ASPIRA APARTMENT COMMUNITY NAMED NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR

26-Jul-2011 SEATTLE, Wash. – Jan. 24, 2011 – On Thursday evening, Jan. 20, 2011 the Aspira Apartment Community received the Emerald Award for New Development of the Year from the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association. The New Development of the Year award was the top award given to developments that opened in 2007 or later and 19 other new developments from throughout the region were nominated.

“We are extremely happy and proud of the success Aspira has achieved over our first year,” said Ron Merritt, principal and COO of Keller CMS, one of Aspira’s developers. “We believe our decision to develop a high-rise apartment community with Aspira’s unique urban design, amenities and a Four-Star Built Green rating has been well received. It’s a great addition to the Seattle skyline and the city as a whole.”

Aspira closed 2010 with more than 55 percent of its units leased and was granted a loan extension by its lender giving the building secure financing and making it one of the highest valued Class A Core assets in downtown Seattle.

 This past year Aspira held many public events to help give back to the local community and offer the public an opportunity to tour the development. The events included a grand opening celebration, a Children’s Hospital fundraiser, working with other local businesses to save the July 4th fireworks celebration on Lake Union, a Food for Harvest food drive, a Circle of Hope Guild toy drive and numerous art and food oriented gatherings. The 37-story apartment building features 325 homes with 22 unique floor plans. Every home has clean lines, high ceilings and wall-to-wall windows to take in the spectacular views with operable windows throughout. Over 40 percent of the residences are corner units and have decks or outdoor terraces. On the 11th floor, the tower features a fully-equipped fitness area and adjoining yoga studio, a state-of-the-art media room and a large, furnished community room, connected to an outdoor terrace. The tower also has an array of sustainable features and is the first building of its kind in Seattle to provide electric car recharging stations in its residentonly parking garage.

The Aspira leasing staff continues to engage the marketplace with attractive specials and preferred employee programs for all remaining apartment homes.

The building also boasts its own art gallery: The Gallery at Aspira, located on the ground floor of the apartment tower, featuring a rotating collection of artwork from four of Seattle’s most nationally recognized galleries. Each gallery will provide works from their collection of artists for a three month rotating exhibition. The current exhibition, which runs through Jan. 31, 2011, is titled North by Northwest and showcases pieces from the Greg Kucera Gallery. On Feb. 10, 2011, Aspira opens its next exhibition featuring pieces from the Platform Gallery; this exhibition will run through April 2011