SEATTLE | Downtown Projects: Completed, U/C, Proposed/Approved - Page 9

JiminyCricket II · #**161** Posted **Jan 18, 2006, 5:33 AM**

thanks m! wow that is a lot further along that I thought, but I guess it has been about a year and a half since it started.

Last Chance · #**162** Posted **Jan 18, 2006, 11:32 PM**

This will make things interesting around mid-March...

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/s...ml?t=printable

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 9:36 AM PST Wednesday
Monorail puts real estate up for bid
The 34 pieces of real estate purchased for the ill-fated Seattle Monorail Project have been put up for sale.

The properties -- which cost SMP more than $62 million and an additional $10 million in assorted fees related to the acquistions -- can be viewed at www.monorailproperty.com and will be marketed by GVA Kidder Mathews of Seattle.

Bidding on the real estate begins Wednesday and ends March 17. SMP officials said the goal is to have all sales completed and money received by the end of June.

"Our priority is to pay off debt and relieve our taxpayers of their motor vehicle taxes as soon as possible," said Beth Goldberg, SMP board chair, in a statement.

According to SMP officials, previous owners of the properties won't get any priority in the bidding process. Bids will be evaluated based on price, terms and compliance to the bidding process, SMP said, and a second round of bidding could occur.

Hoodrat · #**163** Posted **Jan 19, 2006, 2:13 AM**

This should be interesting.

I can't think of a better parcel for a serious proposal than 1001 2nd. Seems to be primed.

Didn't Selig express interest in that site (although he hasn't done anything major in years)? He does have some ego to flex though.

Would the zoning change on this property if Nichols proposal goes through?

mSeattle · #**164** Posted **Jan 19, 2006, 7:57 PM**

Cosmo & 2200 Westlake from November '05

James Bond Agent 007 · #**165** Posted **Jan 21, 2006, 6:49 AM**

New rendering for 7th at Westlake. Thanks to seapug.

http://www.seventhatwestlake.com

This was the other rendering:

mhays · #**166** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 1:05 AM**

I think we're having a good month for Downtown Seattle starts:
1. The 21-story 5th & Madison condo project announced they're starting this week.
2. The 10-story Mosler Lofts project put its fence up Friday.
3. The 13-story low-income housing project at 2nd & Yesler has demolished and is currently one level below the street shoveling demo'd material around.
4. The 20-story Four Seasons Hotel and Residences started early in the month. The slow demo of the existing garage along the cliffside has finally reached "visible" stage.
5. The City's new Fire Station 10 and Emergency Command Center have their fence up and will hold their ceremonial groundbreaking next week. The density of this project is too low, but we finally get rid of the only full-block parking lot in that district.

mSeattle · #**167** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 1:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

New rendering for 7th at Westlake. Thanks to seapug.

http://www.seventhatwestlake.com

This was the other rendering:

So it was possible to make it even worse... Hopefully it's gonna take more than the flag pole to protect it from criticism.

northface · #**168** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 1:51 AM**

i think it looks great!

Hoodrat · #**169** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 1:51 AM**

^^ That is pretty awful. Poor Seattle....

PDXPaul · #**170** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 2:28 AM**

I don't see what's so terribly bad about it. It's not special by any means it's supremely average but I don't think it's anything to cry about. The more homes and jobs in the core the better.

Hoodrat · #**171** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 2:39 AM**

It would look better if the upper section was taller. Or if that big setback was lower on the bldg.

I went back to those pix to try to find something redeeming about that proposal, but sorry...as is, that building is embarrasing compared to what every other decent sized city has going up. Who's the architect on this one?

mSeattle · #**172** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 2:44 AM**

This is rediculous. If the "design" review committee approves this thing then they should all lose their positions and be sent to art classes. This is pure square-feet money-making design and very little art.

mhays · #**173** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 6:46 AM**

Seattle's design review process doesn't help at all. They have awful taste. I'm sure their bad decisions are cloaked in the right architectural terminology, and I'm sure they have some great architectural theorists. The problem is that a lot of the current architectural theory is totally against what makes buildings attractive -- it's about "honest use of materials" and creating vertically-segmented buildings that "inform" the mix of uses. Infuriating. What I wouldn't give for some detailing and color.

While this isn't a great looking building, I don't particularly mind it. One big improvement from the last: they finally have that horrible little rental car property on the left, and the building now extends farther south.

Hoodrat · #**174** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 5:37 PM**

How many members of the design review comitee are there? Who appoints them? Could the be pressured to change thier review standards?

Seattle is famous for a lot of dull architecture. There's this ongoing thoery that it's the legacy of a Scandinavian "culture of moderation" (i.e. drawing attention to yourself is considered bad taste).

Maybe the design review comitee should ckeck out the Turning Torso....

rds989 · #**175** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 6:40 PM**

I don't see what is so bad about it. Looks nice.

mSeattle · #**176** Posted **Jan 22, 2006, 9:08 PM**

Looks like a big aluminum storage box with a flag toothpic on top too doesn't it?

James Bond Agent 007 · #**177** Posted **Jan 23, 2006, 4:29 AM**

It doesn't look great, but I wouldn't call it horrible, either.

mSeattle · #**178** Posted **Jan 23, 2006, 6:42 AM**

I guess one of my biggest problems with this is that if the flag pole counts as part of the height, then why waste that height and design potential with that??? If toothpic flag poles get a pass, why not clusters of toothpic ornamentations (think B of A in Charlotte and some of Atlanta's new midrise buildings)? It's something that's shouting for an explanation.

James Bond Agent 007 · #**179** Posted **Jan 23, 2006, 6:51 AM**

^
2 Union Square has a flagpole at the top, too. So . . . . big deal?

mSeattle · #**180** Posted **Jan 23, 2006, 7:36 AM**

2 Union was built before my time. This building is during my time. It had what little crowning it first had removed presumably to increase square footage. Why keep the toothpic and remove the crowning when you can put a flag in front of the building or lower on the building and return the crowning?

Is the glass on it gray too?