Condos everywhere!

Sarah and I spent the middle part of the day out around town to scope out a couple houses and get a feel for some of the condos in the area. Although only window shopping at the couple homes we visited we were enjoyed inside tours of the condo buildings we visited. Our first stop is the monstrous Pacific Tower. It sits atop the crest of Pacific Avenue overlooking downtown Tacoma, the Dome, Stanley & Seaforts, and the I-5/I-705/Hwy 7 interchange. The building is setup for views and no matter what unit we visited there was a pretty stunning one over the area. The prices ranged depending on quality and breadth of view. With each ascending floor $10K is added for identical units. The insides were furnished nicely with kitchen and laundry appliances. Unfortunately, the building is just plain weird. Noise from the nearby roadways penetrated every unit we visited and would easily dominate at night. Don't think I could chalk this one up to a healthy dose of white noise. I don't drive in much traffic and I certainly don't want to look or listen to it at home. The hallway that lines the view-poor side of the building feels hospital sterile and odd windows peek out from unit bedrooms into the hallway to gain some natural light from the outer windows. There really didn't seem to be any kind of community feel to the place but rather an odd combination between a hotel and retirement community.

We moved on to the downtown area into two historic buildings. First we stopped by to look at two places inside the Perkins. The luxury lofts we saw here were well out of our price range, despite their quality, the nearby I-705 freeway was easily audible and visible from within. Besides, these were well beyond our price range. We walked down the block next to look at the Cliff Street Lofts. These spaces were far more reasonably priced than the Perkins and had much of the same historic charm combined with modern furnishings and appeal. Unfortunately, Sarah and I have too much stuff to fit in a loft-like setting of barely over 1,000 sq feet and Sarah was really concerned about having a place without walls for much privacy.

On from here we visited an odd set of town homes toward our neighborhood near the Stadium area of town. The views were decent (if you want to look at the lowland industry which, I'll admit, are pretty impressive at night) and the prices nice but the units were still pretty cramped and in an odd spot. They did refer us, however, to another converted condo building in the heart of North Tacoma that we drove up to see. This circa 1974 apartment building, like many other places in town, has been converted into condos recently. One unit sported 1,444 sq feet, spanned three levels, has a nicely decked out kitchen, two fire places, sits in a quiet neighborhood, has great views looking out at the Puget Sound and the tip of Brown's Point, has a bottom floor room that would work perfectly if I ever wanted an office for some of my freelance work, and is $25K out of our price range. We will, nevertheless, pursue options with our realtor and mortgage broker to see if the financial effort could be made. It seems that, so far, this condo would fit us the best and would represent the best investment for what we'd probably see as a relatively short-term home.

Stay tuned...

Comments (10) | To Top

3/1/2005 @ 10:47pm

Making use of PhotoStitch, my friend? :) Nice panoramas.

That loft condo with the wood floors looks quite nice, although the lack of walls is a turn-off if you want it to feel like a "home", I suppose.

Best of luck with the house/condo hunt.

Man, this back-posting thing you do is hard to keep up with. I'll watch for updates, then bam, three days worth!

by Matt Turner

3/2/2005 @ 6:36am

Yes, the panoramas work nicely to convey a space, thanks -- especially since I don't have a nice digital SLR with a wide angle lens.

Sorry about the back posting, I just like to have events in my life nailed down to the day. They're easier to follow that way. I'm just not a true blogger at heart. ;)

by KevinFreitas

11/27/2005 @ 9:02pm

My husband and I were very impressed with Pacific Tower. View of downtown, but not in the traffic center, the "noise" was typical of any urban environment.

Might want to stick to the 'burbs.

by mlk

11/27/2005 @ 10:24pm

mlk: They weren't too bad, really. I would just expect better insulated windows considering it sits right above a freeway. Nice views, though, certainly.

by KevinFreitas

11/27/2005 @ 10:24pm

Traffic noise certainly isn't typical of ANY urban environment. I've lived in several quiet urban neighborhoods in or around downtown Tacoma. The first thing Pacific Tower reminds many of is "senior home". No thanks. I'll take something with better appeal to a larger demographic.

by Cassioposa

11/8/2006 @ 7:01pm

I love the condo! It looks quite spacious and the views from the great windows are wonderful. Also, I love the hardwood floors. If you are starting to furnish this condo you should really check out an online store who carries condo sized furniture as well as other great furniture.

by Linda

11/9/2006 @ 8:50am

So have you found a condo yet? I love your postings because we seem to have similar sensibilities about housing. Please recommend more places to look.

by audrey

3/5/2008 @ 4:44pm

Have you found that condo yet? If so, how does it compare to Pacific Tower?

by TheDomainMaster

10/10/2008 @ 12:24pm

I live at Pacific Towers and I totally AGREE! I live here because it is only 300.00 a month for two bedrooms (its a family owned weird setup). The man who designed the building owns the King Oscar motels, which explains the sterile feels. It IS the worst part of living here. Although, interestingly enough, I feel that there are many more younger people living here than older...most around my age (in their 20's). You don't hear the noise at all at night though (most of the bedrooms are at the furthest hall, and traffic is very minimal at night)...but...I totally agree! haha!

by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim

10/10/2008 @ 12:26pm

By the way, have you seen the Marcato on Tacoma Ave? Much "cooler" in every sense of the word. More home feeling and modern amenities and an awesome gym and recreation room...

by jennifer