The Casey | Complete

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by tworivers

It came out too blocky for my tastes -- I wish it were taller. But I LOVE the terra cotta panels, and love seeing the color in contrast with the city as a whole. The panels alone (plus the stained glass) bring my overall feeling about the building into the positive zone. Don't even get me started on Portland's architectural sore thumbs! IMO this is not one of them.

I don't think the problem is with the panels - I'm fine with trying a new and somewhat colorful cladding material - but in the building's tectonics. Although I actually wasn't ripping on the building per se, but on the developers lack of ability to market effectively what they built...

Originally Posted by tworivers

Zilfondel, you mean down a plexi tube into the giant composting toilet? I'll buy one, assuming I'm not broke and trying to survive off of what's left of Social Security.

Of course. It will be used to grow grade A mushrooms. The decomposing gas will be used to power combined heat & power generators a la Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Originally Posted by PDX City-State

If you think this building is squat, don't blame GBD; Blame the antiquated height restrictions. LRS designed the Benson and are teaming with Weston for his next wave of towers. LRS, IMHO, is one of the most terrible firms in Portland design-wise.

Not even close. Group Mackenzie trumps whatever LRS can churn out!

[urbanlife]

meh, I still don't like it...as for the Benson, I just like that a touch more and I am very happy how skinny it is cause it would of looked ugly as sin if it were a full block.

I am still waiting for good tall architecture to go up in this city. (had to edit that because good architecture has gone up in this city, just nothing to really effect the skyline yet.)

[PDX City-State]

I am still waiting for good tall architecture to go up in this city.

I hear you loud and clear. I think the Casey would look a whole lot cooler with another ten stories or so. I think the next ten years will be a very interesting time for Portland development. With the spike in office and hotel demand, we should get buildings taller than 15 stories.

[MarkDaMan]

. . . WHILE THE CASEY DRAWS INTEREST
The Casey - The tony tower in a prime spot is 70 percent sold ahead of its opening One project that seems to be weathering the slowdown better than most is Gerding Edlen Development's tony tower, the Casey on Northwest 12th Avenue.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The Oregonian

The Casey is scheduled to finish this summer and is 70 percent sold out.

The 16-story Casey is doing well because it has a prime spot near Portland Center Stage, Powell's and the Brewery Blocks' coffee shops and restaurants.

The Casey also benefits from its exclusiveness.

It's a smaller building, with 61 condos and more of a club feel compared with more than 300 condos at other buildings. Instead of 20 condos on a floor, the Casey has four. It has custom glasswork from the neighboring Bullseye Glass Co. Most condo towers have big, pricey penthouses. But nearly all the Casey's condos are big and pricey. The average condo runs 2,200 square feet and $1.2 million, four times the region's median price. "No one has done that type of project," condo salesman Patrick Clark said.

The buyers tend to be wealthy professionals, downsizing empty nesters from the West Hills and Portlanders who want to keep a half-time home in the city to go with their place in Palm Springs. Some buy with cash and don't fret about selling their old place. Buyers in that rare air don't have to worry as much about market swoons, and they fly above the mortgage market that trips up others.

The Casey's focus on the upper crust tapped larger societal trends: The richest Oregonians have seen their income grow at a much faster rate than anyone else in recent decades.

-- Ryan Frank


http://www.oregonlive.com/business/o...540.xml&coll=7

[WestCoast]

Didn't the Casey finish LAST summer?

People have been moved in for at while now.

[pdx2m2]

I agree about the building being finished earlier...It is useful to see it compared to the other buildings in the Oregonian article although it is more like apples and oranges.....I think it was enough ahead of the downturn to have more presold units.

[urbanlife]

what I get a kick out of is the HOA fees, which is basically the monthly building fee that condo owners have to pay is something like $1200 a month.

[dkealoha]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

what I get a kick out of is the HOA fees, which is basically the monthly building fee that condo owners have to pay is something like $1200 a month.

Where did you hear that it is $1200 a month? I used to do audits of condo associations at a cpa firm and I have never seen monthly fees that high. I guess it might be possible since there are fewer and larger units than say... the John Ross.

[urbanlife]

I remember reading it on a site or something that was selling a unit from the Casey about a year ago. Yeah, I was shocked too, but it does make sense, when you build a tower with only a small number of units compared to one that have a ton of units, the fee is going to be much higher.

I just get a kick out of the fact that people in the Casey is not only paying a mortgage, but also paying enough in HOA fees to rent an amazing apartment in Portland.

[PacificNW]

Are there tax deductions for HOA fees?

[PDX City-State]

Originally Posted by PacificNW

Are there tax deductions for HOA fees?

Not unless you're a business owner with a home office. In that case, you can deduct a percentage of your HOA's, as you would deduct a portion of your utilities if you owned an actual house.

[PDX City-State]

Oh...and Urbanlife has no idea what he/she is talking about. HOAs run from $120 to $500 depending on where one lives. I'd say the average is around $200, but usually includes all utilities except electricity, a limited homeowners insurance policy, concierge and security services, building maintenance, etc. In my own experience, they're far cheaper than what utilities would at a single-family dwelling. Another advantage of condo living is not having to budget for fixes like a new roof, new siding, paint, etc. HOAs cover all of the above. There are occasionally exceptions...like the spendy siding debacle at the Marshell Wells, but for a few extra dollars per month in a good insurance policy, one can protect themselves from this as well. But, in Portland, no one is paying $1200 on HOAs.

[MarkDaMan]

Portland condominium tower project earns national bragging rights
Gerding Edlen’s Pearl District project, The Casey, claims spot as first LEED platinum condo tower in the country
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Friday, May 2, 2008
BY TYLER GRAF

There are dozens of platinum-certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design buildings in the United States. But only one of those buildings is a condominium tower, and it’s located in Portland.

Gerding Edlen Development is banking on the newly awarded LEED platinum rating for The Casey, at Northwest 12th Avenue and Everett Street, as a sustainable status symbol that will help sell condominiums in a cooling market.

“At the end of the day you have to be able to sell these units,” Kelly Saito, Gerding Edlen’s principal of development for The Casey, said. “You’re bound by some economic equation.”

While it’s easier to achieve LEED platinum status with an institutional building such as a hospital or university, Saito said about 75 percent of the Casey’s units have already sold.

Gerding Edlen expects leasing activity to continue at a rapid pace throughout the year.

With 61 units, the building achieved 55 LEED credits, three more than needed for platinum status. Sustainable features include energy recovery ventilators, low-VOC material and reduced fossil fuel consumption that reduces the building’s environmental impact.

The Casey is expected to achieve a 52 percent energy savings over code-compliant buildings, according to Gerding Edlen. And as energy prices increase, Saito believes the market for energy-saving condominiums will become more pronounced.

“The general (condo) market clearly desires buildings that are green,” Saito said. “But what is the market willing to pay? That’s the question.”

He says LEED platinum certification increases construction and planning costs by a few percentage points, which are passed on to the consumers. The total cost of the 16-story building was $58 million.

Units in The Casey hit the upper strata of condo pricing. A 2,241-square-foot unit is selling for more than $1 million; a 3,668-square-foot unit is selling for more than $3 million, which includes two parking spaces.

Kathy MacNaughton, a condominium broker for Realty Trust Group, says there is a small-but-dedicated segment of buyers who approach brokers and will settle for nothing less than the “greenest” unit possible, regardless of other factors.

Most of those buyers, she said are under the age of 50 and are less likely to be swayed by the energy efficiency or increased resale value of a green residence. Instead, they’re interested in buying sustainable because it’s the environmentally right thing to do.

Mark Edlen, principal of Gerding Edlen, disagrees with MacNaughton’s assessment that sustainability trumps location or other variables. He says sustainable features are only one factor in attracting residents to a condominium tower.

And Saito says that terms like “eco” and “green” have essentially become meaningless for condominiums, except for marketing purposes.

However, as more residential buildings seek LEED platinum certification – including Mississippi Lofts, which has leased about 50 percent of its units and is aiming for platinum status when it finishes construction – the more sophisticated condo buyer will understand the sorts of energy savings attained by sustainable buildings, Saito says.
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDeta...-District-proj