EVERETT — The price of Everett’s most talked-about real estate venture just got a little more affordable.
Library Place, an ultramodern collection of rental units next door to the Everett Public Library, received a rush of fanfare at a coming out party Thursday afternoon. Officials, real estate pros and a hodgepodge of others crowded into one of the development’s larger units for the ribbon cutting — and Skotdal Real Estate is hoping that won’t be the only time Library Place draws a crowd.
The company dropped the price of its rental units in time for Thursday’s event. Anyone who rents between now and May 1 receives a 20 percent discount.
So far, only three of the 22-unit development’s town homes and studios have rented, the company’s president Craig Skotdal said Thursday. His company has already delayed plans indefinitely for phase-two of Library Place: a second, 178-unit structure.
“In a perfect world, we would have built everything at once,” Skotdal said.
That’s because in a perfect world, the economy doesn’t tank and the real estate market doesn’t come to a grinding halt. But that’s what Skotdal Real Estate is dealing with, a reality that makes delaying the second phase and reducing unit prices smart business, if not a necessity.
With the 20 percent discount, a studio rental starts at $895 per month. A one-bedroom townhouse starts at $1,250, and the two-bedroom goes for $1,450.
Library Place was heralded by city officials Thursday as a bold new step for Everett, a stylish residential development that could help local employers recruit new talent by making downtown a more appealing place to live.
Skotdal called the project “a leap of faith.” He pointed out that the cost of building in Everett is similar to that in Seattle and Bellevue, but the return on investment tends to be lower.
“That’s why we’ve not seen much development of this quality in Everett,” he said. “But we live in the community. We wanted to support our town.”
The company considered selling the units as condos initially, but decided early on to retain ownership of the building.
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
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