How much will a room with ‘Views’ cost you?
Want a view from the top floor of a tower overlooking Capitol Lake to the south or Puget Sound to the north? It will cost you.
Developer Ken Brogan is transforming the long-vacant tower on Fifth Avenue Southwest into upscale apartments. Pre-leasing for Views on Fifth has started for 140 residential units with move-in scheduled for late spring.
Rent on the top floors starts at $1,900 for a studio, $2,600 for a one-bedroom and $3,200 for a two-bedroom. Rent on the lower floors of the tower start at $1,400 for a studio, $1,800 for a one-bedroom and $2,300 for a two-bedroom.
Rents in two new, shorter buildings next to the renovated tower are slightly lower, starting at about $1,500 for a one-bedroom.
Views on Fifth is shaping up to offer some of the most expensive apartments in downtown. By comparison, online listings this week advertised a studio at 321 Lofts on Legion Way Southeast for $1,070, a one-bedroom at Annie’s Artist Flats on Fifth Avenue Southeast for $1,350 and a two-bedroom at 123 4th Apartments starting at $1,800.
All three buildings opened since 2016.
Views on Fifth is one of a handful of residential developments under construction. Around the corner is the Lurana, a Walker John development that will overlook Percival Landing on State Avenue Northwest.
Pre-leasing there begins in January with studios starting at $1,100, one-bedroom units at $1,500 and two-bedrooms at $1,900, according to Teri Haglund, broker and property manager at The Rants Group.
Haglund, who manages several downtown buildings, says $1,000 a month for a studio in a new building is now standard in downtown Olympia — and the demand is there.
“Our price point continues to go up downtown, but not necessarily as high as single-family homes because there’s more competition,” she said, adding right now she has three vacancies out of 125 units.
Other developments coming soon include Westman Mill on State Avenue Northeast, another Walker John development, and Harbor Heights on Columbia Street Northwest, the Vine Street Group’s market-rate apartments for those 55 and older.
Both of John’s projects and Harbor Heights applied for eight-year tax exemptions from the city of Olympia, said Cary Retlin, who works on housing programs for the city. Exemptions are available to multifamily developments in most of downtown but not on the isthmus between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake, which is where Views on Fifth sits.
The developer has asked the city to expand the tax-exempt district to include the isthmus, Retlin said, but right now there is no talk of doing so.
While construction continues, so does a court challenge to Views on Fifth. Last year, a Thurston County judge ruled a group challenging the city’s approval of the project lacked standing. They’ve appealed that decision, and a hearing is scheduled for Monday in Tacoma.
Views spokesman Troy Nichols said the developer is not concerned about the case.
“At the end of the day, there’s nothing that is going to halt construction or stop people from moving in,” he said.
