Want to alarm a resident at The Esplanade?

Stand in front of an elevator when it opens.

The people who live there aren’t used to running into anyone in the lobby, on the landing or the secure parking garage.

Finding someone waiting when the elevator doors open would be worth mentioning to the neighbors.

If there were any.

Of the building’s 162 units, only 13 have sold. Of those, only 10 are occupied.

That’s devastating to the developers.

The Esplanade is reportedly facing foreclosure in August if it can’t get new financing.

Mark Ossola and Thea Foss Holdings LLC bet on the beauty of the site and the idea that living in on the waterfront in downtown Tacoma is beyond cool.

Smart bet, bad timing.

Thea’s Landing condominiums, across a vacant parcel just up the waterway, did well as a mix of condos and apartments. Spacious, condos with killer views and competitive prices seemed like a bankable idea, but Esplanade was almost complete late last year when the real estate market tanked and took the rest of the economy down with it.

By then, Kari Redal already had bet on the project, with near-perfect timing.

Redal, a fourth grade teacher at Stafford Elementary School, was one of the Esplanade’s first buyers.

(OK, everyone who lives there is one The Esplanade’s first buyers.)

In July, 2007, her house at Brown’s Point was floating on top of the real estate bubble when she realized just how much she hated yard work, and how much she loved what Tacoma is making of itself.

Her father had heard about The Esplanade, and they checked out the sales office. Based on the plans, drawings and a model, she put money down on a 2,000-square foot corner unit on the second floor.

She put the house on Brown’s Point on the market, and sold it in May, 2008, for about twice what she paid for it.

She closed on her condo at The Esplanade Dec. 17, and moved just after Christmas.

She loves it, even without neighbors on every side.

The vacant space has perks, and twinges.

The secure parking lot’s an example. She parks by the elevator, instead of in her assigned space.

“We have kind of scared each other there, because you don’t expect to see someone,” she said.

Otherwise, the emptiness has never creeped her out.

“I’m surprised it doesn’t,” she said. “It just feels like home, so it doesn’t bother me.”

Having most of the building to herself is an unexpected luxury.

If there’s a loud party in the building, it’s probably far enough away so neighbors won’t hear it.

She never has to wait for the treadmill in the exercise room.

She knows all her neighbors. “There’s not much social life, but people seem very friendly. I took care of their kitty,” she said, pointing to one of the decks on her level.

They’ve had a few residents’ meetings, and everyone can fit in one room. She’s hoping they’ll have another as soon as they know more about the building’s financial situation, and how it will affect them.

Thirteen home-owners’ fees can’t be enough to maintain the building, so that needs to be solved, she said. Lending is tight, still she’d prefer to keep the building in home ownership, not apartments.

But she’s not stressing.

“I just learned about it when I read it in the paper,” Redal said. “That’s how everybody’s heard of it. It’s not surprising, given the economy. I look at the fact that I’m here for the long haul. If property values drop, hopefully they’ll come back up.”

She’d be heartened to meet James Work, who agrees, and who wants into the building. The two have common ground: They hate yard work.

“I would love to be a homeowner here,” he said. “But I have to sell my home in Steilacoom.”

He’s come several times to see the building, and brought a friend to get a tour from real estate agent Judy Mayfield on Monday.

“We have a data base full of people like him,” she said of Work.

They’re just waiting for the market to turn and lending to loosen up.

The condos run from $240,000 to $990,000 based on size and location, she said,

“Ten are occupied,” she said. “Three are pending.”

Snowbirds have bought a couple. Parents have bought them as residences for their children who attend University of Washington Tacoma.

Work loves the units. He loves the public spaces. He loves the location.

He’s got no love for the real estate market that’s keeping him in a house instead of the condo of his dreams.

“I want to live here,” he said.

Chances are Redal could get used to having a new neighbor.

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com