Ground broke this week on Luma, a 24-story, 168-unit condo tower at 1321 Seneca St. Luma’s the first condo high-rise in the First Hill neighborhood since 1982, and among the first in the Downtown Seattle area since ’08. The time is now to get condo projects out of the ground, Lowe Enterprises Real Estate SVP Suzi Morris tells us, because of pent-up demand for for-sale housing in Seattle. Lowe and Alecta are developing the property.

One reason for emerging demand, Suzi says, is the significant number of people who moved to the area in the past few years but previously weren’t ready to commit to home ownership. After settling in, they're ready now. Also, there’s demand from homeowners in the area who have recovered the equity in their homes, and are now ready to make a move. Luma’s units will range in size from 600 SF to more than 1700 SF, with prices starting in the mid-$300s. The building will be LEED Silver.