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SEATTLE | Altitude Hotel and Residences (1903 Fifth Ave) | 57 Stories | 579 feet | Proposed

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120K views 377 replies 84 participants last post by  ash_755 
#1 ·
Stanford Hotels Corp. is paying an eye-popping price of $16.75 million for a downtown Seattle development site, according to a court ruling.

The price that Stanford is paying for the nearly one-third acre surface parking lot at Fifth Avenue and Stewart Street is almost twice as much as what another hotel developer, Stonebridge Cos., had offered to pay for the property that has been tangled in a years-long foreclosure.

But it’s significantly less than the $30 million that the New York group that lost the property paid for it in late 2007.

Officials of San Francisco-based Stanford declined to comment on their plans for the property at 1903 Fifth Ave., which is across the street from the two-tower Westin Seattle. Stanford is planning another Seattle project, a 15-story hotel at 300 Terry Ave. N., near Amazon.com’s campus.

The turn of events at Fifth and Stewart is the latest example of how hotels are becoming a favored class among investors and developers. Several large projects in Seattle are planned and construction has started on one.

Bellevue-based Kauri Investments broke ground last week on a hotel and apartment complex at Fifth Avenue and Broad Street, company President and CEO Kent Angier said. The development across from the Space Needle will have a 116-room Hyatt as well as 56 apartments.


The site that Stanford is buying was part of a block-long development called the Heron and Pagoda. Multi Capital Group of New York had planned two 46-story towers with condos, a hotel and office and retail space.

US Bank was the lender on the portion of the block at 1903 Fifth. The bank foreclosed on the property and turned it over to a receiver to sell it. The receiver retained Craig Hill and Janet Backus, brokers with NAI Puget Sound Properties, to market the property for sale.

That was in early 2012. At the time, Hill said the asking price was $7.5 million. Court documents state that an initial bid of nearly $7.9 million was received, though the group that made that offer was not named.

Denver-based Stonebridge stepped in and offered nearly $8.5 million and planned an 18-story hotel at the northwest corner of Fifth and Stewart. But, court records state, the contract was “unperformable,” and the receiver and Stonebridge amended the agreement, which allowed the property to go to auction. The agreement that Stonebridge negotiated included a $500,000 “break up fee” to cover costs associated with planning the 18-story hotel it had planned for the site.

On Tuesday, Backus said the disposition process was lengthy because it involved four entities what had bought the property in 2007. The four — Reuben Corp.; JJ Lyons Associates Inc.; Bronx Al Limited Liability Co.; and Bronx RMT LLC — were working with Multi Capital on the Heron and Pagoda.

“It just went on and on and on,” Backus said, adding the price that Stanford is paying is further evidence that downtown Seattle is “one of the most sought out development areas in the country.”
 
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#4 ·
From todays DJC.

http://www.djc.com/news/re/12067526.html

July 9, 2014

Stanford Hotels eyes 50-story tower with a hotel and housing
By JOURNAL STAFF

An entity related to Stanford Hotels Corp. of San Francisco is talking with the city about building a 50-story tower at Fifth Avenue and Stewart Street that would combine a hotel and housing units.

Permit records show Stanford's early plan is for a 677,000-square-foot structure with approximately 194,000 square feet of hotel space, 225 housing units and 200 parking spaces.

Stanford representatives did not return a phone call requesting comment.

Project documents show Stanford is working with MulvannyG2 Architecture.

Last year Stanford got the 12,960-square-foot parking lot at 1903 Fifth Ave. for $16.75 million after a long foreclosure proceeding.

Multi Capital Group of New York originally planned two 46-story towers — called Heron and Pagoda — that would have condos, office space, a hotel and retail.

Four entities related to Multi Capital Group — Reuben Corp., Bronx Al LLC, Bronx RMT LLC and JJ Lyons Associates Inc. — paid $30 million in 2007 for a larger piece of property that included the site. But the companies defaulted on the loan and the land was turned over to a receivership.

In June 2012 Stonebridge Cos., a Denver-based hotel developer, put the site under contract and filed plans for an 18-story hotel, but because the land was foreclosed on it had to go to auction. The auction was held up twice because an entity that previously owned the land filed for bankruptcy and that brought activity to a halt.

Stanford's website says it has bought or built 13 hotels in major metropolitan areas. About half are in California.

Stanford recently got approval from the city to start a 15-story, 283-room hotel at 300 Terry Ave. N., near Amazon.com's South Lake Union headquarters.

Stewart Street has become a hotel development hot spot, with several projects planned:

• Touchstone Corp. is underway on Hill7, an 11-story office and 14-story hotel tower at Stewart and Boren.

• R.C. Hedreen Co. wants to open its 40-story hotel tower at Ninth and Stewart around 2017.

• RBF Property Group, which has ties to China, is planning a 42-story tower with 95 condos and 78 hotel rooms at Stewart and Minor.

The hotel sites are just a few blocks from where the Washington State Convention Center wants to expand. The 1.2 million-square-foot expansion is proposed for a site between Ninth and Boren avenues, Howell and Pine streets.

 
#5 ·
Bellevue-based Kauri Investments broke ground last week on a hotel and apartment complex at Fifth Avenue and Broad Street, company President and CEO Kent Angier said. The development across from the Space Needle will have a 116-room Hyatt as well as 56 apartments...
"...broke ground last week..."

Say what? It's been U/C for months!

Or is there yet another Hyatt at 5th and Broad?
 
#12 ·
If I'm not mistaken, Second and Pine tower was changing their project to excavate their whole half block for parking, keeping the north half of the block open for a future mid-rise structure. As Stewart is now the new hotel hotspot, I wonder if a small boutique hotel would work here?
 
#14 ·
That really is a great location for hotels and condos: it's right where 3 major neighborhoods meet - downtown, belltown and the denny triangle; it's just a couple blocks from Westlake center; it's just a couple blocks from the end of SLUT, the monorail, and a major Link station; right next door to a couple Tom Douglas restaurants; just a few blocks from Amazon; only 5 blocks from the Market. This is where tourists want to be. It increasingly feels like New York City, but with easy access to the big Seattle landmarks.
 
#18 ·
Yup, at least the southern corner of that proposal. There was also a proposal for an 18 story hotel last year that never came to fruition. Hopefully third time's the charm for this site. It's also the same developer that is proposing a hotel in SLU next door to Braver Horse on Terry Ave.
 
#20 ·
PSBJ:

No wonder Stanford Hotels Group paid so much money for such a small site. The company's planning to build a 50-story tower on the one-third acre parking lot at Fifth and Stewart in downtown Seattle.

According to paperwork filed at City Hall, San Francisco-based Stanford is working with MulvannyG2, a Bellevue architecture firm, on the mixed-use hotel tower. Early plans call for around 225 residential units and 200 parking stalls on eight levels, half below grade and half above. The hotel would take up nearly 30 percent of the 677,000-square-foot building – the rest would be residential units and parking.

Stanford Senior Vice President Denise Hannan was unavailable Wednesday.


This is the latest large hotel project in the neighborhood. Construction is under way on Touchstone Corp.'s Hill7 project, which includes office space as well as a hotel. R.C. Hedreen & Co. is planning a hotel near the expanding Washington State Convention Center, and Pineapple Hospitality is moving ahead with a project near Pike Place Market.

Big downtown companies like Amazon that regularly draw business visitors from out of state, combined with a lack of supply and an ease in credit availability, are driving this growth.

Stanford has agreed to pay $16.75 million for the Fifth and Stewart site, according to court records.

This is Stanford's second Seattle project. In December, Hannan said Stanford planned to start building a 15-story hotel at 300 Terry Ave., next to Amazon.com's headquarters, in late 2014.
 
#22 ·
Official Seattle maps call it the "Business District". What most people call the downtown core would be divided between the Business district and " west edge". Greater downtown would include Belltown, Pioneer Square, SLU, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Lower Queen Anne, the Waterfront and the International District. At least that's what I got from the maps.
 
#24 · (Edited)
It was a "downtown neighborhoods map" released by the city of Seattle, sounds official to me. Saw it a while back. I'll look and try to find it.

Edit- I guess my memory was a little shakey, it wasn't the city of Seattle but some kind of booster organization called Seattle Downtown Association.

http://www.downtownseattle.com/neighborhoods/

And it looks like they have gone back to calling the business district the "retail core" ( yes, its a stupid name) and they are trying to rebrand Queen Anne "uptown" so **** em.
 
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