Driven by a spiraling housing market, a developer in Magnolia is abandoning plans for townhouses at the corner of Thorndyke Avenue West and West Newton Street and starting an entirely new project.

According to the story on The Stranger website the developer can’t get financing for townhomes so he is hoping to build an apartment complex instead.  “We actually have permits for five town homes on the site,” says Michael Frank, owner of Atwater Development. Last summer, Frank received a permits from the city but, he says, the banks gave him “zero financing.”

Instead, Frank is pursuing a permit to build a three-story, 12-unit apartment building, which banks actually will finance. Apartments have been one of the only form of new projects still chugging forward.  Frank hopes to break ground this summer and begin renting by summer 2010. Here’s a very simple rendering of the building’s preferred option.

“They will be for sure on the luxury side. I just call them high end because they’ve got such good views of the city and Mount Rainier,” Frank says.  The change to an apartment building might upset some neighbors due to height issues.    “We are trying to keep the heights as low as we can. That will be hot-button issue because of [blocking] views,” Frank said.

Thanks Julie for the tip!