the Roosevelt neighborhood were in attendance. RDG presided with their architect, attorney and possibly their public relations firm on hand to answer questions. Ed Hewson and John Breiner opened the conversation showing some charts and graphs that conceivably demonstrated that if the area in question (the approximately 45 properties owned by Hugh Sisley, as well as several that RDG has purchased over the past two or three years) were to be developed with taller buildings, there would be more “public space” at ground level, more green space, more walk friendly areas. Along with the charts and graphs were some “foot prints” of tall buildings and of short building. The neighborhood has been asking for almost two years to be shown what the buildings would look like but so far, there have been no profiles of the proposed skyline in the urban village.

A concern was raised about the number of units, and therefore the number of  people, that would be added to a relatively small area of the village, and how that number compared to how the population would be affected by development to zoning changes as recommended by the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association. The architect gave a surprising answer. He seemed to say that the number of units in a 16 story building would be the same as the number of units in a 4 story building, because a taller building would be more slender and then talked about something in the Seattle Building Code called “floor area ratio.” I would guess that his answer would be true if sixteen story zoning were granted to the site, but the builder chose to build only four levels. But given what he said, the question was raised, “Why then would a builder build a more expensive taller building, when the same density and number of units could be achieved with a cheaper design?” The answer was as vague and unsatisfactory as the answer to the first question.  

There are many residents of the area that a)Would like to see the derelict properties of the landowner torn down, and b)The property developed in a manner consistent with the carefully thought out Roosevelt Neighborhood Plan. RDG might be the best group to work with or there may be someone else. One thing the neighborhood is sure of, having experienced over 30 years of property abuse by the current landowner, there is no hope of working in a constructive manner with him. There is also no desire to see his interests sustained. He has resisted city and neighborhood efforts to clean up his holdings.  There is no reason to believe that once developed there would be a more harmonious bond between this person and those of us who reside in the area.

For example, the homes in the pictures have been neglected for years. The entire block with the exception of a fruit stand on the corner has been vacated and fenced for almost two years now. The sight is an eyesore. It has been requested that all of these buildings be razed, but those requests have fallen on deaf ears. Our beautiful part of the city has to endure this landowner’s stubbornness and vindictiveness. 

Someday these properties will be developed, but in the interim, there is opportunity for community gardens, neighborhood events like block parties, and educational opportunities. Should the landowner to participate in something like that, it would be one small step in the right direction. No one expects it to happen.   

Fortunately, there are enough concerned residents of the Roosevelt urban village, that our grassroots effort to achieve growth in the area with the right buildings in the right places will prevail.  

Contact me to be put on a mailing list for more information on the proposed development, or just give me a call.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Roosevelt to get Light Rail

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The Roosevelt Neighborhood and what lies ahead.

The Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle is one of 38 neighborhoods in Seattle designated as an Urban Village. There are three types of Urban Villages in Seattle:

Urban Centers, the densest residential and commercial areas;

Hub Urban Villages, less dense than the urban centers but also have a significant commercial presence;

and Residential Urban Villages, smaller-scale multifamily areas containing commercial

areas that primarily serve the residential community.

All 38 of the urban villages are destined to have greater population density to help prevent deterioration of single family neighborhoods by overcrowding, and help prevent urban sprawl. All urban villages will also be transportation centers. The hope is that most of the people will live in the villages and that most of the people will be within walking distance to public transportation and that they will use it.

The Roosevelt community just underwent a substantial zoning analysis and came up with a plan about how they want the community to grow over the coming decades. A light rail station is planned for the area and should be completed by 2019. When completed Roosevelt will be on the light rail line that will run from Northgate through the University District, Capitol Hill, Downtown, Beacon Hill, several south end communities and on to Seatac Airport making it possible for flyers to get from Roosevelt to the airport for approximately $4.00. Current cab or shuttle fares range from $40-50.

The Roosevelt urban village lies between Green Lake and Ravenna. It extends from Ravenna Blvd. on the south to NE 75^th St on the north. There are some delightful single family streets to the very north and south of the area. The core of the village lies between Roosevelt Ave NE and 12^th Ave NE and is centered on NE 65^th St. Current zoning allows for six story buildings but the plan calls for buildings up to eight stories. Density is also increasing in many areas. Already there are many condo and apartment buildings and a significant number of townhouse style developments. The village got its first live/work units last year and they quickly sold out. More are planned.

The Current Market

In this neighborhood there are 17 currently active listings. Eight are residential and they range in asking price from $285,000-775,000. Eight are condominiums listed between $156,500 and $345,000. There is one commercial property listed at $675,000.

There is only one residential property currently under contract which was listed at $385,000; and one condo under contract listed at $225,000.

There have been 15 residential sales over the past 6 months ranging from $285,000-$775,000; and 2 condos have sold; one at $175,000 and the other at $217,000. There have been no commercial sales in the NWMLS during this period.

Half of the properties sell in the first 30 days but a quarter take longer than 120 days.

If a property is priced right it will probably sell in the first 30 days for nealy that price. If priced too high it could sell for a lot less, a lot later.

I’m a bit surprised that there hasn’t been more activity due to the potential that lies in this area because of the advent of light rail. Maybe it’s just too soon to get excited.  If you’d like to investigate this neighborhood further, you can call me. Roosevelt is my principle shopping area.