Renting/Living in the SoDo Industrial Area - Possible? (Seattle: for sale, apartment)

[Polymorphist]

So this is my third installment in "where should Polymorphist live?".

I really, really like SoDo. Yes, that SoDo - the area south of the International District, south of the stadiums but just north of Georgetown. The Industrial District. I've always said that i'd live there if I could find the right place, and according to Wikipedia, there are 2,600 residents living in that area, but honestly i'm not seeing where. There aren't any apartment buildings there, i'm not seeing any noticeable lofts. Where are those people living?

I love industrial areas. I like that it's quiet at night (okay, there's the rail yard), a straight-shot into downtown by bike or even by bus or light rail. I would love to convert an old factory into a living space, keep the concrete floor and industrial feel. Okay, that last part might be reaching a bit, but i'd love to convert some space in an old industrial building if I could find it.

Earlier this evening I was at the 24-hour Subway on 4th Ave near Lander St. The Sandwich Artist there told me that she has a regular customer whom walks to her store from around the corner and that he keeps his residence on the top floor of one of the buildings. I asked her to ask him where so that I can check on living there, too. Who knows if she'll actually find out for me.

So, i'm asking this forum - anyone know where to rent (or buy) in SoDo? Again, i'm not looking right adjacent to the stadiums, i'm looking for the areas just south of the stadiums and down to just north of Georgetown. I really, really want to find someplace there, it's been my goal since I moved here 17 years ago and I really think i'd enjoy it. Odd choice, I know...but it's what I want.

[CrazyDonkey]

The Roy Rodeo Hall is for sale:





https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/off/5372651126.html

[homesinseattle]

Poly, I don't think it's odd at all. I love those parts of town, they have some old school quality left to them. Walking around Georgetown with the trains coming by on a summer night is one of my favorite things in Seattle. One of the things that makes these places charming is that real businesses exist there, places doing things like selling marble, sand, cabinets. They were never conceived as residential areas, though eventually their authenticity will lead to more of that. If I didn't have a family, I'd live in a groovy warehousey building very happily.

[Gabbythecat]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

The Roy Rodeo Hall is for sale:





https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/off/5372651126.html

That's a cool building. And I love the log porch. But it's in *Roy*, not Seattle. Or SoDo. Or were you just tossing that out as an example of a cool building?

[treuphax]

I suspect the real-estate sharks are all jockeying for position and hoarding property for when the inevitable starting gun opens the area for redevelopment. But there don't seem to be really many of the old pre-war multistorey commercial and industrial warehouses worthy of investment for preservation and renovation with potential residential charm like those that have become the coveted lofts in NYC's SoHo (or even Portland's Pearl).

Nevertheless I have heard of people residing in units in the old Rainier Brewery.

I suspect I might live closer to SoDo than anybody else here in this forum... I'm just two blocks up Lander on the ridge looking down on it. Had I known that the freight trains go all night long, I might have thought twice about getting the house. It's really pretty awful. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper but I have to sleep with earplugs all year round. In the summer time when it's hot and I want to open the windows it's intolerable. There are probably about a dozen grade level rail crossings in SoDo. At each crossing each train has to blow its horns 4 times. I don't know exactly how many trains are passing each night, but there is really no break all night long. Woohoo! It's a real loud and horny neighborhood. There are reasons it's not residential.

[larry.russiya]

This is cool place.In summer, all of the facilities are there.For living this is just best place.All things you want to live available on this place.like quiet at night, open place, garden,parking. everything is placed in this area.