Neighborhood Review : Montreux Condos

Montreux Condominium : Seattle's Belltown District, Washington

Belltown's hot. If you're in the real estate business, you probably already know that. Belltown's one of the few areas in Seattle or the Eastside that can sell for $500 per square foot! That means a condo that's about 500 square feet would sell for pretty much $250,000.

Since most people aren't willing to pay a quarter of a million to live in a small condo, there's a different type of compromise in Belltown... get an even smaller place for a slightly smaller price. That compromise is called the Montreux Condos located at 425 Vine Street.

Most of the studio units at the Montreux are under 350 square feet (about the size of a generous walk-in closet) and between $155K to $170K. Despite the small size, the layouts offer everything for a working professional (even a stackable washer and dryer in each unit). The unit I owned even had a bed nook, which was one of the most desired features that people asked for when I showed clients the Montreux.

Now, I bought my unit on a whim, from a "for sale by owner" who was moving back to Arizona. At that time, I just wanted a place in Belltown so I could have a place to crash in Seattle, and because it's so close to Seattle Center (and when I bought it, the Sonics were playing great). Another reason I bought the unit is because at that time, Belltown was priced around $400 per square feet and (as high as that might sound) I just had a feeling that it was underpriced compared to some of the other communities.

Luckily, I was right.

The Montreux offered a lot for the money. My favorite part about the Montreux (and I'm sure a lot of residents there would agree) is the 360 degree views of Seattle from the rooftop. I could see Seattle Center, the Space Needle, the Puget Sound, Lake Union, the Olympic Mountain Range, and the Seattle skyline just to name a few things.

And here's another reason why I love Belltown, one of my idols (one of the creators of TV's South Park) owns a condo in Belltown. And if it's good enough for Trey, it's good enough for me.