Your Condo View ? Enjoy it While You Can

Downtown condo living, complete with easy access to transit, shopping, a short walk to work, no maintenance yard and best of all, the view. It was the birds-eye view of the city, the mountains, and the breathtaking sunset that sold you on the place ? no one mentioned it was only temporary.

What happens when the view that came along with your 33 story condominium disappears because a neighboring building is built only 18 feet away? That is what happened to Benjamin Shanfelder when he purchased a unit in the downtown Seattle Cosmopolitan building in 2005.

He realized that other condos were slated for nearby developments, but at the time, the height restrictions limited the number of floors of an adjacent building. The rules were changed and a 34 story condo was constructed right next door, eliminating Shanfelder?s view, sunlight and privacy. Whose responsibility was it to inform the new tenants that the city regulations had changed? According to city requirements, the developer and the adjacent property owners should be notified; however, future tenants are on their own to discover these new developments.

A new construction does not automatically assume the condo owner will lose their view. Different areas of the city have different separation requirements based on density. Some areas require no separation where as others mandate a minimum 60 to 200 feet.

Potential buyers cannot depend solely on their realtor or developer for zoning information. A bit of research before purchasing their property may save some nasty surprises down the road. Here are some areas to consider:

Get as much information as possible from the developers regarding nearby proposals for developments, zoning restrictions and whether they have invested in air rights for the surrounding real estate to protect views.

Visit the city planning office and look up the zoning laws for the nearby sites.

Look up the addresses for any project applications and add your name and email address to the notification list for changes or new developments.

Speak to the city planners about possible changes to the existing zoning laws.

Let your comments be heard at design review hearings about future projects.

Spend the extra money to hire a land-use lawyer to complete this due diligence on your behalf.

Posted by Teri Hillman on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Teri Hillman
Teri Hillman is affliated with Coldwell Banker MidAmerica Group Realtors, which is located in Urbandale, IA. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for Urbandale, IA

Latitude: 41.636421 -- Longitude: -93.736121

ZIP Codes for Urbandale, Iowa	50322 50323 50391
Area Code for Urbandale, Iowa	515
Time zone for Urbandale, Iowa	CST

Other Area Cities: Ankeny, IA Des Moines, IA West Des Moines, IA Urbandale, IA

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Urbandale incorporated as a city on April 16, 1917. In its early days Urbandale served as a streetcar suburb of Des Moines with four coal mines. Urbandale served as the end of the "Urbandale Line" after plans to build a railroad from Des Moines to Woodward were abandoned because of right-of-way issues. The coal mines had closed by the end of the 1940s while streetcar service ended in 1951. In 1920, shortly after the city incorporated, Urbandale had 298 people. Its population in 1950 was 1,777, but the city grew rapidly after that along with the rest of Des Moines' suburbs. By 1970 Urbandale had 14,434 people, and in 2000 it had 29,072.[2] Although most of the city's developed area is in Polk County, Urbandale has expanded westward into Dallas County in recent years. While Urbandale is primarily a residential city, commercial and industrial development has increased in recent years, particularly in industrial parks along I-35/80. Urbandale also features 850 acres of parks. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Urbandale	Iowa	United States
Population	29,072	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	37	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	35.7	35.2	34
Median age for Female	38.2	38	36.5
Households	11,484	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	28,768	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.51	2.46	2.59
Families	8,043	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	3.02	3	3.14
Housing units	11,869	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	11,484	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	385	83,235	10,424,540

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Your Condo View ? Enjoy it While You Can

Local Information for Urbandale, IA

Latitude: 41.636421 -- Longitude: -93.736121

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