Apartment demolition plan creates massive rent rate increases in Seattle

[n2doc]

McGuire demolition causing dramatic increase in rent rates in Belltown and downtown

Imagine waking up early on a Saturday morning, renting a moving truck, arranging your friends or movers to meet you at your home, hauling all of your household goods into the moving truck, up the elevators that it seems like you're always waiting for, and into your new Belltown apartment high in the sky by Saturday night. You wake up the next day getting ready to unpack your stuff and receive a letter from your building management stating that your building is going to be demolished and you need to move out as soon as you can.

That happened over this past weekend in Belltown. Moving into a high-rise building in Belltown and downtown is a pain like no other. Reserving the elevators, blocking the alley hoping the loading dock isn't occupied by another mover, hauling your household goods in and out of elevators and finally returning the moving truck completely exhausted are all parts of a typical move into Belltown. Poor yuppies right?

Well, many of us may be experiencing this move due to the rent increase forthcoming for most apartment buildings in Belltown and downtown. According to all apartment leasing agents I talked to, the rent will dramatically increase for people renewing their leases in the next couple months and through the summer.

Due to the McGuire's announcement that demolition is planned and all tenants must leave the building as soon as possible, the prices of rent have dramatically increased overnight throughout Belltown and downtown. Yesterday I called some major apartment buildings and got the current rate for a 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units, and then compared them with the prices that I was quoted today for the same units.

I will keep the names of the rent-raising buildings to myself; all but two buildings in Belltown and Downtown raised their rent over night and expect another raise in rent to come tonight.

One unit had a $600 increase in rent over night. Another had $465 increase in rent over night.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/insidebelltown/archives/201678.asp

[Donnachaidh]

1. The local government should be doing something about the price GOUGING

And that is what it is.

[Lance_Boyle]

2. Don't leases specify a length of time for which they're effective?

I fail to comprehend how the lease can be broken within that period with no penalty.