Schnitzer tower for sale?

More big towers fall. In today's Seattle Times an article titled: Proposed Seattle high-rise now faces foreclosure. This is the $900 million twin tower project that NY-based Multi Capital Group planned for 5th Ave, between Virginia and Stuart.

Apparently the developers are walking away from parcels meant for the Heron and Pagoda towers. Seems they can’t come up with $13.7 million to save the project, which according to the Seattle Times is “among the most ambitious Seattle skyscraper proposals to surface during the recent real-estate boom.”

Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago the Stranger did a piece on another of Seattle’s favorite developers. Apparently, "Schnitzer West's Dan Ivanoff declined repeated requests for comment." But rumor has it that [rumor] the biggest among Schnitzer’s office towers, 1918 8th Ave, is up for sale [/rumor].
According to the Stranger article, Schnitzer has "zero tenants" in 1918 8th (the big ass office building next to Cosmo), and 35% of 818 has yet to be leased.

The article also cites a number of Schnitzer condos with lagging sales.

-Gallery in Belltown - "deposits...on fewer than half of 233 condos"
-Brix Condos on Capitol Hill - "fewer than half have sold
"
-Equinox on Eastlake - "signed contracts for fewer than 30 percent"

I wonder if Schnitzer would be interested in a short sell on 1918... sure would be a nice space for an urban farmer's market, or perhaps even a roof-deck skateboard park.


Image sources: Heron and Pagoda - Seattle Condo Blog Denny Triangle - the Stranger

seattle sunset (sort of) - time lapse

source

Housing Levy Renewal ***SPECIAL MEETING***

This one looks interesting. There will be a Special meeting of the Seattle City Council Housing Levy Renewal Committee on Friday, April 24, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

1. Welcome and Chair’s Report

2. Rental Market in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Mike Scott, Dupre Scott Apartment Advisors, Inc
( 30 minutes)
DISCUSSION

3. Homeownership Market in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Matthew Gardner, Principal, Gardner Johnson LLC
( 30 minutes)
DISCUSSION

4. Housing Needs in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Diana Canzoneri, Demographer, Seattle Planning Commission Staff
( 20 minutes)
DISCUSSION

5. Home Foreclosures in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Mark Ellerbrook, Office of Housing
( 10 minutes)
DISCUSSION

6. Housing Financing Resources
Presenters: Bill Rumpf & Rick Hooper, Office of Housing
( 20 minutes)
DISCUSSION

7. Public Comment

Committee Members:

Richard J. McIver, Chair 

Paul C. Elliott, Legislative Assistant
Jan Drago, Member 

Yvonne Newson, Legislative Assistant
Bruce Harrell, Member 

Myisha Chambers, Legislative Assistant
Nick Licata, Member
Richard Conlin, Member
Sally Clark, Member
Tim Burgess, Member
Jean Godden, Member
Tom Rasmussen, Member

Flyer.

Location: Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, Washington

How will they spend our $146,000,000? -- Green Spaces Levy

An invitation from the Seattle Parks Department:

Thank you for your interest in Seattle Parks. Seattle voters overwhelmingly passed the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy on Nov. 4, 2008. Come hear about this new levy and learn about the park projects in your neighborhood.

Parks is hosting four open houses throughout the city in May and we encourage you to come.

All meetings will be from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Monday, May 4 at Rainier Community Center
Wednesday, May 6 at West Seattle Golf Course
Tuesday, May 12 at Green Lake Community Center
Wednesday May 13 at Parks Administration Building

Here's the flyer with additional information.

Olive 8 opens Tuesday!

With the sidewalk clear and the automatic doors operating, I walked in to take a peak. The fella with the red hard-hat informed me that it was not yet open, but would be on Tuesday. I took this quick photo of the hotel lobby before departing. 

Congratulations and good luck to all our brothers and sisters who pre-bought and plan to call o8 their home!

Denny Triangle Neighborhood Meeting

Denny Triangle Neighborhood Association Meeting

DATE: Thursday, January 22nd
TIME: 3:00pm – 4:15pm
PLACE: Tower Bldg, 1809 7th Ave
4th Floor Conference Rm - #403

AGENDA:

I. Welcome & introductions
II. Introduce Chair and Vice Chairs for 2009
III. Washington State Convention Center Expansion - Presentation
IV. New Business/Announcements

http://www.dennytriangle.org/

Gov Gregoire, tear that wall down!

After decades of voting down public transportation solutions and after nearly a decade of bumbling the Monorail project--with a loss of $300m--we sit on the precipice of the single most important transportation decision this city will make in decades to come--the viaduct replacement. Not surprisingly, Seattle's transportation neurosis is peaking with this decision and we seem as ill-equipped as ever to do the right thing.

In a Seattle Times column nearly two years ago, Bill Weis, Professor of Management at Seattle University, summarized our neurosis by recounting nearly 40 years of missed opportunities, misguided urban visions, and bungled attempts at carrying out voter sentiment.

"We've squandered our chances in the past by failing to build the excellent Forward Thrust mass-transit system in 1970; by blotching the Westlake Mall site; by backing away from a green space linking the city center to South Lake Union (Seattle Commons); by erecting professional sports venues instead of high-density residential campuses; by being permanently scarred by an interstate highway that should never have seen the west side of Lake Washington; by repeatedly voting on, rather than building, an intracity monorail; and by standing by while the central city developed willy-nilly at the capriciousness of builders instead of by the design of farsighted urban planners."

With this record it's no wonder that we are still debating among all bad options. In an earlier Seattle PI column (December 2006) Professor Weis provides a clear argument for why any replacement strategy is the wrong approach, if the goal is a vibrant city center. According to Professor Weis, socially, culturally, and economically vibrant cities are facilitated by three factors: "population density, effective mass transit and inviting public spaces." And further, that "throughways work against, and may even preclude, the presence of each of those keys to urban vigor."

Noting that Vancouver has "three times the population density of Seattle and 3-½ times the population" and that they have neither an inner-city throughway nor the traffic problems we have, Weis proposes rerouting, especially commercial traffic, to surface streets--at "Denny Way to the north and Spokane Street to the south."

I am still very much an advocate of eliminating the downtown throughway completely, rather than replacing it. However, if we must replace the Viaduct, I would prefer the least offensive (and most expensive) option, the board bypass tunnel solution, along with surface and transit improvements, proposed by Larry Phillips in today's Seattle Times.

Larry Phillips, King County Councilmember, argues that all the other options are inadequate or half-solutions at best. According to Phillips, "an inadequate replacement that gridlocks the region or continues to wall off our waterfront will punt those problems to future generations." And, "[a] bored tunnel with surface and transit improvements serves the whole region now and positions us to gracefully meet the future."

As mentioned in an earlier post, San Francisco faced a similar dilemma following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In 1991 they tore down the Embarcadero freeway and opened up water front, creating a vibrant new neighborhood in its place. "Traffic was snarled temporarily, but drivers adjusted in a short time by using alternative routes and public transportation." With the proposed bored tunnel solution, neighborhood disruption (during the years of construction) would be minimized, and the Seattle waterfront would grow significantly. 

If we must.

Cosmo & 2200 joint venture

Please join the first ever Cosmopolitan and 2200 Westlake joint social event on Thursday, December 11, 6:00pm -- Taste wine, enjoy hors d’ourves, and meet neighbors at the Pan Pacific's Lakefront room

The event is free and open to the downtown/South Lake Union community. The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness of the Re-Envision Denny Park project. Wine tasting is free and bottles are available for purchase. Proceeds from wine sales will help fund park lighting (Phase 2) of Denny Park revitalization.