Bellevue Towers: Please Hold
As mentioned in my blog post on 10/16/2009. Bellevue Towers ownership through the Realty Trust, the realty company for the condo, came to the early condo unit buyers in August of 2009 (around 40 owners) to ask what palatable options there would be to compensate for the 20% slashing of prices on some units. During this point, I took down my blog (making it not publicly viewable), assuming that the ownership was making a genuine effort to address the precipitous price drops and the many issues that I had moving in early to the condo.
Realty Trust met with each owner individually and told each owner what percentage their unit had been devalued by. My unit they said was particularly hit hard b/c it faces to the other tower. They told me my unit had dropped some 20% in value. If you've come to a tour of the Towers, for a lot of the units, you can see directly into about 20 other units from some units. Basically, if shades are up or if the shades have any transparency [even 3% transparency], you can see everything going on in a unit. People sleeping, eating, etc...
[CLICK TO ENLARGE]The image above is shot at 52mm focal length from my window, so it's not at any significant (or any) zoom. Per feedback from the Realty company when I met with them, the closeness of the units was undesirable to a lot of the potential customers. My unit is a studio, so I'm basically exposed at any angle except if I go into my bathroom or entry foyer making it even less desirable when my shades are open. I suppose I should curb doing my yoga in speedos.
Realty Trust/Ownership offered us an opportunity to write a proposal as to what we would want in compensation for this dramatic decrease in value. I wrote up a proposal for a unit switch to a larger unit (as that was what was recommended) and I wrote of all the issues I had encountered moving in early:
- Constant construction and noise waking me up every morning
- Elevator malfunctions
- Incomplete amenities spaces
- Cold/Lukewarm shower water
- Poor tasting drinking water
- Condo door problems
- Copious amounts of dust
I was told that we would get a response in December 2009. It is now July of 2010 and we still have not heard back about our proposals. Over the months, I've asked and asked for the progress of these proposals and now it seems most likely we will never hear back from the ownership. Every time I call or email Realty Trust, our proxy to the ownership in these discussions, the answer I get is "wait". At first the reasons we were waiting were vague, but eventually we were told that it was because the original ownership group defaulted and the bank would be taking over and that no decisions could be made until the transfer of the ownership was final... so basically we've been waiting and waiting...The interesting thing is that even though this ownership transfer is still in flux, sales are still going through, so there are decisions that are being addressed, just not mine and the early unit buyers.
In hindsight, I should have kept my blog up to gain more traction and get a response from ownership faster, but alas hindsight is always 20/20. The post entries here are just small glimpse of the noise and the issues I went through my first year living here. Luckily, I still have emails to reference and the Bellevue Google group is teeming with all the issues I went through.
At this point, I can only put my blog up and hope that will spur some movement on their part. Otherwise, I will never hear back from them at all. I'm somewhat resigned to accept the fact, that I got screwed by the current economy, but I'm still hopeful for an amiable and fair resolution. In summary, my main gripes:
1) My unit was not move-in ready when I moved in; Bellevue Towers only got a temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the city several days before I moved in. There were definitely issues that I felt needed to be resolved to make my unit/building habitable as chronicled in this blog, but per feedback from Bellevue Towers they disagreed as the they had a Certificate and all the problems that I was encountering were on par with new construction.
2) In my discussion with realtors of Bellevue Towers before I closed, I (as some other early buyers) was told that the price integrity of the units would stay and that there would be no room to negotiate. Looking at King County records, it's evident that units closing during my date and after, there were discounts given. I was one of the pre-sale buyer, meaning I put earnest money down, the fact that many other pre-sale buyers got a chance to re-negotiate and get LARGE drop from their contracted price is what really irks me.
Right now, I'm looking for closure on the whole situation, most of my anger has been vented through my other posts, but the fact that it's been almost a year since I made my proposal and I still haven't gotten a response from ownership is still irritating. I just want my proposal addressed and finalized so I can move on.
Hello, Bellevue Towers, Are you there?
--S
