New $19,265-a-month apartment may be a sign of Seattle’s hollowing out

Hearing about exorbitant Seattle rents is nothing new, except when it’s a $19,265-a-month apartment. That’s about $17,500 more than the average rent of $1,647 across King and Snohomish counties, in case anyone’s keeping track.

“I don’t know why this is such a big deal. There’s one in Bellevue that’s for $20,000. It’s a new one above the W hotel,” said KIRO Radio’s John Curley.

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“That one’s a third larger, however,” countered KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney. “So in terms of money for space, this might be the most expensive.”

If you’re interested, unit 4009 is a 3,000-square foot penthouse that sits atop a 41-story tower in the bulbous Amazon jungle. It’s got three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and the management promises that you can “experience bold city living.”

Is Seattle rent experiencing a ‘Manhattan moment’?

Beyond seeing how comically high these rents can go, apartments like these may be a sign that we’re experiencing a so-called “Manhattan moment,” reports The Seattle Times. This alludes to a trend highlighted in a recent Harper’s Magazine article. Titled “The Death of a Once Great City,” it noted that one-third of apartments in Manhattan exists primarily as an investment, often sitting empty for at least 10 months a year, and resulting in vacant storefronts as well.

“People are no longer buying it to live in it, they’re no longer buying it to operate businesses out of it,” Tom said. “They’re primarily buying it as an investment. Real estate is getting so expensive that is has no connection to reality anymore.”

“So this may be the first example of a Manahattan moment in Seattle, because nobody is going to make $19,000 worth it just to live in there, so it must be used for other purposes.”

The impact of this type of investment can lead to a hollowing out of a city, along with the gradual pushing of people outside the core by apartments that aren’t even being lived in.

“Well, the Chinese have realized, as everyone realizes, that you’re not making more land,” Curley said. “When there’s a limited amount of something — if it’s something people want — the value of it goes up. So you buy a condo, hold onto it, have it go up 15 percent, and get out.”

“If Seattle just becomes an investment center,” added Tom, “and we don’t have people living here, it effects the vibrancy of neighborhoods.”

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