Vista Pearl (Block 20) | 246'-0" | 21 floors | U/C

[Leo]

Originally Posted by pdxlover

I would suggest ask those questions to Hoyt.

LOL, they're not going to tell me anything I would believe ... Spill the beans!

[pdxlover]

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[Leo]

Originally Posted by pdxlover

??

If you have details, I'd be interested to hear them. I can ask Hoyt, but I expect they will say these are minor issues typically encountered during new construction and that they have them under control. The people trying to sell me a new condo aren't going to tell me that their last building is turning into a disaster ...

[petcarpdx]

A quick Google brings up this blog post from October, but I didn't find anything else. I don't know about the blog's trustworthiness, but it is run by Brad Golik of Pearl District Properties, and his contact info is listed. Might be worth shooting him an email/call.

[bathurst503]

So I currently live in the NV (also built by Anderson) and it too has had issues with the ventilation dampers. It took multiple visits from local building maintenance before Anderson eventually had to come in and fix it themselves. Before that, though, a pretty strong stream of outside air would pour in via the microwave hood vent. I spoke with residents higher up than me and they said it was even worse for them with crazy whistling noises coming from their main doors. Anderson eventually had to replace and/or re-seal many apartment front doors as well.

The weirder bit with how this "high-rise" building is constructed is how noise seems to travel horizontally rather then vertically. I've not heard a peep from our upstairs or downstairs neighbors but can hear almost every footstep or loud noise from the people living two apartments down the hall as if it's above us. It's contrary to almost every high-rise apartment I've ever been inside of.

Unfortunately, the engineering of these buildings (at least the NV) seem to be a bit cheap. I'm not sure if it's the odd positioning of the building that has caused the wind and ventilation issues or just poor construction but we'll likely be leaving after our lease is up. It's too bad, really.

I don't envy (pun possibly intended) the people who will live in the Vista facing east, though. The wind on that side will be brutal for most of the year with no other buildings blocking it.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by bathurst503

Unfortunately, the engineering of these buildings (at least the NV) seem to be a bit cheap.

Was there a major shift in construction techniques or technology around the year 2000 or something? Have you ever been in the apartments above Safeway on Jefferson, downtown? The building opened in 2003 and the apartments rent for $1500 and up up up, but the low quality of the construction is mind-boggling to me. You can hear every sound through the walls as if there's no insulation at all. I remember being at a friend's place & I could hear the people next door talking. Not yelling. Just talking. And you could hear the people a floor above walking... but my friend swore the footsteps weren't from the unit directly above. He explained that there was a slab of concrete above, and the way sound travels through a concrete slab meant the footsteps could be coming from anywhere. Sure enough, a little while later when we left, we passed his upstairs neighbors in the lobby as they were just coming home. My friend looked at me and said "See? I told you the footsteps from above weren't from the apartment above mine. They weren't even home."

I'm blown away by how bad it seems like construction is these days. What's the deal?

[pdxlover]

Originally Posted by Leo

If you have details, I'd be interested to hear them. I can ask Hoyt, but I expect they will say these are minor issues typically encountered during new construction and that they have them under control. The people trying to sell me a new condo aren't going to tell me that their last building is turning into a disaster ...

Heard from friends who live in Cosmo. Got the details for you.Apparently there was a structural issue which was causing creaking sounds during windy dayS. It took a while for Andersen to diagnose apparently. Now they are fixing almost every unit. Ripping down walls, a big construction mess they say. Also a couple of kitchen sinks detached and fell apparently. They had to put a support under every sink they say. Some overheating fireplaces too.General impression: because Hoyt wants
to close the sales as soon as possible, they rush things due to unrealistic deadlines.In summary people feel everything was rushed during the construction which might have caused lower quality work with high quality material. Hoyt boasts about Cosmo as their best, they are aftaid to admit they might have dropped the ball.Supposedly Vista is rated lower than Cosmo in luxury scale but prices are higher than cosmo. As long as rich californians with cash feed their ego, hoyt will continue to be pompous in this business.

[QAtheSky]

Almost seems like we built so few tall residential structures for so long that there isn't very much institutional memory on how to do it well in the Portland area.

I'd be curious if similar issues will be had at Sky3 or Park Avenue West or if this is a problem isolated to the Cosmopolitan.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by QAtheSky

I'd be curious if similar issues will be had at Sky3 or Park Avenue West or if this is a problem isolated to the Cosmopolitan.

Sky3 still isn't completed, though it's close. It's amazing to think about how delayed that project has been. Initially, it was supposed to begin construction in 2009. I had an apartment facing the site in 2011 and I moved because I didn't want to deal with the noise... but construction was delayed until 2013. Delay, delay, delay. I think it had an unofficial soft opening in April and a few people are living in it now. I wonder how leasing is going. Studios for $1585. 1brs for $1700 to $2138. 2brs from $2436 to $2981 (not including the penthouse units at $4029 & $4148/mo).

[Photogeric]

I don't see how prices like that can possibly be sustainable. This quick cash grab is going to hurt bad when the pendulum swings back hard.

[Leo]

Originally Posted by pdxlover

Heard from friends who live in Cosmo. Got the details for you.Apparently there was a structural issue which was causing creaking sounds during windy dayS. It took a while for Andersen to diagnose apparently. Now they are fixing almost every unit. Ripping down walls, a big construction mess they say. Also a couple of kitchen sinks detached and fell apparently. They had to put a support under every sink they say. Some overheating fireplaces too.General impression: because Hoyt wants
to close the sales as soon as possible, they rush things due to unrealistic deadlines.In summary people feel everything was rushed during the construction which might have caused lower quality work with high quality material. Hoyt boasts about Cosmo as their best, they are aftaid to admit they might have dropped the ball.Supposedly Vista is rated lower than Cosmo in luxury scale but prices are higher than cosmo. As long as rich californians with cash feed their ego, hoyt will continue to be pompous in this business.

Thanks for the details. That sounds pretty terrible...

[AdamNorthwest]

Originally Posted by Photogeric

I don't see how prices like that can possibly be sustainable. This quick cash grab is going to hurt bad when the pendulum swings back hard.

What even is a good price for a studio these days in Downtown/Pearl?

[i2m]

Originally Posted by pdxlover

Heard from friends who live in Cosmo. Got the details for you.Apparently there was a structural issue which was causing creaking sounds during windy dayS. It took a while for Andersen to diagnose apparently. Now they are fixing almost every unit. Ripping down walls, a big construction mess they say. Also a couple of kitchen sinks detached and fell apparently. They had to put a support under every sink they say. Some overheating fireplaces too.General impression: because Hoyt wants
to close the sales as soon as possible, they rush things due to unrealistic deadlines.In summary people feel everything was rushed during the construction which might have caused lower quality work with high quality material. Hoyt boasts about Cosmo as their best, they are aftaid to admit they might have dropped the ball.Supposedly Vista is rated lower than Cosmo in luxury scale but prices are higher than cosmo. As long as rich californians with cash feed their ego, hoyt will continue to be pompous in this business.

I'm not aware of any structural issues in the Cosmo and the construction schedules of the Cosmo and Vista Pearl are normal schedules, established by the contractor and similar to most other high rise condo projects. I dont see any construction quality problems associated with structure or schedule.

I also think Hoyt's current and recent condo projects are among the best built in the city. They aren't rushing to cut corners.

There were some non-structural wall issues in the Cosmo which Andersen corrected. Most buildings of this size and complexity seem to have issues which need to be repaired in the first year or two. In my opinion Andersen and a Hoyt are professional and committed to quality - as much or more than most contractors and developers. When issues exist they are corrected.

I agree that the costs are really high - that's not driven by Hoyt, it's Portland - where housing costs are increasing faster than most cities in of the country. That isn't going to change soon. More affordable housing can be found - mostly elsewhere and not likely in Portland.

[pdxlover]

Originally Posted by i2m

I'm not aware of any structural issues in the Cosmo and the construction schedules of the Cosmo and Vista Pearl are normal schedules, established by the contractor and similar to most other high rise condo projects. I dont see any construction quality problems associated with structure or schedule.

I also think Hoyt's current and recent condo projects are among the best built in the city. They aren't rushing to cut corners.

There were some non-structural wall issues in the Cosmo which Andersen corrected. Most buildings of this size and complexity seem to have issues which need to be repaired in the first year or two. In my opinion Andersen and a Hoyt are professional and committed to quality - as much or more than most contractors and developers. When issues exist they are corrected.

I agree that the costs are really high - that's not driven by Hoyt, it's Portland - where housing costs are increasing faster than most cities in of the country. That isn't going to change soon. More affordable housing can be found - mostly elsewhere and not likely in Portland.

You sound angry and defensive. No worries. I am reporting what I hear.
Bottomline is though if you are paying over a million dollar for a condo, you don't want your walls ripped for repairs after you move in. Plus we should not forget that Pearl was meant to have certain amount of affordable housing. Telling people to go somewhere else sounds harsh.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by pdxlover

You sound angry and defensive.

Just out of curiosity, what did he say that sounded angry to you? Or defensive? His post read like the exact opposite to me. Nothing he said seemed angry in any way.

[pdxlover]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Just out of curiosity, what did he say that sounded angry to you? Or defensive? His post read like the exact opposite to me. Nothing he said seemed angry in any way.

No worries .. My bad.. Senses can be deceiving and subjective online.

[58rhodes]

Its very typical for condo projects to have "issues" for the first year.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

Its very typical for condo projects to have "issues" for the first year.

It's very typical for McMansions in suburbia to encounter issues. I've lived in a few.

[maccoinnich]

[RichmondVA]

I'm sorry this isn't totally relevant but is anyone else getting a ''please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting'' error on people's post images? If there are construction photos or renderings or whatever being posted, I'm not seeing them.