An Issue of Credibility

At Tuesday's CAC meeting, the Hospital publicly distributed a letter it sent to the members of the CAC. This letter claimed:

"As you know, Children's has purchased several homes directly on the east and south perimeters of the hospital campus. Children's Board of Trustees approved these purchases in order obtain some homes to lease to Children's faculty and staff who want to be near the hospital and avoid commuting..."

This claim is not credible. Not long ago, the Hospital advertised almost all of its purchased homes on Craigslist. You can see our previous post for a full table of advertised prices. The Dave Poletti ads were reposted repeatedly to keep them top-of-the list on Craigslist. The ads said nothing about the rentals being intended for "faculty and staff." At the end of the day, it appeared that the rental agency was successful in its public ads -- one of the listings quickly changed from "Available" to "Application Pending."

The Hospital's credibility suffers when it presents an inaccurate picture of its land-use intentions.

The CAC needs to receive accurate information on how the Hospital's purchases are managed. A major transition from owner- to renter-occupied homes along 45th Street has occurred. This transition must be publicly recognized and evaluated by the CAC. 12 out of the 17 homes (71%) along 45th St between 40th & 44th Avenues are now rentals, largely due to purchases by the Hospital and agents of Talaris.

[Note: Craigslist ads always expire after 30 days, so we saved two of them. Here's a zip folder with these ads. Just download the folder, unzip the files to a folder on your hard drive, and click on each of the .html rental files.]

March 18th CAC Meeting & Various Updates

1. A Citizen's Advisory Meeting is scheduled for next week:

• Tuesday, March 18, 2008, 6:30- 9:00 PM
• Talaris Conference Center, Cedar Room, 4000 NE 41st Street, Seattle, WA 98105
• From DON: "The meeting will focus on a discussion of Laurelon Terrace Purchase and Children's Hospital follow-up to CAC's letter to City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) concerning the preliminary Draft Plan. "
• Public comment time will be available at 7:55 pm.
  

2. The Department of Planning responded to the Hospital's draft EIS in writing.

• Definitely worth reading, particularly DPD's concerns about transportation infrastructure and the duration of construction.
  
• DPD Comments on the Preliminary Draft Master Plan

3. The Hospital has closed on two more houses on NE 45th street since our last summary of home sales.

• Eight = The total number of single-family homes purchased by the Hospital and now dark.
  

4. HB3071 passed in the WA State Senate last week.

Follow-up from the February 12th CAC Meeting

Handouts. Land use planner Carol Eychaner made the following materials available to the CAC and the public at last night's CAC meeting:

• Letter covering strong concerns about the CAC subcommittee's new plan for Hospital development.
• Memo tallying all Hospital purchases to-date, including houses, condos and downtown. Note that this memo leaves out the Hospital's latest home purchase. For that million dollar purchase, see this post.
• Table of Hospital purchases covered in the above memo.

Hospital PR on Laurelon. On the discouraging front, Ruth Benfield was so proud of the Hospital PR department that she handed out copies of Tuesday's Seattle PI's article at last night's meeting. This article portrayed the Hospital's maneuvers to obtain Laurelon as favored by "the community." As these posts report, the community and an abundance of Laurelon residents are appalled by these efforts.

Kicking elderly people out of their homes via legislative maneuvering is plain reprehensible. Please help Laurelon's long-term residents stop HB 3071.

One small bright note: an insightful comment by a reader of the PI article. "DolphinGirl" posted the following on the PI comment area (bold added):

"Gee, is there anywhere you can live in the Seattle area and not worry that you will be kicked out of your home? Forget 'The needs of the many outweighing the needs of a few'; you shouldn't be forced out of your home for any reason! If those people choose to sell, that's definitely their right. But the people that want to stay should be able to without fear. What happens next? The majority decide to sell and then maybe the government decides "eminent domain" would be a handy tool to use here to boot out the remaining unwilling homeowners? One of my neighbors in South Park is being eminent domained out of his home and business right now, a move which could easily be avoided if the "project" SPU is pushing were moved a mere 100 yards south. Children's may need to expand, but it is located in a residential neighborhood (accent on the word "residential") and needs to respect that. Yes, I agree with the above poster who says anyone who speaks out against Children's will be labeled a "kid hater". I counter that label with another: "home lover"."

Hospital Has Closed on 27 Homes/Condos

The Hospital has now closed on 27 nearby homes and condos. This includes 21 units at Laurelon Terrace, a moderately-priced condo community, and 6 single-family homes. The pace of purchases has accelerated swiftly this winter.

The threat of decades of construction is remarkably effective in "convincing" neighbors to "voluntarily" sell their long-time homes quickly. If that doesn't work, there's always the Supreme Court's decision in favor of cities using eminent domain on behalf of private developers (Kelo vs. City of New London). The future is not looking bright for Laurelon.

21 Laurelon Terrace Sales as of January 3, 2008:
Parcel #... Building #... Unit #... Full Report… Sale Date… Sale Price
4220700080 03 4014 Sale Date 1/8/2008 Sale Price $292,000
4220700140 04 4009 Sale Date 1/18/2008 Sale Price $243,000
4220700180 04 4019 Sale Date 1/7/2008 Sale Price $285,000
4220700320 07 4602 Sale Date 10/31/2007 Sale Price $377,500
4220700330 07 4604 Sale Date 1/15/2008 Sale Price $239,000
4220700430 08 4624 Sale Date 10/15/2007 Sale Price $240,000
4220700490 09 4644 Sale Date 12/10/2007 Sale Price $380,000
4220700650 10 4668 Sale Date 1/22/2008 Sale Price $257,000
4220700740 11 4008 Sale Date 10/31/2007 Sale Price $243,000
4220700820 12 4609 Sale Date 1/9/2008 Sale Price $281,000
4220700850 13 4615 Sale Date 1/2/2008 Sale Price $300,000
4220700960 15 4637 Sale Date 11/20/2007 Sale Price $243,000
4220701110 16 4667 Sale Date 12/28/2007 Sale Price $236,000
4220701150 16 4675 Sale Date 10/23/2007 Sale Price $280,000
4220701180 17 4681 Sale Date 12/3/2007 Sale Price $248,000
4220701220 17 4689 Sale Date 10/17/2007 Sale Price $230,000
4220701220 17 4689 Sale Date 1/9/2008 Sale Price $236,000
4220701250 18 4706 Sale Date 1/14/2008 Sale Price $253,000
4220701310 19 4718 Sale Date 1/7/2008 Sale Price $228,000
4220701330 19 4722 Sale Date 12/28/2007 Sale Price $244,000
4220701350 19 4726 Sale Date 11/19/2007 Sale Price $226,000

6 Single Family Home Sales, as of February 3, 2008:

Location	Sold Date	Price	Rental (listed by Dave Poletti & tara@davepoletti.com)
4323 NE 45th St	6/12/2007	$858,375	"Available Now" -- $2850 (see craigslist ad)
4736 44th Ave	9/28/2007	$960,000
4335 NE 45th St	10/10/2007	$960,000	"Application Pending" -- $2550 (formerly listed on craigslist)
4205 45th St	11/19/2007	$617,000	"Available Now" -- $2,275 (see craigslist ad)
4702 44th Ave NE	12/17/2007	$727,000
4315 NE 45th St	1/25/2008	$1,012,500

Total $ Spent on Condos: $5,561,000
($/condo = $264,810 .... so the projected $ for all 136 condos is ultimately $36 million)
Total $ Spent on Homes = $5,134,875
Total Dollars Already Spent Buying Homes and Condos = $ 10.7 million

Note that the total cost of construction is estimated to be in the billions of dollars at the current site. (Remember, it's exceedingly expensive to build towers on top of an existing hospital that must continue to function during construction.) Looks like the Hospital has figured out that buying land zoned for residential use and getting it rezoned for towers is cheaper than to buying land already zoned for height. Just wait until the idea catches on throughout Seattle.

You can keep an eye on the Hospital's ongoing purchases using the King County Assessor's eSales database. Note: For recent sales, the purchaser is only found on the Recorder's Office pdf tax records.

Update: A Laurelon resident just emailed to report the current tally of Laurelon sales as 22, not 21, with at least two further sales pending. That brings the number of total condo + home sales to 28, with at least two more pending. The resident gave these tallies:

• Total closed CHRMC condo purchases, as of Jan 22, 2008: 22
  
• Total owner ship purchased by CHRMC: 16.69 %
  
• Total of closing prices: $5,843,500

For Rent on Craigslist: The Hospital's Purchases

Updated: Additional Laurelon purchases were reported in Ruth Benfield's letter distributed at the January 9th CAC meeting.

The Hospital has started to use Craigslist to rent the residential properties it has purchased. So much for the story that it bought these houses for its doctors. Total known purchases in 2007: 11 14. According to Ruth Benfield (1/09/08), an additional 13 are in the process of closing, giving a grand total of 27.

As we've said before, instead of acting in the spirit of the law (SMC 23.69.032) and working to ensure "livability and vitality of adjacent neighborhoods," the Hospital is simply eliminating its neighbors.

You can keep an eye on the Hospital's ongoing purchases using the King County Assessor's eSales database. Note: For recent sales, the purchaser is only found on the Recorder's Office pdf tax records.

Location	Sold Date	Price	Rental (listed by Dave Poletti & tara@davepoletti.com)
4323 NE 45th St	6/12/2007	$858,375	"Available Now" -- $2850 (see craigslist ad)
4736 44th Ave	9/28/2007	$960,000
4335 NE 45th St	10/10/2007	$960,000	"Application Pending" -- $2550 (formerly listed on craigslist)
4205 45th St	11/19/2007	$617,000	"Available Now" -- $2,275 (see craigslist ad)
4702 44th Ave NE	12/17/2007	$727,000
9 Laurelon Condos. An additional 13 are in the process of closing, for a total of 22 condos.	Through 1/09/07	NA	A possible craigslist ad for one of them
4315 NE 45th St	1/25/2008	$1,012,500

Update: One more sale added. Total through February 1, 2008: 15. According to Ruth Benfield (1/09/08), an additional 12 are in the process of closing, so the grand total is closer to 27.

Laurelon Action Coalition: Buying and Bulldozing our Community is Not Okay

Residents of Laurelon have now formally banded together to form the Laurelon Action Coalition.

These determined folks refuse to see 136 units of moderately-priced housing demolished as part of the Hospital's "long-term play." Laurelon units actually qualify as "affordable housing" according the our Mayor's tax-credit criteria, but we'll stick to calling them "moderately-priced." Laurelon residents plan to defend their homes and community from the Hospital's buy-and-bulldoze plan. Check out the Hospital's Laurelon "Alternative" before you read the Laurelon Action Coalition's first letter to the CAC:

Dear Citizens Advisory Council:

The Laurelon Action Coalition is a group of Laurelon Terrace Condominium homeowners who do not want Children's Hospital to purchase units in our condominium complex. We do not want to see our wonderful garden neighborhood devoured by Children's Hospital. We first made this known to our ownership at large at its Oct 25th Homeowners' Meeting (See below). The lawyer subsequently hired by us will be reporting his findings at our next Homeowners' Meeting scheduled Nov. 28th.

Among many concerns, we take great umbrage at Ruth Benfield's comments at the Oct 30th CAC meeting in which she indicated Laurelon would become available for construction because our board had hired a lawyer to deal with that and that our complex is run down, burdened with debt, and has no funds to do needed work. Laurelon continues ongoing projects to maintain, repair and upgrade infrastructure systems and features including sewers, siding, porches, window replacements, plumbing, electrical. Homeowners take great pride in remodeling and meticulous maintenance of their units. We hope this will be obvious on your walking tour Nov. 18.

Sincerely,
The Laurelon Action Coalition

Excerpt from Presentation made at Laurelon Terrace Homeowners Meeting Oct 25, 2007

After reflection on what was presented by Buck Law Group at the homeowners' meeting in September, we wondered about the lack of other options presented to protect us from take over by Children's Hosp.

At the same time, a number of homeowners approached us about the possibility of protecting Laurelon Terrace by a change in our Declaration, Covenants, and By-laws.

We consulted 4 lawyers recommended to us who specialize in preparing covenants and by-laws for condominium associations.

All four agreed that tightening and/or adding covenants of the types we discussed are common, legal, and should be effective if written and executed properly.

We are going to retain a lawyer to investigate our current documents, propose changes, present the pros and cons, and at a homeowners' meeting recommend what would work best.

Buying Silence

The Hospital just bought a third home adjacent to its property. A Hospital official recently described these ongoing home purchases as "a super mitigation strategy" in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Instead of acting in the spirit of the law (SMC 23.69.032) and working to ensure "livability and vitality of adjacent neighborhoods," the hospital is simply eliminating its neighbors.

You can keep an eye on the Hospital's ongoing purchases using the King County Assessor's eSales database. Note: For recent sales, the purchaser is only found on the Recorder's Office pdf tax records.

Location	Sold Date	Price
4323 NE 45th St	6/12/2007	$858,375
4736 44th Ave	9/28/2007	$960,000
4335 NE 45th St	10/10/2007	$960,000

Expanding Institutional Boundaries: Laurelon, Talaris, Springbrook and Hartman

The Hospital predicts that its space needs will continue to grow rapidly after this newest round of expansion. Since Hospital insists on keeping all in-patient services in one place, what happens after its buildings rise to 240 feet?

Clearly, the hospital has a plan: expansion of institutional boundaries across 136 condos and who-knows-what else. So much for the city's guidance, as reported by the hospital: "the redevelopment of residential areas for institutional uses is discouraged as a matter of City policy."

The Hospital's intentions for Laurelon (see "Sought" in the picture below) and the Hartman site (see "Owned") have been made clear. The hospital also owns a partial stake in the Springbrook building (see "Partially Owned"). It has been busily expanding into this space and pushing out professionals serving surrounding communities. Many former tenants provided medical services at walkable distances from nearby communities.
Don't forget that the Talaris property is "Available." You can draw your own conclusions. Yeah, current covenants prevent a major institution from buying the property outright, but there are ways around that hurdle. For example, a donor group could purchase the site in the hospital's place and "lease" it out.

We also can't leave out the hospital's recent purchase of surrounding homes (see "Home Purchases" for the general locations). The hospital recently told the PSBJ that it is making these purchases to buy the silence of potential objectors to its plans. Two purchases have closed already, a third is rumored to be close, and others have been discussed. These purchases may not expand the institutional boundaries, but they certainly seem contrary to the purpose of the Major Institution Planning process.

136 Laurelon Condos: Hospital's "Long-Term Play"

Puget Sound Business Journal, on 9/27/07:

"Laurelon, Melzer said, 'is a long-term play.'"

Now the cat comes out of the bag. The hospital’s “long-term play” is to eliminate a vital piece of our community: 136 of the most affordable housing units in the neighborhood.

According to SMC 23.69.032, the Master Planning Process is designed to ensure "livability and vitality of adjacent neighborhoods," while allowing some atypical growth of the institution.

Gobbling up 136 condos does not maintain livability by any stretch of the imagination.

The article just missed the Hospital’s in-process purchase of house #2 across the street. This is not a "super mitigation strategy," as Melzer claims. It is a way to silence dissent and avoid dealing with "livability and vitality.”

Excerpts, with emphasis added:

Children's high-rise plans worry its neighbors

by Peter Neurath

To meet the health-care needs of the growing number of children in this region, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center plans to add up to 400 more beds and thrust upward to some 14 floors, 240 feet above ground level.…

Does this planned expansion presage a time when the hospital will burst beyond its boundaries and buy up residential properties?

In a limited way, that process has already begun.

Bordering Children's Hospital on the west is the Laurelon Terrace, a 5.5-acre parcel with trees, shrubs and 20 garden-style buildings, mostly two stories, filled with 136 condominiums. (One is owned by this reporter.)

For now, Children's has indicated it will offer to buy Laurelon condos once the Laurelon's board has had time to consider its options and present a proposal. The board has hired The Buck Law Group to devise a plan and approach Children's with a proposal protecting the interests of the condo owners.

But 20 or 30 years from now, if the hospital owns enough Laurelon buildings, it might site its next facility there, said Dr. Sanford Melzer, senior vice president in charge of Children's' strategic planning and business development.

Laurelon, Melzer said, "is a long-term play."

...The hospital recently purchased one Laurelhurst home across the street from its Northeast 45th Street entrance.

Melzer said that as "a super mitigation strategy" for adjacent residents who are so unhappy with the hospital, Children's is willing to buy their homes.

"We bought one house in July and have talked to a couple other people," he said.