Seattle: Olive 8 - Page 34

mhays · December 30th, 2008, 08:57 PM

I'm probably wrong about the credit record thing. But developers (mine at least) are certainly trying to write the agreements to keep people from thinking backing out is that easy. At minimum, the marketing firm, the developer, and your presale lender would form opinions of you, based on the idea that you signed an agreement to buy and didn't honor it. Of course I'm talking about the people who backed out intentionally rather than attempting to close.

data · December 31st, 2008, 07:13 AM

We are still planning to close.

If you bought a unit to flip it, your probably rightly nervous.

I wholeheartedly agree about being able to see the building, When I explain to friends and relatives that we are spending as much as we are, and we are not even able to see the unit we are buying, they are absolutely shocked at how ridiculous that sounds, and then proceed to tell me to back out.

I do fear that if many people back out, cant close, etc the buidlings value ( including my unit ) will end up suffering in some way or another.

williams marketing... your buyers are nervous!!!

TheBellevueBoss · January 1st, 2009, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sea~Condos

They had those buyers all resign the contract. Otherwise, after two years, those buyers could have walked.

I signed well over two years ago...

Seasun · January 2nd, 2009, 12:34 PM

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/reo/977051832.html

This might have been the aforementioned Craigslist ad.
"...The 26th floor is just above the other buildings to the north, so you can see all of Lake Union and the seaplanes flying in and out daily..."

This sentence seems misleading at best given that you'd probably be seeing Lake Union through a slot between the Cosmopolitan and Aspira towers. At least the Cosmo is completed and the Aspira is far enough along that prospective buyers can see for themselves.

Seattle FTW · January 2nd, 2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seasun

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/reo/977051832.html

This might have been the aforementioned Craigslist ad.
"...The 26th floor is just above the other buildings to the north, so you can see all of Lake Union and the seaplanes flying in and out daily..."

This sentence seems misleading at best given that you'd probably be seeing Lake Union through a slot between the Cosmopolitan and Aspira towers. At least the Cosmo is completed and the Aspira is far enough along that prospective buyers can see for themselves.

I dunno which angle you're looking from, however I remember on the tour last year it was a pretty clear view...

blackc5 · January 3rd, 2009, 04:58 AM

We are still planning to close on our 2BD. I agree if I had bought to flip or sell quick I might be nervous, but I am about 95% sure we will be staying in our unit for at least 5 years. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it is all coming together, although I do wish we would receive more photo updates of what is going on in the interior. Even raw construction photos are pretty cool to see. Nevertheless, I cant wait to move in!

As for the view to the north from the 26th, I believe it should have a pretty good view. Just go down to SLU park or Gas Works and look back at O8 and you can tell even with Aspira going up it is a pretty wide view. Using Google maps you can draw a line and see that Aspira will only block perhaps the right-most edge of the lake view - around the area the house boats are...

blackc5 · January 3rd, 2009, 05:02 AM

Ah, perhaps this is better to explain. A photo from the April tour from the 27th floor:

Note that Cosmo is just barely in the shot on the left, and you can see what Aspira will block from its initial steel work. Also of note is that the future 50-ish story hotel on the Greyhound site will only block a bit of the QA hill view.

Seattlelife · January 3rd, 2009, 06:10 AM

That is a beautiful shot. I love Seattle!!!

mhays · January 3rd, 2009, 06:11 AM

The 50-story hotel might be in the center of that view.

At a location like that, sooner or later the view is the city.

data · January 3rd, 2009, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackc5

We are still planning to close on our 2BD. I agree if I had bought to flip or sell quick I might be nervous, but I am about 95% sure we will be staying in our unit for at least 5 years. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it is all coming together, although I do wish we would receive more photo updates of what is going on in the interior. Even raw construction photos are pretty cool to see. Nevertheless, I cant wait to move in!

As for the view to the north from the 26th, I believe it should have a pretty good view. Just go down to SLU park or Gas Works and look back at O8 and you can tell even with Aspira going up it is a pretty wide view. Using Google maps you can draw a line and see that Aspira will only block perhaps the right-most edge of the lake view - around the area the house boats are...

I am happy to see you will be moving in! I am excited about moving in as well, but a little anxious too. Not to be too picky but I was just thinking about the blue glass of the balconies being so dark as to obstruct the view, something I had never even considered.

Does a buidling get a certificate of occupancy all at once, or can some floors have it while others dont?
I assume they cant get a c.o. without balcony railings?

Seasun · January 3rd, 2009, 04:51 PM

There can be a staged CofO process. Temporary CofO's are also common. I'm not too familiar with the details but you work out the details with the Fire Marshalls people and your DPD building inspector. My guess is that you can get the hotel TCO and then later the condo TCO and then when everything is complete - a single overall CO.

I think that overnight sleeping occupancy (hotel in this case) must raise a lot more concerns than say an office occupancy. The way systems interact (fire alarm, shaft pressurization fans and elevators for example) can be challenging to coordinate for a partial CO if not thought out well in advance.

And I would certainly think that deck railings are needed before the condos get TCO!

mhays · January 3rd, 2009, 09:23 PM

Typically they'll get TCO for each floor (or group of floors) in progression, after that floor is 100% complete aside from non-essential punchlist. Safety items like railings are not negotiable.

Hotels tend to open all at once, but they can still benefit from TCOs. They can get occupancy of the lower floors for installation of furniture and equipment, as well as training. Even if they don't open until final CO, the early TCO can allow them to be ready to open immediately. They can then continue to move in furniture, train, etc., on the upper floors after they're open.

I've lived at Gallery since mid-October. Today was the first day I've used the south elevator without an Operating Engineer's help...in other words, they just finished major construction and no longer need one elevator as a man & material hoist. They've taken that long since TCO on 6, in a 13-story building.

Seattle FTW · January 7th, 2009, 12:33 AM

O8 buyers -

Have any of you received any emails/updates the last few days?

Reason I ask is because good old Stroupey has throw some pictures on his blog which he says were passed down to him from someone.

http://www.stroupecondoblog.com/2009...live-8-photos/

Does it bother any of you guys that the photo updates we see are from people outside the project? Finding them on random blogs?

I think as buyers WM would put a little effort into passing such updates to us directly. I looked all over the website and the last photo updates I found were from October. (maybe they are on there and I'm not finding them)

I'm not expecting a day by day update, or even a weekly thing. Just something once in awhile. How a "marketing" company can be so clueless about keeping their buyers happy, informed, and excited about their purchase in an environment like this totally blows me away.

What do you guys think?

data · January 7th, 2009, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seattle FTW

O8 buyers -

Have any of you received any emails/updates the last few days?

Reason I ask is because good old Stroupey has throw some pictures on his blog which he says were passed down to him from someone.

http://www.stroupecondoblog.com/2009...live-8-photos/

Does it bother any of you guys that the photo updates we see are from people outside the project? Finding them on random blogs?

I think as buyers WM would put a little effort into passing such updates to us directly. I looked all over the website and the last photo updates I found were from October. (maybe they are on there and I'm not finding them)

I'm not expecting a day by day update, or even a weekly thing. Just something once in awhile. How a "marketing" company can be so clueless about keeping their buyers happy, informed, and excited about their purchase in an environment like this totally blows me away.

What do you guys think?

I do feel they could put more effort into keeping people excited about the project. I think that they feel they keep people interested throught buyer events, which Im pretty sure people attend just for the free food.
some actual updates about progress and some current photos would go a long way to keeping people happy in my opinion ( wo knows, maybe just me ). Given the current climate, I would think they would be jumping at the chance to keep people comfortable with their purchase. I must say that I have a had a good experience with the individual agents at the olive8 sales center, and I dont think they make the call about such things.

CityView Jim · January 8th, 2009, 12:29 AM

This is kinda cool:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/r...ves/158849.asp

blackc5 · January 8th, 2009, 12:41 AM

Nice shot of the green roof. Future aerials of O8 should look pretty cool.

I would love to see some more updates as well. They do have construction photos in the buyers section of the site, but they are only updated every few months. Hopefully now that the hotel is almost done we will see some photos coming out. Maybe even another buyer's tour at some point.

Oh, and I agree that all of the reps at the sales office are individually very nice and helpful.

Seattle FTW · January 8th, 2009, 01:59 AM

Yea, the individual sales reps are great.

I think a lot of it is out of their hands, but come on....how hard is it to snap a few pics every now and then?

blackc5 · January 9th, 2009, 03:01 AM

For any that may have missed this article today:

http://www.djc.com/blogs/BuildingGre...of-at-olive-8/

CrazyAboutCities · January 9th, 2009, 03:05 AM

Love it! My only concern how will it grow since Olive8 is somehow covered by the shadow from few buildings surrounding it? I know that they do get enough sunshine at morning to around noon. When Ava and apartment tower get built, Olive8 might don't get enough sunshine to help plants to survive.

jessejb · January 9th, 2009, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyAboutCities

Love it! My only concern how will it grow since Olive8 is somehow covered by the shadow from few buildings surrounding it? I know that they do get enough sunshine at morning to around noon. When Ava and apartment tower get built, Olive8 might don't get enough sunshine to help plants to survive.

They look like shade-type plants anyways. Theyll probly be fine. They better be since 8th and Pine's apartment building will probly be built before Ava and take out the noon sun for sure.

December 31st, 2008, 07:13 AM	#662
data Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 104 Likes (Received): 0	We are still planning to close. If you bought a unit to flip it, your probably rightly nervous. I wholeheartedly agree about being able to see the building, When I explain to friends and relatives that we are spending as much as we are, and we are not even able to see the unit we are buying, they are absolutely shocked at how ridiculous that sounds, and then proceed to tell me to back out. I do fear that if many people back out, cant close, etc the buidlings value ( including my unit ) will end up suffering in some way or another. williams marketing... your buyers are nervous!!! Last edited by data; December 31st, 2008 at 04:26 PM.

January 2nd, 2009, 12:34 PM	#664
Seasun Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,555 Likes (Received): 42	http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/reo/977051832.html This might have been the aforementioned Craigslist ad. "...The 26th floor is just above the other buildings to the north, so you can see all of Lake Union and the seaplanes flying in and out daily..." This sentence seems misleading at best given that you'd probably be seeing Lake Union through a slot between the Cosmopolitan and Aspira towers. At least the Cosmo is completed and the Aspira is far enough along that prospective buyers can see for themselves. Last edited by Seasun; January 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 PM. Reason: corrected statement after looking at maps.google

January 3rd, 2009, 06:10 AM	#668
Seattlelife Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle/Brooklyn Posts: 3,382 Likes (Received): 59	That is a beautiful shot. I love Seattle!!! __________________ Supersonics Belong in Seattle Sonicsgate, a must see! Just click and watch. http://www.sonicsgate.org/

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December 30th, 2008, 08:57 PM	#661
mhays Journeyman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,365 Likes (Received): 116	I'm probably wrong about the credit record thing. But developers (mine at least) are certainly trying to write the agreements to keep people from thinking backing out is that easy. At minimum, the marketing firm, the developer, and your presale lender would form opinions of you, based on the idea that you signed an agreement to buy and didn't honor it. Of course I'm talking about the people who backed out intentionally rather than attempting to close.

January 3rd, 2009, 04:58 AM	#666
blackc5 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 490 Likes (Received): 8	We are still planning to close on our 2BD. I agree if I had bought to flip or sell quick I might be nervous, but I am about 95% sure we will be staying in our unit for at least 5 years. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it is all coming together, although I do wish we would receive more photo updates of what is going on in the interior. Even raw construction photos are pretty cool to see. Nevertheless, I cant wait to move in! As for the view to the north from the 26th, I believe it should have a pretty good view. Just go down to SLU park or Gas Works and look back at O8 and you can tell even with Aspira going up it is a pretty wide view. Using Google maps you can draw a line and see that Aspira will only block perhaps the right-most edge of the lake view - around the area the house boats are...

January 3rd, 2009, 05:02 AM	#667
blackc5 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 490 Likes (Received): 8	Ah, perhaps this is better to explain. A photo from the April tour from the 27th floor: Note that Cosmo is just barely in the shot on the left, and you can see what Aspira will block from its initial steel work. Also of note is that the future 50-ish story hotel on the Greyhound site will only block a bit of the QA hill view.

January 3rd, 2009, 06:11 AM	#669
mhays Journeyman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,365 Likes (Received): 116	The 50-story hotel might be in the center of that view. At a location like that, sooner or later the view is the city.

January 3rd, 2009, 04:51 PM	#671
Seasun Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,555 Likes (Received): 42	There can be a staged CofO process. Temporary CofO's are also common. I'm not too familiar with the details but you work out the details with the Fire Marshalls people and your DPD building inspector. My guess is that you can get the hotel TCO and then later the condo TCO and then when everything is complete - a single overall CO. I think that overnight sleeping occupancy (hotel in this case) must raise a lot more concerns than say an office occupancy. The way systems interact (fire alarm, shaft pressurization fans and elevators for example) can be challenging to coordinate for a partial CO if not thought out well in advance. And I would certainly think that deck railings are needed before the condos get TCO!

January 3rd, 2009, 09:23 PM	#672
mhays Journeyman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,365 Likes (Received): 116	Typically they'll get TCO for each floor (or group of floors) in progression, after that floor is 100% complete aside from non-essential punchlist. Safety items like railings are not negotiable. Hotels tend to open all at once, but they can still benefit from TCOs. They can get occupancy of the lower floors for installation of furniture and equipment, as well as training. Even if they don't open until final CO, the early TCO can allow them to be ready to open immediately. They can then continue to move in furniture, train, etc., on the upper floors after they're open. I've lived at Gallery since mid-October. Today was the first day I've used the south elevator without an Operating Engineer's help...in other words, they just finished major construction and no longer need one elevator as a man & material hoist. They've taken that long since TCO on 6, in a 13-story building.

January 7th, 2009, 12:33 AM	#673
Seattle FTW Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 476 Likes (Received): 0	O8 buyers - Have any of you received any emails/updates the last few days? Reason I ask is because good old Stroupey has throw some pictures on his blog which he says were passed down to him from someone. http://www.stroupecondoblog.com/2009...live-8-photos/ Does it bother any of you guys that the photo updates we see are from people outside the project? Finding them on random blogs? I think as buyers WM would put a little effort into passing such updates to us directly. I looked all over the website and the last photo updates I found were from October. (maybe they are on there and I'm not finding them) I'm not expecting a day by day update, or even a weekly thing. Just something once in awhile. How a "marketing" company can be so clueless about keeping their buyers happy, informed, and excited about their purchase in an environment like this totally blows me away. What do you guys think?

January 8th, 2009, 12:29 AM	#675
CityView Jim Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,953 Likes (Received): 62	This is kinda cool: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/r...ves/158849.asp

January 8th, 2009, 12:41 AM	#676
blackc5 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 490 Likes (Received): 8	Nice shot of the green roof. Future aerials of O8 should look pretty cool. I would love to see some more updates as well. They do have construction photos in the buyers section of the site, but they are only updated every few months. Hopefully now that the hotel is almost done we will see some photos coming out. Maybe even another buyer's tour at some point. Oh, and I agree that all of the reps at the sales office are individually very nice and helpful.

January 8th, 2009, 01:59 AM	#677
Seattle FTW Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 476 Likes (Received): 0	Yea, the individual sales reps are great. I think a lot of it is out of their hands, but come on....how hard is it to snap a few pics every now and then?

January 9th, 2009, 03:01 AM	#678
blackc5 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 490 Likes (Received): 8	For any that may have missed this article today: http://www.djc.com/blogs/BuildingGre...of-at-olive-8/

January 9th, 2009, 03:05 AM	#679
CrazyAboutCities Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 8,328 Likes (Received): 15	Love it! My only concern how will it grow since Olive8 is somehow covered by the shadow from few buildings surrounding it? I know that they do get enough sunshine at morning to around noon. When Ava and apartment tower get built, Olive8 might don't get enough sunshine to help plants to survive.