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

[cailes]

I am NOT an architect and I think the Gregory does a fine job of pretty much everything. It doesn't look like a fortress, the retail is laid out in a somewhat decent manner and it doesn't look sterile from a distance.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by BrG

Hoyt has VERY deep equity pockets when Joe Weston is participating. My limited understanding is that fearing risk he bowed out of the Cosmopolitan partnership before the rubber met the road. No one is fond of losing money, especially him. He's very rich for a reason.

It seems that unless he later stepped back in, he missed an opportunity.

Cosmopolitan appears from the outside to be a resounding financial success.

And... it's ALWAYS very risky to fund a venture like this.

Always.

FYI to no one in particular, most projects will either stay below 240' or go for broke in height. It's significantly more expensive to build above that. You trigger required structural redundancies and numerous other financial impacts when doing so.

In my experience, building 'slightly' above it rarely makes financial sense. So you'll regularly see no more than 20-21 stories for that reason.

That is why ZGF's building is the height it is, when it was going to be taller they were hoping the hotel that would have been added to the project would pick up this added cost. When the hotel backed out, that added height was quickly dropped.

I agree with you, we will mostly see buildings under that 20 story marker or we will see the occasional 325-350ft or the rare 450ft get built.

[i2m]

Originally Posted by BrG

Hoyt has VERY deep equity pockets when Joe Weston is participating. My limited understanding is that fearing risk he bowed out of the Cosmopolitan partnership before the rubber met the road. No one is fond of losing money, especially him. He's very rich for a reason.

It seems that unless he later stepped back in, he missed an opportunity.

Cosmopolitan appears from the outside to be a resounding financial success.

And... it's ALWAYS very risky to fund a venture like this.

Always.

FYI to no one in particular, most projects will either stay below 240' or go for broke in height. It's significantly more expensive to build above that. You trigger required structural redundancies and numerous other financial impacts when doing so.

In my experience, building 'slightly' above it rarely makes financial sense. So you'll regularly see no more than 20-21 stories for that reason.

Joe Westin is smart and he didn't bow out of the cosmopolitan - just the opposite. Joe was the inspiration for doing a high quality point tower.

Joe did decide not to participate in Block 17.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I agree with you, we will mostly see buildings under that 20 story marker or we will see the occasional 325-350ft or the rare 450ft get built.

This is totally ok with me, I just want one new tower over to 600 feet to really bring our skyline out of the 80s but I guess that's too much to ask.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Derek

This is totally ok with me, I just want one new tower over to 600 feet to really bring our skyline out of the 80s but I guess that's too much to ask.

I have to agree, though I want a firm like ZGF or something along those lines to design it because it should be a very northwest feeling tower.

[innovativethinking]

Originally Posted by Derek

This is totally ok with me, I just want one new tower over to 600 feet to really bring our skyline out of the 80s but I guess that's too much to ask.

One day. Maybe one day..

[Leo]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Connected to the street means in the urban planning sense, having retail and pedestrian connections to the sidewalk, something that feels more inviting to walk past, and doesn't have blank walls or driveways or parked cars along the ground floor. Much of Portland is a good example of being connected to the street, though in contrast the Wells Fargo tower is a good example of not being connected to the street.

Yeah, that makes sense, but by that definition, I don’t see why mmeade thinks the Gregory “does a pretty poor job of connecting to the street.”

In the arguably most important sense of “connecting to the street,” I find the building quite inviting to pedestrians. The foot traffic on that block suggests I’m not the only one, and neighborhood residents generally seem to like this building. And now that Zataar is running, there is regular pedestrian activity on every side of this building.

I find this building *much* friendlier to walk past than buildings that have apartment windows and patios on the ground floor.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by BrG

FYI to no one in particular, most projects will either stay below 240' or go for broke in height. It's significantly more expensive to build above that. You trigger required structural redundancies and numerous other financial impacts when doing so.

In my experience, building 'slightly' above it rarely makes financial sense. So you'll regularly see no more than 20-21 stories for that reason.

I'm not that familiar with high rise construction... would you mind explaining further what the implications are?

[maccoinnich]

This is now on the Design Commission agenda for April 7th.

[maccoinnich]

Bora Architects have submitted Pearl Block 20 for Design Review:

Proposed high-rise condominium building with above-grade parking.

[i2m]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Bora Architects have submitted Pearl Block 20 for Design Review:

I heard that the Design Commission is swamped and that some firms are skipping Design Advice - which is what Bora did on this project. Personally I like Design Advice and think it improves projects and reduces problems at Design Review.

I will be interested to see how these project without Design Advice do at Design Review - I think it will require more DR hearings to get a good project and to get approval.

[maccoinnich]

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the project had fallen off the Design Commission agenda. I wasn't sure if it indicated that they were slowing down, by postponing the DAR, or speeding up and going straight to DR. I guess it's clear now that it was the latter.

[i2m]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the project had fallen off the Design Commission agenda. I wasn't sure if it indicated that they were slowing down, by postponing the DAR, or speeding up and going straight to DR. I guess it's clear now that it was the latter.

I think Block 20 is moving forward and this is their version of speeding up as the available Design Advice dates were too far out. The idea of going directly to Design Review is to move ahead more quickly.....although it will only be faster if they can get approval in a couple of DR hearings.

[maccoinnich]

If memory serves me correctly they got the Cosmopolitan through in one DAR and one DR hearing, and the changes from DAR to DR were pretty minor.

[i2m]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

If memory serves me correctly they got the Cosmopolitan through in one DAR and one DR hearing, and the changes from DAR to DR were pretty minor.

The Cosmo and the Encore were approved in one design review hearing which is pretty rare.

I haven't seen the submittal although block 20 is very different than the Cosmo.

[BrG]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I'm not that familiar with high rise construction... would you mind explaining further what the implications are?

I'm no engineer and I don't work on tall buildings much either (biggest for me was closer to 330'), surely someone who does must post here. That said, my understanding: Above 240' (considered a tall building by IBC) you trigger a performance based seismic design verses a prescriptive path through the approval process of the code. Proving structural redundancy is also performance based verses prescriptive.

The requirements to achieve approval are considerable, and more costly.

Some light reading:

http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/14_K008.pdf

Since we have 2 fresh buildings in town that are taller, it would be interesting to talk to the PA's about that process.

[BrG]

Originally Posted by i2m

Joe Westin is smart and he didn't bow out of the cosmopolitan - just the opposite. Joe was the inspiration for doing a high quality point tower.

Joe did decide not to participate in Block 17.

Sorry I missed this. Thanks for the correction/clarification. With hindsight being 20/20, his instinct was spot on, financially. Cosmo is a heck of a project.

As I said my understanding was limited. More like crossed up and misplaced! Classic phone-tree scenario, where key details get left out in transfer.

[maccoinnich]

Project is now on the Design Commission agenda for June 2nd.

[maccoinnich]

Request for Response [PDF]

[cityscapes]

I like the East and West facades but the north and south need work and feel like an afterthought especially when this building will be very prominent from the Fremont bridge. We don't need another building that looks just like the NV.