2nd & Pike.

[TheBellevueBoss]

I doubt that it gets built this cycle...GS has too many other things going on right now, I think that he has put this project on the back burner for now....

not to mention he just sold off 5th and Madison at bulk. That porpbably was not the ideal situation going into it.....

[citruspastels]

i'd be glad if they waited awhile on this one. then they'd realize how ridiculously gimmicky the design is. i thought the old rendering was MUCH better.

[CrazyAboutCities]

If Seattle is that desperate to get twisted tower... Please JUST REDESIGN this project to make it looks much better and attractive. Also please make it tall as 800'+.

[BellevueBoy]

There's a story about this in today's DJC. Can someone post the full article?

Urban Visions plans upscale hotel/condo tower

By LYNN PORTER

Urban Visions said it's positioned to start construction within a year of a development downtown with condos selling at a per square foot price one land use expert said would top all but the elite Four Seasons Private Residences Seattle.

[Bond James Bond]

^
I read that article. It said the tower would be 36 floors (condos and hotel), and on a square-footage basis, would only be exceeded in price by the new Four Seasons.

The article also said that Urban Visions does, in fact, plan on replacing the old building kitty-corner to it with a 14-story (??) building, and only some of the terra cotta would be replaced. It would be lower-priced, very small residential units. I think that's the stupidest thing in the world to do - they should just renovate the existing building into offices IMO - but, whatever.

The article also said they plan on going ahead soon with an 11-story building in the parking lot next to Occidental Park in Pioneer Square.

[mhays]

I'll take 14 stories over 2 at that location anyday. Furthermore, the project sounds like a real asset to the neighborhood.

The 36-story project is one of the two or three the most important yet-to-begin in Seattle. That spot is a huge lynchpin between the Market and the Retail District.

And I'm beyond thrilled about the Occidential one too.

[Bond James Bond]

Originally Posted by mhays

I'll take 14 stories over 2 at that location anyday. Furthermore, the project sounds like a real asset to the neighborhood.

No, that's the site of that old, ~8-story building right next to the 1521 Second building. They're actually gonna tear that down.

[mhays]

Nope. It's next door to that on Pike.

[BellevueBoy]

mhays is right, Urban Visions is replacing the Liberty Building that is midblock between 1st and 2nd at 114 Pike Street.. There was a proposal for a 20 story building at the site of the old 8 story building you're referring to a while back but I don't know if anything ever came out of that. You can view some renderings of the 114 Pike proposal here under the 'portfolio' section:
http://www.ruffcornmott.com/

[Bond James Bond]

Really? Hmm, the article made it sound like they meant the taller one.

Well I hope you guys are right!

[CrazyAboutCities]

I seen the renderings of it. WOW! Not bad design! One of them showed new 2nd & Pike... I am not sure if that design is an offical... It looks BIG and FANCY!

[BellevueBoy]

Urban Visions plans upscale hotel/condo tower
2007-08-20

By Lynn Porter
Journal Real Estate Editor

Urban Visions said it's positioned to start construction within a year of a development downtown with condos selling at a per square foot price one land use expert said would top all but the elite Four Seasons Private Residences Seattle.

The 36-story project by the Seattle-based firm will include a five-star hotel with 150 rooms and about an equal number of ultra luxury condos on what is now a parking lot on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Pike Street, said principal Greg Smith. It will have 10,000 square feet of retail and seven levels of below-grade parking.

The condos will be priced at roughly $1,200 per square foot and up, Smith said.

Buyers will be attracted to the project's prime location near Pike Place Market — an area with relatively few upper-end condos, he said. They will likely come from locally-based corporations, such as Starbucks and Amazon.com, and from the Gates Foundation and the University of Washington, Smith said.


Greg Smith “They have the means to afford that kind of product,” he said.

Additionally, Urban Visions expects baby boomers who want a second residence, foreigners and, to lesser extent, young urban professionals to round out the mix of potential buyers.

Units in the Four Seasons are selling in the aggregate for an average per square foot price higher than what Urban Visions plans, said Matthew Gardner, principal with the land-use economics firm Gardner Johnson. They're going for more than $2,200 per square foot, with a median unit price above $5 million.

Condos in other upper-end developments downtown are selling for $800 to $900 per square foot, said Gardner, although he said he's heard of one hitting $1,100.

“We have a very limited number of projects that are looking to achieve in aggregate prices over $1,000 a foot,” he said.

There's been an amazing increase in values in recent times, he said.

“I think certainly in the past few years we continue to test the market,” he said. “When will be start meeting resistance, that's the $64 million question.”

Smith said the presence of a hotel should elevate the average sales price of the condos, as it does in other projects with a hospitality component. His firm is close to signing a hotel operator, he said.

It is also positioned to start construction of two other projects downtown in nine months or so, Smith said.

It plans a 14-story building with 50 to 70 high-end apartments — primarily studios and one bedrooms from 500 to 1,200 square feet — diagonally from the Second and Pike project. The 1924 Liberty Building at 116 Pike on the north side of Pike between First and Second avenues will be razed to make way for the project, but some terra cotta will be saved, Smith said. That project will have 1,000 to 2,500 square feet of retail, and perhaps some office space.

In an unusual twist, there will be no on-site parking due to the smallness of the parcel. Smith said that shouldn't deter renters. Some, he said, can leave their cars in employer-provided parking downtown, others can park at nearby concessions, and others won't own cars.

The firm expects 116 Pike to appeal to professionals, including those who live in the suburbs, but want a place to stay when working late or a weekend retreat near Pike Place Market.

While that area attracts hordes of visitors en route to the market from the retail core, it has been problematic because of some uses there, including the adult bookstore and pawn shop that had been in the Liberty Building before Urban Visions acquired it.

Smith said it's undergoing a “renaissance” with development of the upscale Four Seasons, 1521 Second Avenue and 1 Hotel & Residences, which will mean more retail and put more people on the streets.

Urban Visions also plans 200 Occidental on a parking lot just east of Occidental Park in Pioneer Square. The 11-story project will house a new storage/maintenance barn for the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar and approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space, both on the ground floor. It will have about 60 market rate apartments ringing a 170-stall parking garage on floors two through six, and 120,000 square feet of office space above that.

Tom Kundig, principal of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects in Seattle, is designing the Second and Pike building and Ruffcorn Mott Hinthorne Stine the 116 Pike project. Mithun is the architect on 200 Occidental. Sellen is the 200 Occidental contractor, but contractors haven't been selected for the other projects.

Urban Visions, whose other principals are Jeff Schoenfeld and Dana Beckley, will aim for Gold or Platinum LEED for the three developments.

While Urban Visions is moving forward with plans to develop the projects, Smith said it's also open to selling the permitted sites or partnering with other entities in the development.

“There's so much capital out there,” Smith said.

By selling a permitted site, Smith said Urban Visions can ensure that it “fits Seattle,” which Smith said is his passion.

When Smith headed Martin Smith Development Corp., the firm sold a site downtown to Hines, which in 2002 completed the 40-story IDX Tower on it.

Today, one issue facing developers is rising construction costs. For example, Smith said, when Martin Smith Development Corp. and Beacon Capital Partners finished the Millennium Tower condo/office project downtown in 2000, it cost $70 million. Today the price would be double, he said.

Gardner, with Gardner Johnson, said construction prices have risen 40 percent in the past few years. As condo per square foot prices enter the four-digit realm — something that has been reserved for areas such as Manhattan and San Francisco — some suburban buyers wanting to downsize into something less expensive may be shut out, he said. Or they may have to take on more debt or delve into savings.

Smith said he sees condo prices in Seattle stabilizing and apartment rents escalating as more people are pushed out of the condo market due to the tightening of financing. He also said office rents — which he pegged at the same per square foot rate as seven years ago — will continue to climb.

[blackc5]

Thanks for the article. I am really excited about all three of these projects- the two near Pike will really help clean up that area tremendously, and the Occidental project means the return of the waterfront streetcar - both great steps forward for Seattle.

In regards to the Occidental apartments, did I read that correctly that the floors 2-6 will have apartments around the complete exterior of the building, with parking going up through the center? I didn't realize the lot was big enough to do something like that, but it sounds intriguing. I would imagine it to cost less than below grade parking, while also solving the problems of above grade parking like we see at Cosmopolitan (the worst recent offender IMHO).

[mhays]

I'd imagine the housing would be in an L or C shape along the perimeter. For housing to be all the way around, the parking would have too little room, and also it would be tough to vent all that exhaust.

A double-loaded parking row is typically something like 60' wide, and the lot is probably 110' or 120'.

[Seasun]

That will be great if they can make parking and housing work on the same floor. It would probably require some very special structural offsets between ramping parking areas and flat housing spaces but how cool would it be to walk through a corridor and into the garage? The aesthetics of the exterior are the other great benefit.

[CrazyAboutCities]

Sounds like an unique building to me... Can't wait to see the final rendering of it.

[NW Mike]

thank you for sharing the article. Great news! I'm looking forward to the Occidental project.
By the way did everyone see on http://www.ruffcornmott.com/ under Portfolio, Denny Triangle Vision Plan. Great little sketch of things to come.

[BellevueBoy]

^ That was work they did for Clise. Whomever ends up buying that land will more than likely draft up their own plans.

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

^Nice architect site!!!

[NW Mike]

I know the project will be very different but its still fun to see the possibilities.