Seattle: 815 Pine | 40 Stories

[Rogue Linguist]

By the way, are those apartments at the front of the Paramount Theatre? Do people actually live above the lobby there?

[Seasun]

Those are apartments and I think they're very much lived in. It's a little hard to find out much about their current status on google but here's a yelp review that's kind of interesting:

I used to live here.

I don't mean that I worked here, so I was here all the time, so it felt like I lived here. And I don't mean that I have seen everything from Miss Saigon to Carol Channing to Yngwie Malmsteen, to The Cure, to Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.

I mean I LIVED here, on the 8th floor in the apartments above, during my senior year of high school. I did not see Yngwie Malmsteen when he played in 1988, but his shit was audible from my bathtub.

As was Santana.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/paramount-theatre-seattle

There's a long history of the building at http://www.stgpresents.org/paramount/

[InlandEmpire]

I see the real estate dept. over at the DJC caught wind of our discussion...

Real Estate Buzz: Talk of a high rise gets people chattering
There was some chatter, complete with annoying exclamation points!!!, yesterday about a 40-story project in downtown Seattle. It began on SkyscraperCity, a discussion board for high-rise aficionados. A participant who goes by “cpm_seattle” posted this rendering of The 815 Pine Tower and this comment: “A reliable source tells me this apartment project may be starting soon.”

“...i miss threads like this, 40 stores! thats beautiful,” responded Bmac.

[velciane]

That is hilarious!!!!! <-- Extra exclamation points for good measure.

[CrazyAboutCities]

I think it is neat that DJC reporter did read this thread and wrote about it on DJC.

I hope someone will come up with new plan for that small parking lot across 815 Pine and next to AVA site. It would be nice infill.

[CityView Jim]

Originally Posted by cpm_seattle

A reliable source tells me this apartment project may be starting soon. 5 levels of parking below grade. 5 levels of parking above grade. Units and amenities on floors 6-37. Mech on L38. Pool/amenity L39. Mech L40. Elevator equip on L41. Approx. 485 feet tall.

The site of the architect (I believe), says parking is 3 above and 3 below. Did it increase or where did you hear 5 and 5?

[Ginkgo]

Originally Posted by Seasun

Those are apartments and I think they're very much lived in.

I don't think any of the apartments are actually lived in. I have been to one of the offices on the upper floors and was told that the apartments were no longer up to code and they have all been converted to offices.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Bland box but great news!

I agree, though I would hope the small lot leads to this building having a very slim tall look to it.

[InlandEmpire]

I'm not too worried about it being 'bland'. I thought Aspira was going to be bland, but in the end I think it's simple, clean, and has a very timeless look about it. I think this will be the same. It all depends on the glazing the designers choose for the curtain wall.

[bgwah]

Originally Posted by desertpunk

Bland box but great news!

Yeah, it is a bland box...but I still like it for some reason.

[8ball]

I read the initial filing for 815 Pine months ago and I was excited about it. But when I asked a major downtown developer about it recently he thought it would never get built. Something to do with the size of the lot and the building footprint/square footage versus the cost if I recall correctly. I hope he is proved wrong.

Is the AVA condo project still alive? I thought that one was dead too.

[Seasun]

Originally Posted by Ginkgo

I don't think any of the apartments are actually lived in. I have been to one of the offices on the upper floors and was told that the apartments were no longer up to code and they have all been converted to offices.

I just walked by and it looks like you're absolutely right about nobody living there - only offices if indications at the front door are accurate.

[Capitol Hill]

Originally Posted by 8ball

I read the initial filing for 815 Pine months ago and I was excited about it. But when I asked a major downtown developer about it recently he thought it would never get built. Something to do with the size of the lot and the building footprint/square footage versus the cost if I recall correctly. I hope he is proved wrong.

Is the AVA condo project still alive? I thought that one was dead too.

Well, I know somebody who put down a $10,000 deposit on AVA, and they got all of their money back. When you consider the debacle of O8 and people wanting refunds on their deposits, I think you can conclude that this project will be filed under the 'never built' category.

[kub86]

Wow, a pool on the top floor? Very chicago indeed!!!

It'd be cool if parking requirements could be reduced if they added zipcar parking spots inside. I think some cities have programs where 5 parking spots can be replaced with 1 car-sharing spot like zipcar.

[old_smithy]

couple of things:

-amusing that the DJC article talks about 'annoying exclamation marks' and then immediately follows with three exclamation marks.
-I saw an ad for a live-in 'duty coverage' position at the Paramount apartments about three months ago.
-Is the convention center expanding to cover the Convention Place Station? I thought I had read (a long time ago) that the lot was going to be sold to a highrise developer. Has that changed?

[Capitol Hill]

Originally Posted by old_smithy

couple of things:

-amusing that the DJC article talks about 'annoying exclamation marks' and then immediately follows with three exclamation marks.
-I saw an ad for a live-in 'duty coverage' position at the Paramount apartments about three months ago.
-Is the convention center expanding to cover the Convention Place Station? I thought I had read (a long time ago) that the lot was going to be sold to a highrise developer. Has that changed?

When ST Eastlink begins, the tunnel will no longer be suitable for both busses and trains, so the busses will go. Because the trains will not use the Convention Place Station, the Convention Place station then becomes unneccessary. Except, perhaps, as a staging area.

The thought that was floated, but never formally developed, was that the Convention Place property would/could be sold for development. Shortly thereafter, the Convention Center board floated an expansion of the Convention Center (completely unattached, so more of an 'annex' operation being constructed on the site. The convention center board wanted the authority to offer bonds for approximately $750 million to build it, and if I'm not mistaken, this was a maneuver so that UW couldn't use the same tax source backing the bonds to rebuild Husky stadium.

So I don't think there were ever firm plans, just a chess game amongst the movers and shakers in the city.

It should be noted that during this recession, convention business has suffered greatly across the country. We do have an added benefit that during the summer Seattle is a desirable convention city. A new issue that has arisen, I've been told, is that with the success of the cruise business in Seattle, it can be difficult to get the necessary blocks of rooms in the summer for the conventions. The thought when the cruise industry started was that hotel rooms for cruise passengers would mostly be Friday through Sunday, nights that most conventions wouldn't be held, and conventions would be Monday through Thursday. It hasn't worked out that way. Cruise people are staying long, and it can become a little lean for hotels. However, nobody really wants to go in and build more hotel inventory, especially in this economy, as the vacancy rates in the winter drop dramatically.

Things will be interesting when the economy improves. There will be a lot of interest in Convention Place land when the time comes to unload it.

I wish that the Honda dealership would move, (keeping it in the city, as the tax revenue is beneficial) and you'd have a nice piece of land that would hopefully help tie Capitol Hill to downtown better.

[Bmac]

during the last legislative session, the convention center did get those hotel taxes back and were going to sue the state who kept taking from their funds if they didnt pass the legislation to indeed expand the convention center over the convention bus center. They just havent announced when they will build it, but it will happen. Theyve been wanting to expand for some time

[mhays]

There's no such thing as "will happen," only likelihoods. The expansion does seem viable though. The main reason would be to avoid the intermittent nature of conventions at the existing facility. One can be in use while the other is in put-up / take-down mode.

The WSCTC has traditionally marketed itself more in the non-summer months. Seattle has always had an easier time filling hotels in the summer. The cruise ships have brought even more summer guests, but our winters are also doing better than they used to as well, as Seattle has developed a broader appeal to tourists and business travelers.

Conventions don't worry about whether tourists want rooms. Conventions book rooms years in advance. The main impacts of a full market are that rooms tend to be pricier, and attendees who don't want the package rooms won't have as many other options.

[alexjonlin]

Also, a high-rise hotel has been proposed for the Greyhound site, bringing new hotel rooms into the block right across from this convention center expansion.
One reason why they should only sell the air rights to Convention Place Station, though, is that its entrance to the I-5 Express Lanes is valuable. It's nice to have all that layover space too. If they could build the convention center rising a few stories up from the station but still keep a cavern underneath for buses, that would be good.

[BoulderGrad]

Originally Posted by alexjonlin

Also, a high-rise hotel has been proposed for the Greyhound site, bringing new hotel rooms into the block right across from this convention center expansion.
One reason why they should only sell the air rights to Convention Place Station, though, is that its entrance to the I-5 Express Lanes is valuable. It's nice to have all that layover space too. If they could build the convention center rising a few stories up from the station but still keep a cavern underneath for buses, that would be good.

As was pointed out before, once U-link is complete, there will be no more buses in the bus tunnel, ergo, no more buses in the Convention Center Place. No need to preserve the bus space.