It’s not every day that you see Blaine Weber digging in the dirt in downtown Seattle. But on March 14th he grabbed a shovel and joined the Nexus team at a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off the start of construction of the iconic tower.
Although it was a drizzly spring day, a sizeable crowd turned up to share in the celebration. After a short press conference, key project team members from The Burrard Group, Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR), Skanska – and of course Weber Thompson’s Nexus project team – took turns ceremonially shoveling dirt before partaking in a catered BBQ lunch.
The following Saturday, the sales center officially opened their doors to the public, selling 286 of 382 units over the course of the two-day public sales debut event. Prospective homebuyers formed lines, hours before opening, as they positioned for preferred selection and introductory pricing that ranged from below $350,000 to more than $3 million. Several buyers combined units valued at more than $4.5 million.
According to Dean Jones, CEO of RSIR, “Nearly 13,000 new housing units have been built in downtown Seattle since 2011, only 866 of them were for sale and all have since sold out. The condo market overcorrected and now we face a shortage of supply as demand expands and prices rise. The challenge with high-rise construction is it can take up to four years to go from concept to closing so other than NEXUS, it may be 2020 before we see any more inventory.”
This shortage of new condominium units is a likely factor in Nexus’ success, but could also be due in part to the tower’s unique architecture, innovative unit design, central location and affordable starting price points. Rachael Bauer, one of Weber Thompson’s lead interior designers on the project, recently shared some of the unique space-saving features that make the homes feel spacious despite compact footprints.
Construction will last roughly two years; homeowners can expect to move into their new homes by early 2020. In the meantime, there’s a fully furnished model unit at the Belltown sales center that gives potential buyers a great sense of the level of quality and finish that can be expected in the homes. Weber Thompson’s interior design team worked to make it feel realistic, even specifying backlit panels to mimic the Seattle skyline.
