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Downtown wants high-end housing; high-end shoppers don’t


By Dan Wheat

The Wenatchee World (Washington)


December 10, 2008


WENATCHEE — A Wenatchee Downtown Association survey shows downtown property owners are interested in providing high-end residential units — but few of their shoppers would want to live in them.

The survey shows:

More than half of the property owners favor the creation of high-end rentals.
About 65 percent of shoppers surveyed said they are not interested in living downtown.

The survey was released at a Tuesday evening meeting of the downtown association at the Stanley Civic Center. About 40 people attended.

Sarah Dempsey, executive director of the downtown group, said the association undertook the survey because it believes more downtown housing can help downtown businesses prosper.

But Jamie Wallace, a local real estate agent and chair of the city’s Affordable Housing Task Force, called the survey “marginal” because it didn’t include enough people and seemed targeted toward high-end housing over housing people can afford.

The downtown association hired Harvey and Roxi Nanto, owners of CC Consulting of Malaga, to conduct the survey, using an $8,750 federal grant administered through the city of Wenatchee. Complete survey results were to be posted today on the WDA’s Web site, www.wendowntown.org/.

Roxi Nanto said the survey was limited in size and that another survey next year will reach more people but that property owners in this survey wanted high-end housing.

She said property owners surveyed said there’s enough low-income housing downtown with the Cascadian Apartments and the Bruce Hotel and eight units above Inna’s Cuisine. She said the property owners want more high-end housing to create a “boutique” atmosphere.

David Freimuth, president and chief executive officer of Freimuth Group Architects Inc., said old buildings can’t be renovated cheaply enough to make affordable housing and that building code requirements for safety of people drives up costs.

“You can’t build it cheap enough to rent it for less than $1,000 a month,” he said.

Allison Williams, city executive services director, said the city supports downtown housing, zoning allows it and zoning requires one parking space per unit. City Councilman Don Gunard said residents may want more than one parking space per unit. Harvey Nanto said parking would be an issue, that only three properties have additional parking for lease.

The Nantos said they will make recommendations next year after surveying a larger area and hopefully knowing more about how the recession will affect Wenatchee.

About the survey and downtown

Responses came from 71 percent of property owners along three blocks of Wenatchee Avenue, between Yakima and First streets, and 71 shoppers of certain stores in those blocks.

The area has 165 commercial units that are 78 percent occupied. Four property owners in that area have residential units.
Of the 71 customers surveyed, 46 percent work downtown, 73 percent own their homes and 56 percent have annual household incomes of $60,000 or more. Just 27 percent of the county’s population has income of that level.
The rest of the Central Business District between Thurston and Fifth streets and from Columbia Street to Chelan Avenue will be surveyed next year.

Source: CC Consulting

Dan Wheat: 664-7150

wheat@wenatcheeworld.com



December 2008 News



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