A new luxury apartment complex has opened up in downtown Mercer Island, fleshing out the Town Center skyscape and bringing more foot (and car) traffic to its streets. 77 Central, located at 2630 77th Ave. S.E., opened to the public last week as its first residents began moving in.
The five-story building faces The Mercer apartments to the west and will soon — most likely this October — be annexed by the 7800 Plaza Condos to the East. Like The Mercer and the nearby Island Square apartments, 77 Central offers more than 150 studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with mezzanines, state-of-the-art kitchens, soaring ceilings and walk-in closets. There are also various live-work, loft and walk-up floor plans offered.
Abode Management Asset Manager Julia Peckham said that 77 Central already has a line of residents ready to move in. So far, the residential community is at 10 percent occupancy. Spaces are being advertised widely online and through Abode’s real estate partners.
ForRent.com has listed two 77 Central studios, starting at $1,169, five one-bedrooms and one two-bedroom complex for rent. Other rental Web sites, such as Seattle Rentals and rentbits.com, are advertising up to a dozen 77 Central spaces, with floor plans and photographs as reference.
The most expensive apartment in 77 Central, according toPeckham, is $4,600. Amenities for this space include a panoramic view that scans the Olympic and Cascade mountains with slices of Lake Washington in between, high-rise ceilings, a kitchen with natural cherry wood cabinets and granite countertops, a second-floor mezzanine and ample closet space.
Abode Management Business Manager Stephanie Brien, who has worked in apartment real estate for 10 years, is smitten with the new building.
“I’ve never been so proud,” she said. “Everything is just beautiful — the [apartments’] high ceilings; the stunning views; the original art — it’s really a labor of love.”
Abode bills the development at 77 Central as the first entirely “green” apartment community in Mercer Island’s Town Center.
The interior design reflects a Northwest style, with urban touches of New York: a chic club room for public gatherings or private events; stylishly crafted furniture and original works of art — from authentic African sculptures to oil paintings by revered Northwest artists.
“The interior follows a great concept — it’s real Manhattan, very ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’” Brien said.
Now that its doors are open, 77 Central representatives are giving daily tours of the new apartment community. Although open ahead of schedule — contractors were betting on September — there are still a few finishing touches to be made.
The apartment complex’s outdoor spa courtyard, with a 100-year-old Bonzai tree, bubbling hot tub and spacious barbecue area, is still being worked on, as is the fitness center, which should open any day.
Passersby may wonder what will fill the building’s first-floor retail space, which runs along S.E. 27th Street and 77th Avenue S.E.
The building’s anchored corner space, which makes up 3,000 square feet, will be inhabited by HSBC Bank, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world.
The Mercer Island branch will be the second HSBC Bank in Washington state and will target “mass affluent” customers — those with a minimum account value of $5,000. HSBC, with headquarters in London, is represented in 12 states across the country.
For now, Islanders can only speculate about the building’s remaining retail spaces. Yet the glass offices should fill up soon.
Despite a slumping real estate market, 77 Central representatives are optimistic about meeting capacity.
Based on current occupancy in The Mercer and Island Square, which are both at 95 percent, the new residential community on the block should have little trouble finding renters.
“We are very optimistic. Our developer was able to purchase some of the high-end finishes — hardwood floors, granite and marble countertops, solar shade blinds — at a price that you couldn’t get in markets before. With the level of quality we were able to build at, we’re showing a product that not everyone on the market can [compete with],” Peckham said.
Representatives of Island Square and The Mercer welcome their new neighbor. Yet they are also staying on top of the competition. Island Square recently lowered its rental prices to meet market needs.
The price for a studio alcove has dropped from $1,095 to $849. The most affordable two-bedroom apartment is $1,900, dropping from $2,320.
The Mercer offers similar rates. Studios run between $1,150 and $1,300, while two-bedrooms apartments cost anywhere from $1,825 to $3,350, according to the residential community’s most recent price list.
Rental rates at 77 Central are comparable, with studios starting at $1,160 and two-bedrooms at $1,825. The most expensive apartment available, according to Brien, is $4,600. per month. These numbers match rental trends across the Island.
According to a recent report by Apartmentratings.com, the average price for a studio on Mercer Island has gone up from $1,200 in 2007 to $1,400 in 2009. The average price for a two-bedroom apartment, however, has sunk from $2,000 in 2007 to a little over $1,600 in 2009. These numbers are based on 135 renter reports from nine Mercer Island apartments.
77 Central will not be the last large-scale apartment complex to populate the Town Center.
After 7800 Plaza Condos opens this fall, bringing in another 50-plus residents, the city will turn its attention to the Aviara mixed-use development project, which will replace the former Safeway lot on 76th Avenue S.E.
The residential/retail complex, beautified by a public courtyard and gardens, will fill up approximately 85,000 square feet.
Aviara, however, may not become a reality for some time, as the project is slowly working its way through the permit approval process. And although the run-down lot sits abandoned for now, the streets just around the corner — between The Mercer, 77 Central and Island Square — are getting busier by the day.
For more information on 77 Central, visit: www.77central.com.
