Seattle: Mid-rise projects

[CrazyAboutCities]

Awesome!!! I love these renderings! It would fit in Belltown perfect.

[Ruffhauser]

Originally Posted by LCIII

March 29, 2012

13-story Touchstone complex would have office, retail, hotel
By JON SILVER
Journal Staff Reporter
Seattle developer Touchstone Corp. wants to build a 13-story office, retail and hotel complex on Boren Avenue between Stewart and Howell streets in the Denny Triangle.


According to their map it's the south/west side of Boren, right next to where the 1800 Terry tower is supposed to go up.

To flesh this story out a little more...

http://www.djc.com/news/re/12039598.html

Real Estate Buzz: Which big wheel wants the Goodyear site?

By MARC STILES Real Estate Editor

Just in case you need any more proof that Denny Triangle is the hot new market: An office developer has the Goodyear site at Stewart Street and Boren Avenue under contract.

The Virgil J. Pague Trust is selling the 28,000-square-foot property that Craig Hill and Janet Backus of Grubb & Ellis are listing. Today it's a tire store with a lease that runs through 2014, and a surface parking lot. Next it could be a big office or mixed-use project.

Hill declined to say whether the buyer is local or national. “I would rather keep the mystery out there as long as I can,” he said.

Local developer Touchstone Corp. would seem to be the likely candidate. Touchstone owns an abutting parcel to the south at Howell Street, and the half block across Boren, where it's planning a 13-story office, retail and hotel project.

The asking price for the Goodyear property is $17 million, but Hill said the contract purchase price is “short of that.”

This is the latest example of the mixed messages that the Seattle office market is sending. What it comes down to is this: Denny Triangle and South Lake Union are hot, and the central business district is not so much.

With Amazon.com sucking up space in the triangle and planning to build another 3.3 million square feet, the overall picture of Seattle looks bright.

Yesterday, Colliers International reported that Seattle's first quarter vacancy rate was 14.5 percent, down almost 340 basis points from a year ago. The result is rising rents for high-end, Class A space.

But let's look outside the triangle. True, Nordstrom just signed on for more than 300,000 square feet at 1600 Seventh, but that's within spitting distance of the triangle. And 1600 Seventh's gain could be Century Square's loss because Nordstrom is expected to move out of that CBD tower.

Elsewhere downtown, more than 600,000 square feet are vacant in Columbia Center, and 302,000 square feet of 1111 Third Avenue is empty. One broker says there's chatter that Bank of America could give up 300,000 square feet at Fifth Avenue Plaza.

As for the traditional office users — banks, law firms and accounting firms — the broker said, “most of those are not expanding. Most of them are actually getting smaller.”

“The hype that people are trying to sell, honestly it's really not as tight as people would like you to believe it is,” he said.

Asked how likely are today's market drivers — tech and gaming companies — to take traditional office space, he answered “not very.”

The Colliers report says it's true that “lower-end commodity space is seeing little, if any, rise in rental rates as the flight to quality continues,” but as these spaces become the only option, expect to see rental rates rise.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[BoulderGrad]

Citizen Apartments is now open at 12th and Madison:
http://www.djc.com/news/co/12039610.html



Turned out pretty well methinks (and to nip the usual comments in the bud: No, it's not ugly. No, it's not bland. No, it should not have been taller)

[CrazyAboutCities]

I like it. Pretty decent building.

[LCIII]

I actually think the orange is ugly but the rest of it is fine. It's just infill though so it doesn't need to be any better than it is.

[LCIII]

Originally Posted by Ruffhauser

To flesh this story out a little more...

http://www.djc.com/news/re/12039598.html

Real Estate Buzz: Which big wheel wants the Goodyear site?

By MARC STILES Real Estate Editor

Just in case you need any more proof that Denny Triangle is the hot new market: An office developer has the Goodyear site at Stewart Street and Boren Avenue under contract.

The Virgil J. Pague Trust is selling the 28,000-square-foot property that Craig Hill and Janet Backus of Grubb & Ellis are listing. Today it's a tire store with a lease that runs through 2014, and a surface parking lot. Next it could be a big office or mixed-use project.

Hill declined to say whether the buyer is local or national. “I would rather keep the mystery out there as long as I can,” he said.

Local developer Touchstone Corp. would seem to be the likely candidate. Touchstone owns an abutting parcel to the south at Howell Street, and the half block across Boren, where it's planning a 13-story office, retail and hotel project.

The asking price for the Goodyear property is $17 million, but Hill said the contract purchase price is “short of that.”

This is the latest example of the mixed messages that the Seattle office market is sending. What it comes down to is this: Denny Triangle and South Lake Union are hot, and the central business district is not so much.

With Amazon.com sucking up space in the triangle and planning to build another 3.3 million square feet, the overall picture of Seattle looks bright.

Yesterday, Colliers International reported that Seattle's first quarter vacancy rate was 14.5 percent, down almost 340 basis points from a year ago. The result is rising rents for high-end, Class A space.

But let's look outside the triangle. True, Nordstrom just signed on for more than 300,000 square feet at 1600 Seventh, but that's within spitting distance of the triangle. And 1600 Seventh's gain could be Century Square's loss because Nordstrom is expected to move out of that CBD tower.

Elsewhere downtown, more than 600,000 square feet are vacant in Columbia Center, and 302,000 square feet of 1111 Third Avenue is empty. One broker says there's chatter that Bank of America could give up 300,000 square feet at Fifth Avenue Plaza.

As for the traditional office users — banks, law firms and accounting firms — the broker said, “most of those are not expanding. Most of them are actually getting smaller.”

“The hype that people are trying to sell, honestly it's really not as tight as people would like you to believe it is,” he said.

Asked how likely are today's market drivers — tech and gaming companies — to take traditional office space, he answered “not very.”

The Colliers report says it's true that “lower-end commodity space is seeing little, if any, rise in rental rates as the flight to quality continues,” but as these spaces become the only option, expect to see rental rates rise.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

That's actually not the same property at all. That's across the street from the land I posted about. They make reference to the one I posted about but this is about the Goodyear site which is next to the site where Touchstone is building the 13 story tower(s).

[seattleist]

I hope this does't spell the end for my favorite rowdy bar across the street, Pony...

[Ruffhauser]

Originally Posted by LCIII

That's actually not the same property at all. That's across the street from the land I posted about. They make reference to the one I posted about but this is about the Goodyear site which is next to the site where Touchstone is building the 13 story tower(s).

The lot with the Washington Dance Club building or the one with the parking lot?

I'd sure like to see that parking lot get gobbled up.

[CityView Jim]

Originally Posted by seattleist

I hope this does't spell the end for my favorite rowdy bar across the street, Pony...

Is that place surviving ok?

Always looks dead when I walk or drive by.

[seattleist]

Originally Posted by CityView Jim

Is that place surviving ok?

Always looks dead when I walk or drive by.

Try walking by after midnight on a weekend. I'll buy you guys a drink. (∩_∩)

[Black Box]

I think I'm more impressed with all of the mid-rise and infill projects more than I'm impressed with the high rise activity. 2700 Elliot looks great with that green wall! There's a spectacular mix to choose from in just about every core neighborhood and the larger urban villages (Ballard, Columbia City, Greenlake, Fremont). I am aghast at how much change is taking place these days in ye olde Seattle.

[LCIII]

Originally Posted by Ruffhauser

The lot with the Washington Dance Club building or the one with the parking lot?

I'd sure like to see that parking lot get gobbled up.

It's the one with the WDC but it's the entire half block along Boren between Stewart and Howell. I'd like to see the lot go as well but I'm very happy to see those dilapidated structures come down for a decent new one (or two). The lot your article was talking about is directly across Boren from the site I was talking about.

I thought Children's Hospital owned the parking lot site right there. Anyone remember?

[Black Box]

Pony is doing fine. Actually, it's doing so great, I stay away on the weekends because of all the out of town types and early twenty-somethings who walk around like they own the place. I stick to weeknight fun at Pony and the occasional happy hour. Adam Lambert tried performing there last weekend, but it didn't go as planned, so he stormed out. It's my favorite bar. They'll survive.

[CityView Jim]

Originally Posted by Black Box

Pony is doing fine. Actually, it's doing so great, I stay away on the weekends because of all the out of town types and early twenty-somethings who walk around like they own the place. I stick to weeknight fun at Pony and the occasional happy hour. Adam Lambert tried performing there last weekend, but it didn't go as planned, so he stormed out. It's my favorite bar. They'll survive.

Whoa! Really?! But it's so small!! Where is there a stage?

[LCIII]

Haha oh how the mighty have fallen...

[RMacherat]

Originally Posted by BoulderGrad

Citizen Apartments is now open at 12th and Madison.

Turned out pretty well methinks (and to nip the usual comments in the bud:

Sorry, can't help myself - I vote ugly. But it should age gracefully as the *bright* quickly reverts to Seattle. Just wondering aloud if all those wires holding it up might be off-putting to potential renters.

[Vashon118]

100 Republican (03/16):















202 Westlake (03/18):











2nd & Bell (03/12):



412 Broadway (03/18):







Amazon Phase V (03/18):

















Elliott Bay View Apts (03/16):







H2O Apts (03/16):





Home Plate Center (03/17):





























John Street Apts (03/18):









Nova Apts (03/17):







Stack House (03/18):

































UW Medicine Phase III (03/18):













Williams Apts (03/18):

[Ruffhauser]

Originally Posted by Ruffhauser

On my way into work this morning, I saw a bunch of site fencing going up at the 2700 Elliott site, across from Real Networks. Something is definitely going on, as there is a parking lot behind the old building on the site. I'd doubt that Republic/Diamond Parking would fence off a revenue-generating parking lot, albeit small, for no good reason.

I'll monitor and check back in.

An article regarding the "Joseph Arnold Lofts". The article says construction has started, which isn't the case. There are still two buildings on site and while the one has some chunks missing courtesy of a backhoe, those still need to come down before anything gets going.

http://www.djc.com/news/re/12040005.html

April 17, 2012

Schuster starts work on 132 Belltown lofts
By JOURNAL STAFF

The Schuster Group has started construction at Cedar Street and Elliott Avenue in Belltown on a 12-story apartment building called the Joseph Arnold Lofts.

It will have 132 units and ground floor retail.

Completion is set for late summer of 2013. Leasing begins a year from now.

The lofts were originally planned as condos. Schuster Group CEO Mark R. Schuster said his company now sees a need for high-end rental housing in downtown Seattle.

The site is near the waterfront and Schuster said units will have protected water views. The entrance will be on Cedar, which has been designated as a “green street” by the city.

The project was designed by Steve Cox and VIA Architecture. Cox previously worked for Mithun and was lead architect on Mosler Lofts, an $80 million Belltown condo project Schuster built in 2007.

Turner Construction is contractor for the lofts.

Schuster said this is expected to be the first residential high-rise in Seattle to be certified under the Green Globes program. The team is seeking three “globes,” which it said is equivalent to LEED gold.

The nonprofit Green Building Initiative introduced Green Globes to the U.S. in 2004. Versions of it have been used in Europe and Canada.

For more information, go to www.thejoeseattle.com.

[Matt the Engineer]

Man that's a lot of glass. I guess it's time I finally check out Green Globes to see if it's just greenwashing.

[CrazyAboutCities]

Awesome! I think that should go to Seattle Development thread because it is not mid-rise.