Building townhomes on my property

[Andrea Sinclair]

My house sits on a 5600 lot. I've been thinking about  tearing it down and putting up as many townhouses as will fit. My house needs some pretty expensive fixes like a new sewer and roof, so tearing it down may be the best option.

My zone is NR3 presently, but it looks like House Bill 1110 has passed which would make it legal to build duplexes or fourplexes in my neighborhood.  I know it cost $250 - $300 a sq ft to build one townhouse and I'm not sure I could even get the funding for this project.

I see single houses being torn down and multiple houses being built all over Seattle and wondered if any of theses projects are being done by the homeowner or are they all developers that have bought the property. 

Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated!

[Michael Haas]

@Andrea Sinclair NR3 is single family zoning here in Seattle - the builds you're seeing are likely SFH + ADU + DADU builds, which is compatible with single family zoning in Seattle. Townhomes for the most part are not.

$250 - $300 / sqft is what the vertically integrated builders are paying - since you're going to be hiring contractors you should budget $300 - $350 /sqft , which would cover soft costs (like permits, plans, and/or entitlements) and hard construction costs. 

Happy to take a look at your site and let you know what I would build there in your shoes - want to DM me the address?

Cheers!