Happy Birthday, President Madison

Today marks the 260th anniversary of the birth of the man for whom, indirectly, Madison Park was named: James Madison, fourth President of the United States (1809-17).  Madison, known as “The Father of the Constitution,” served two terms in office, preceded by Thomas Jefferson and succeeded by James Monroe.  As President, Madison presided over the War of 1812, which resulted in the British setting fire to the White House, but which also culminated in future-president Andrew Jackson’s triumph at the Battle of New Orleans.

We say indirectly with regard to our community’s name, since the Madison Park neighborhood was actually named after the Park at the end of Madison Street, the street itself having been named in honor of the Fourth President.  We chronicled that story at this time last year (“We could be living in Monroe Park”).

An interesting historical fact:  President Madison had a different Vice President for each of his two terms, the second one being Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts politician for whom the term “Gerrymandering” is named.

[Graphic:  President Madison, Oil on Canvas, Bradley Stephens (after Charles Wilson Peale), courtesy of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.]

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Madison Park real estate by the numbers

When we last posted a monthly real estate report, one of our loyal readers wrote in to comment that all the charts and graphs were putting him to sleep.  Another reader, however, responded that his reaction to the post was quite the opposite:  he was having trouble getting to sleep.

Obviously, not everyone is into the local real estate scene to the extent that we are or necessarily wants to be confronted with the details, especially if the news is bad.  Madison Park Blogger covers real estate so extensively that at least two national blog-listing sites categorize us as a real estate blog, rather than hyperlocal one.  We intend to continue our intensive coverage of the Madison Park real estate market and to do so, when possible, in a quantitative manner.

So that said, here’s some data on how our real estate market looked over the past five years in terms of median housing values. The chart above (click to enlarge) shows that there has not been an overwhelming change in the price of sold houses and condos compared to the beginning of the period.  As was true for the rest of the Puget Sound region, Madison Park hit the high in 2007, with a median price of $1,100,000.  The Park rebounded in 2009 with a median price almost at that level: $1,060,000.  But the market declined in 2010 to $975,000, representing an 11% decline from the 2007 high.  For Seattle, it has been about a 28% decline since 2007.

Based on just these numbers, it appears that our neighborhood has done much better than others.   But this could be misleading.   The number of sales in Madison Park is just too small for these aggregate statistics to be as meaningful as they would be for a larger sample, such as West Seattle or Bellevue.  On the chart above (and on those below) the numbers appearing in the various columns represent the total number of sales for each year.  As you can see, Madison Park had only 128 sales in 2006, declining by 43% to 73 sales in 2009 before rebounding to 105 sales in 2010.   These are pretty small numbers, even for the highest-volume years.   The types of homes that actually sell in a given year can easily skew the data.  For example, we know that very few houses priced at $1 million or under have been for sale during the last two years.  Naturally, therefore, most the houses that are selling are in the upper market.  This may mask an overall lowering of housing values for the market as a whole.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to compare the median selling prices, both by year and by neighborhood.  The charts below, unlike the one above, show only single-family homes that were sold each year.

Here’s the story for our most-exclusive enclave, Broadmoor, which took its big hit in 2009, with only six sales during the year and a 13% price decline from the previous year’s level.  Broadmoor saw three times the number of sales in 2010, but a further 11% price decline. Overall, Broadmoor’s median price for a house is down 26% from the 2007 high of almost $2 million.

Washington Park, meanwhile, suffered a 29% decline in the median house price between 2006 and 2010, though there was a one-year rebound in 2009.  With only 14 sales that year, however, it was probably a few outliers that skewed the numbers upward.  As was true for Madison Park as a whole, there was much greater sales volume in Washington Park during 2010 than had occurred in each of the previous three years.  But the median price could not hold at 2009 levels.

Finally, for the rest of Madison Park, principally the area north of Madison Street, things look pretty good.  The median sales price in 2010 was actually higher than the price in 2006: $960,000 versus $935,000. That’s a 3% increase!  But in this area of the Park the height of the market occurred in 2008, when the median price was $1,250,000. Since then, the median price has declined by 23%.

And that, for what it’s worth, is the five-year Madison Park real estate story in graphs. Whether this data will make you sleepy or sleepless may depend on when, exactly, you purchased your home.  Or perhaps the bigger issue is whether you plan to sell your house sometime soon or intend to be carried out of it feet first.  We suspect that that those who are bored by the numbers are in that latter category.

[Thanks to Laura Halliday of Windermere Real Estate for compiling the data for these charts, based on information supplied by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.]

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ML King School sale: done deal

The Seattle School District confirmed last month that the sale of the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School site in Madison Valley had been finalized and ownership transferred to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), as approved by the School Board in a controversial decision late last year.  FAME was the lowest bidder for the site, and the District walked away from the millions of additional dollars it would have received if it had sold the property to neighboring Bush School.

Recently, there has been speculation by some opponents of the sale that the FAME purchase could be overturned.   The Seattle Weekly was the first of the media outlets to pick up the story, followed by KING-TV on its 11:00 broadcast last night.  The basis for the hope of re-opening the MLK school-sale decision is the fact that then-District official Fred Stephens, boss of the now-notorious Silas Potter, was heavily involved in FAME at the time the District agreed to sell MLK to the Church.  According to the Weekly, Stephens' father was a one-time pastor at FAME, and Stephens himself was active in the Church. This connection has led some to speculate that Stephens had an unfair role in getting the School District to accept a lower offer for the MLK property from FAME.

The School District, however, rejects these claims of possible conspiracy or, at minimum, conflict of interest in the MLK sale. School Board member Michael DeBell was interviewed on KING stating that Stephens had nothing whatsoever to do with the District's decision-making process.  However, Adrienne Bailey, leader of the Madison Valley residents who wanted to create a community center at MLK, was also interviewed, stating that she has evidence in the form of emails that show Stephens was, in fact, involved in the District's process.

Short of proving the sale of MLK was a fraudulent transaction, however, it is hard to see how the District could be forced to try to recover the Elementary School property, now that the deed has been transferred.   There's been no comment, apparently, from FAME on the supposed Stephens connection to the property sale.

Meanwhile, we have been asked whether FAME has the right to dispose of the MLK site and keep any profits the Church might realize from the sale.  We have read the MLK purchase and sale agreement and the related restrictive covenant agreement, and it appears that FAME is not prohibited from selling the property so long as certain community-use conditions continue to be met.  The draft documents are available here for those who want to look for themselves.  For some reason, the executed documents are not available online, but the School District has confirmed to us that "the draft was not significantly different from the final" documents.

As a practical matter, however, it seems unlikely that anyone would want to buy the property from FAME with the restrictive covenant in place.  If community use of the site does not continue at the level contemplated by the agreement, rent will have to be paid to the School District for the conversion to non-public purposes.  For example, $6,000 would due as an annual penalty for each classroom redeveloped for non-public use, and $20 per hour would be charged for each hour of contemplated public-use of the gym space that does not, in fact, occur.  These rents or "value-sharing payments" would continue for the 40-year life of the restrictive covenant.  After that point, the School District would apparently no longer have any control over the property's use.

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When one door closes, another opens

We've had a spate of stories over the last few weeks about businesses in the area closing their doors. So it's nice to be able to report on a new business that's filling a space recently vacated. Ines Patisserie in Madison Valley quietly opened its door at the end of last month, without advertising or fanfare.

Located in the space that was exited last year by Suess Chocolates (2909-B E. Madison St.), the patisserie features local and organic products wherever possible, according to owner Nohra Belaid, who says she's aiming for "small" and "quality" in her new establishment.

Until sometime in 2008, Belaid was the owner/chef of Bistro Mazaran, a well-regarded French restaurant in Madrona.  She reports that she gave up that business because of the hassle of trying to run a restaurant while raising two children.  The patisserie, she says, offers her the opportunity to do what she loves while still having time to devote to her family.  She spent two months on renovations to the space. The shop is open 8 am - 5:30 pm, Wednesday through Sunday.

Interestingly enough, there are two reviews of Ines Patisserie on Yelp. The first review is by someone named "Nohra b."  Her five-star review says "Simply an awesome place!!!"  The second reviewer gives the place only one star and ends her review with "expensive..not worth it."

[And while we're on the subject of doors opening and closing, we should note that it is not true that Park Place Deli has changed hands. Some may have seen the notice on the door late last month stating that there was "new management" and that the shop would be closed for a day.  We checked on the story and discovered that the ownership of PPD has not changed.  John McCormick, who bought the shop almost four years ago, has simply taken a step back from day-to-day management, turning that role over to manager Emelia Harris. The temporary closing was simply a re-tooling day, she tells us.  She adds that she's not expecting much in the way of changes, but new menu items will probably be on the board as we move into summer.]

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More art in the Park

We love art, and we especially appreciate Madison Park artists.  So we are pleased to be able to report that two neighborhood artists have exciting news to share this month.

Brooke Westlund reports that she's currently in the process of creating a functioning art studio/gallery "down under" in the Pike Place Market. It's Space #328, and it'll be ready for its close-up (we mean opening-night blowout), on Wednesday, March 16 (5-7 pm).  Meanwhile, Brooke and her friend Sam Taylor are jointly showing their work on the walls of Park Place Deli this month, for which there will be an artists' reception this Thursday, March 10, 5:30 to 8 pm.  Come one, come all.  The Deli is located at 4122 E. Madison Street.  (That's Brooke's painting, On The 313th Day, shown above, with an overlay of drawings by Sam).

Bud Lowe is also taking his art to the next level, opening a studio in the "lower level" of the building that houses the new KeyBank branch. Lowe, who works in both watercolors and acrylics, already has his art on the walls in his downstairs location and is ready for visitors.  His recently-mailed announcement of the Bud Lowe Art Studio/Gallery, states that studio hours are "9 am-ish to 5 pm-ish on weekdays and often on Saturdays, with time off for lunch and requisite naps and doctors' appointments.  Best to call first [206-227-9760]."   We don't think that Bud will mind our noting that he is one of the Park's older accomplished artists.  His studio's address is 4105 E. Madison Street. (That's his watercolor, Gig Harbor #1, shown below).

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Readers respond

Several readers gave us feedback after our recent Seen or Heard in the ‘Hood posting, most of it benign. However, we won’t be making any more jokes on the blog about missing cats, since one reader commented on having found the remains of a white Persian, which apparently had been killed by some animal around the time that a coyote was reported in the neighborhood. The discovery occurred about three blocks south of where the coyote was last seen. As the tag to our coyote-alert posting, we had facetiously asked if anyone was missing a cat.  Not funny in hindsight.

A couple of readers reported sharing the experience of our MPB tipster, who we noted was unable to get a refund from Island Video after it shut down. This, in spite of a notice on the shop's door stating that refunds would be provided to those who had made deposits. Someone asked, “What do I do now?  Small claims court?”   Apparently so.

Another reader reported a similarly irritating experience with a different Madison Park business that recently shut its doors, Maison Michel.  In his case, the complainant says, he had given an antique piece of furniture to the store to sell on consignment. Although the store sold the piece, no payment has been made to him, the consignor tells us. We've heard anecdotally that others have had the same experience, and after our initial post, several readers confirmed these stories to us. [Blogger's Note:  Dee McQuesten, principal of McQuesten Fine Art Services, has requested that we clarify for our readers the fact that the art gallery she operated within the Maison Michel space was in no way legally connected with Maison Michel.  We have not heard of any problems associated with the art gallery, only with the consignment business operated by Maison Michel.]

Our report on how to get Good to Go! passes for paying the new tolls on the SR-520 floating bridge drew an email from a reader who reports that it is, in fact, not possible to get the passes at Safeway stores, as we had suggested.  What you can get at Safeway, apparently, is a packet that includes a pass that still has to be either activated online or at a WSDOT office.  So, if you are trying to avoid the internet, it apparently is possible, just a bit more complicated than we advertised.

Finally, Mark Long of The Attic, corrected our posting with regard to when “The Hollywood Bank Robber” visited Madison Park to rob a bank (it was the 1990s and not the 1980s, as we originally reported). Long says he thinks that two different branches might have been robbed at about the same time. We’re still reading a book on the subject, and we'll let you know in a later posting what we discover.

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Seen or heard in the ‘hood

A Madison Park resident reports that while out for an early-morning walk last Tuesday she spotted a “scrawny” coyote at Madison Park beach.  She tells us that at about 6:30 am she was strolling along 43rd Avenue E., near the Bathhouse, when the coyote suddenly ran up from the beach, crossed the street, and stopped to survey the Park from the high point of the embankment, near the children’s play area. Moments later, an unsuspecting squirrel crossed the street under the watchful eye of the coyote, who then took off in hot pursuit of the prey. Fortunately for the squirrel, it was quick enough to scamper up a nearby tree just in the nick of time.  What happened to the obviously hungry coyote thereafter is a mystery, since our informant had to get to work and couldn’t stay around to monitor the situation.  She wonders:  Was the coyote spotted by anyone else later that day? (By the way, anyone missing a cat?)

We have it on good authority that the police recently accosted a bunch of high school kids who had been using the roof of a Madison Park commercial building as a regular partying venue.  It seems that the business owner whose shop occupies the space below became suspicious of the illicit activity, apparently because of the debris being left behind each night by the revelers.   Acting on his suspicions one evening last month, he returned to the premises and caught the culprits red handed. He then called in the authorities to administer a stern warning to the kids, though we understand that they were all allowed to vacate the area without charges being pressed.   Reports indicate that at least one of the partyers was wearing a Seattle Prep-emblazoned article of clothing when confronted by the police.  Whether he or any of the other miscreants were actually students at that august school is, however, a matter of conjecture.

A more exciting police intervention occurred in the Park last Wednesday, when two police cars, sirens blaring, rushed down Madison Street and screeched to a halt in front of the KeyBank branch at 4105 E. Madison St.  According to a witness, the police came prepared for action.  With assault rifles in hand, they immediately surrounded the building and ordered all passersby into the building’s lobby. Once they had the situation under control they discovered that the Bank’s alarm had been triggered accidentally (or something like that).  At any rate, no one was actively robbing the bank. Nevertheless, it was apparently quite a scene for those who got to observe the police response. It’s certainly not unprecedented for a bank branch here in the Park to be robbed.   How often this has happened is a subject of speculation (we’ve heard there’ve been four such incidents in recent years, but we don’t have a verifiable source).   The Madison Park branch of Bank of America (then known as Seafirst Bank) was famously and successfully robbed by “The Hollywood Bank Robber” in the 1990s.   Bestselling local true-crime author Anne Rule chronicled the saga of this local-boy-makes-bad in her book, The End of the Dream: The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up.  We’re now busily reading it to see if there’s a future blog posting in there somewhere. (We’ll let you know).

Our final entry for this edition of Seen & Heard is this report from a disgruntled former patron of the now-defunct Island Video:  It seems that although the sign on the door states that those who had deposits with Island Video could ask for a refund, actually receiving a refund is proving a more difficult proposition. Or, at least that’s the predicament of our informant.  She says she’s made repeated calls to the number listed on the notice, but has had no response whatsoever to her voicemails seeking her money back.  We tried to get some answers by calling Island Video’s owner, but we also got nada.  Anyone else having the same experience?

[Photo of Western Coyote by Rebecca Richardson (Red-Star) on Wikipedia.  This is not the scrawny coyote mentioned in the posting.]

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