Seattle revs up US$600K ‘condos’ for cars

Dirt flies from shovels as a 1941 Packard stands witness to a ground-breaking ceremony for Terminal One Motor and Yacht Club in Seattle. (Jennifer Buchanan / Seattle Times)

SEATTLE — The driver behind the wheel of a Range Rover whipped his vehicle around the construction site, kicking up dust before parking next to Caterpillar heavy machinery.

On a pile of dirt, a row of golden shovels waited, as attendees of the ground-breaking for Terminal One Motor and Yacht Club milled around the gravel lot, champagne flutes in hand.

The nine-acre waterfront site on Seattle’s Salmon Bay will soon host 72 individually owned condominium garages for collector cars across three buildings, plus a common area and event facility. It’s slated to open to its first occupants next summer, per a news release.

Pending approval, the next phase may span a proposed dockominium” and marina for up to 300-foot yachts, which a handout described as the place “where hypercars meet superyachts.” It would sit across from the Ballard Locks.

“As collectors acquire automobiles worth hundreds of thousands — or even millions — of dollars, the question becomes where and how these assets should be housed, protected and enjoyed,” Jay Kipp, senior global real estate advisor at luxury real estate brokerage Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, said in a statement.

“Increasingly, the answer is not another rented parking space.”

The development, which is under construction with final permits issued, is catering to an exclusive group.

Much of Seattle’s population is grappling with ongoing affordability issues worsened by rising interest rates. The city’s cost of living expenses are 46 per cent higher than the U.S. national average, according to compensation intelligence platform Payscale.

Steep real estate prices are part of that dilemma. Seattle’s median home price was US$960,000 in September, based on data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Rent is averaging around US$2,200 a month, according to Zillow.

Introductory pricing for Terminal One’s condominium garages start in the mid-US$600,000s.

Seattle requires a minimum wage of US$21.30 per hour for this year — or an estimated annual pre-tax salary of around US$44,000 — followed by a boost to US$22.14 next year, which bumps that annual sum up to approximately US$46,000.

The city also hosts a high concentration of affluence.

Airline pilots, chief executives, surgeons, physicians and computer and information systems managers all top the list of Puget Sound Business Journal’s highest-paid occupations, as ranked by mean annual wage.

Dean Jones, president and CEO of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, is betting those who are part of a “developing wealth wave” will take advantage of the new Terminal One Motor and Yacht Club along West Commodore Way.

“The epicentre of AI-driven wealth creation may be San Francisco,” Jones said, “but the ripples are already reaching the shores of the Pacific Northwest as history repeats itself in the new-new economy.”

The project has been years in the making, according to Doug and Mike Ciserella, principals of Cantera Development Group, a Chicago-based developer.

The site once belonged to petroleum company Time Oil, which used the area as its bulk terminal.

It was considered a brownfield: a property that is “complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant,” per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But in recent years the site underwent cleanup work.

On Wednesday evening, as dusk crept, the crowd of dozens — sporting luxury fashion designers like Prada and Gucci — jubilantly gathered for the property’s ground-breaking. From within the confines of its chain-link fencing, they imbibed sparkling wine and charcuterie cones arranged near vases of fresh flowers.

Attendees took the opportunity to admire each other’s collector cars. Arriving in Tesla, Maserati, Porsche and Ferrari models, they ogled a street display that included Lotus Cars, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and at least one Alfa Romeo sports car.

A drone flew overhead. A song by American rock band Steely Dan played on the speakers. Folks posed for photos in branded hard hats.

The party was just getting started.