Tag Archives: home values

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Street repair, home values, and the Great Seattle Fire

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Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives
Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives
  • The Seattle Department of Transportation will be working on 15th Avenue South this Saturday, June 6, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, repairing pavement. The street will be closed to all traffic except for local access, pedestrians, and bicyclists, between South Atlantic Street (on the north) and South College Street (on the south). 14th Avenue south is the detour route. The street will open to northbound traffic at 3:00 pm, and for both directions at 6:00.
  • June 6 is also the 120th anniversary of the Great Seattle Fire. Commemorate it by checking your smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.
  • While housing in the rest of King County lost value last year, Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley home prices went up, perhaps a result of the soon-to-be-open light rail line. This news gives at least one Beacon Hill resident reason to smile.
  • Art On Airport, an artists’ open studio event, is happening just down the hill in Georgetown on Saturday, June 13, from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm. Artists in the Sunny Arms Artists Cooperative, the Old Rainier Brewery and the 4810 Building will welcome visitors into their studios to see painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking, as well as performing arts. It’s free and open to the public.
  • Following up on a post from December 12: the elderly woman found in her home on 26th Avenue South covered in maggots and filth, is now being cared for in a nursing home. Her daughter, Margaret A. George, has been charged with criminal mistreatment and theft. She is scheduled to be arraigned June 9 in King County Superior Court.
  • Don’t forget to check our events calendar to see what’s going in the next few days, including the SNAP Disaster Preparedness workshop on Thursday and the Beacon Hill Festival on Saturday!
Getting Around, Urban Planning

Light rail = increased home values on North Beacon?

Will this train soon bring higher housing values to the Hill? Photo by The Lebers.
Will this train soon bring higher housing values to the Hill? Photo by The Lebers.
According to the Denver Post, homes near light rail stations on the new Southeast line there have increased in value by nearly 4 percent since the line opened, even while homes in the rest of the Denver market declined by an average of 7.5 percent. The closer the home is to the station, the more the value increased, with those less than half a mile from the station increasing by an average of 17.6 percent.

The article mentions a similar effect in other markets, with single-family home values showing increases ranging from 2 percent in San Diego to a blistering 32 percent in St. Louis. The article also suggests that it is not just station location that causes the biggest increases, but transit-oriented development (TOD) that adds to the attractiveness of the area. North Beacon and Mount Baker (Rainier and McClellan) will have their stations soon, but will the TOD follow? Will we see a similar increase in housing value here on Beacon Hill? The Othello and Columbia City stations are already seeing some development, but there hasn’t been much up on top of the Hill or at the foot of McClellan.

Thanks to Seattlest!