Is Heron and Pagoda making Escala Cosmo 2.0?
With work kicking my ass others have been quicker to report on some projects but I hope to continue to provide the best forums for customer discussion of new projects. Thankfully Dan is helping me out by contributing the post below. Before we get to Dan’s thoughts let’s set the stage with other’s thoughts on Heron and Pagoda:
Ben from the Seattle condo blog:
Just based on the scale of the project (1.2 million square feet, $900 million) and striking architecture, this has got to rate as the most exciting development Seattle will experience. The project will consist of two 43-story towers (550?), up to 200 hotel rooms and 500 condominium homes.
I also like how Ben points out the number of twin towers coming to Seattle not counting the ones we already have:
It seems Seattle will be awash with double vision in the coming years. Besides the Heron/Pagoda project, at least four other twin-tower projects have been proposed in the downtown area — Insignia Towers, 1200 Stewart, 2nd & Virginia and the Pike Street Group’s project at 6th & Lenora.
Alec Carlin with Hummingbird Advisors of Seattle informed us that last nights design review meeting with the Department of Planning and Development went well and is moving to the next stage. Mr. Carlin said concerns were addressed by Escala and that he’s interested in working with them on the project. In the meantime, DPD and Carlin will be moving towards the Master Use Permit (MUP) and recommendation process.
And the Seattle PI had an article recently, Hotel-condo project to face Westin:
Ishmael Leyva, of New York was chosen as architect, “not because we don’t like Seattle designers, but because we feel Seattle is ready for something that’s more edgy, more ‘out there,’ ” Carlin said.
“This is a sophisticated design that says Seattle looks not toward Vancouver but toward Chicago and New York,” he said.
“It also says Seattle is ready for higher density downtown, which has happened in Vancouver and in Portland.”
Bonus link: Cosmo Seattle has the timeline of how they lost their tower separation without public consultation.
– Matt
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Hey Matt, I thought I’d forward along my post from skyscrapercity.com. I wrote this after attending the design review for 1913 5th Ave, aka Heron and Pagoda Towers, on February 12th.
I am an East facing home buyer at Escala and attended the design review meeting for this project last night. Apparently this block is zoned DOC-2 (mostly office use) and has no tower spacing requirements, although the block immediately to the North is zoned DMC and would require 80 feet of spacing. This means that the twin towers will be built an alley width, or about 20 feet, from the Eastern face of Escala. This is the same situation that residents of Cosmopolitan are facing.
I was surprised by the Design Review Board’s lack of concern with the eradication of light, air space, privacy and view for both the Escala building and the proposed tower. John Midby, the Escala developer, and an attorney were also present to make clear the severe impact this building will have on Escala. The board said that it’s not really their position to preserve individual views, and rightly so. But it seems to me when we’re talking about 60-80 residential units that some consideration should be given to it.
Also, the architect, Ismael Leyva, was present to offer revised designs of the base of the tower as suggested by the Board. The height of the base has been cut from around 170′ down to 140′. This will eliminate the multi-level retail environment that was originally proposed, which is too bad, since the initial design looked very vibrant. But a 140′ tall base still seems enormous. Basically that will put a wall in front of EVERY unit left to right at Escala, up to about the 12th floor. Part of the wall will, however, be a “living wall” with plants and an irrigation system.
At the end of the meeting I spoke with a member of Multi-Capital, the financier of the Heron/Pagoda Towers and I asked what made them confident that a nearly billion dollar project would succeed in this real estate climate. He didn’t have an answer, but according to the recent PI article they feel the recession will have blown over by the time the buildings are complete. He also said that they didn’t really want to build both towers, but the city owned both properties (the parking lot and vacant retail spaces on 5th) and wanted to sell them as a package. So they purchased both and decided to build on both. I find it very strange that the developer has chosen to finance and construct a building that they didn’t initially conceive. It will have no views for many West facing units which I imagine would make them a very tough sell (especially at $1000/SF).
Also, I found this recent quote from Mayor Nickels which speaks in direct opposition to what the city is allowing here: “The debate is no longer about how tall our downtown grows; it’s about how well we grow as a city. These changes will help shape the economic heart of this region, by creating affordable housing and livable urban neighborhoods.” – Mayor Greg Nickels.
Are we growing well as a city when we allow so many residential units to have their view and light jeopardized before the project has even hit street level? Or allowing a developer to create a building that will, by its own design, face dozens of units directly into an adjacent residential building 20 feet away? Is this creating a livable urban neighborhood? In my eyes, this is creating an unlivable nightmare where my home is mired in perpetual darkness and my privacy is a notch above that of a prison inmate. Take a tape measure, lay it out to 20 feet and have another person stand at the opposite end. Now imagine this is a stranger across the alley way looking into your window. It’s a shocking proposition to live this way.
Heron Tower, proposed for the 5th & Stewart parking lot, makes a small impact on surrounding buildings because it’s immediate neighbors are only a few stories high. However, there is no justification in my mind for shoe-horning the enormous Pagoda Tower into this space (the North end of the block, now occupied by Icon Grill). Are we out of parking lots with adjacent 3 story buildings? Are multi-million dollar condos in such high demand that we can’t afford to waste another minute before putting more of them up, conscientious design be damned?
I will continue to pursue changes with the design review board. While this project looks beautiful and I’m all for creating a more vibrant neighborhood, I think it will create a surplus of astronomically expensive units while eroding the value of its neighbor (Escala) by obliterating views and light. There are are better design options or more suitable locations.
