Reports from Trace Lofts preview event

I had been really looking forward to this event but it sounds like I did not miss much. Once I have a chance to check out the website I’ll post my thoughts. In the meantime here are the thoughts of two ladies who attended the event.

by guest contributor Kristi

I showed up at 8:30 all excited, but was quickly let down, it was a big social marketing party at Osteria La Spiga, which is a nice space, but they didn’t have much substance on display. I mean a party is great, but after months of waiting all they had was their website loaded on 2 Apple computers in the back that you could browse through the floor plans & finishes and a recap of the email they had sent out about reservation process.

But the info i did find out:

Process:

• Pre-approved by 1/25,
• On 1/29 those approved will call into a dedicated phone number to make appointments (first come first serve).
• 2/5 – appointments start
• During reservation you give deposit (depending on price category)
• In april you convert your reservation to a purchase and sale agreement

The new website will be launched to the public tomorrow morning 1/19

Your questions:

LEED? – NO but will be Built Green 2 stars (2 stars is very easy to get! and he couldn’t tell me why they didn’t go for either LEED or a higher built green star rating…)

Noise insulation: No specifics, but supposedly they hired a sound engineer and are replacing all the floors and adding sound insulation in floors & walls.

Views: Yes, starting on the 2nd floor and get sweeping views on 4th and 5th floors. On Madison Ave – views of Mt. Rainier, Rainier Valley, Amazon. On 12th views of downtown and the Olympics.

Hard hat tours: Yes in early spring before signing sale agreement

Air conditioning: No

Heating: Yes

Ceiling height: 8′-6″ to 10′-0″. The 5th floor has 13′-2″ clerestory in the majority of the spaces. They kept a lot of the exposed beams and brick wherever possible (but weren’t specific as to which exact units.)

Gas cooking: Yes

No finish boards to view tonight: Samples are shown online which I think as an interior designer is a horrible way to view them! supposedly the first time you’ll actually be able to see the finishes will be in the buyer’s lounge in April (when you can do the hard hat tours…) However, the website shows the following finishes:

• living: reclaimed douglas fir hardwoods
• bathroom counter: terazzo
• bathroom floor: lon eco recyled vinyl
• bathroom cabinets: white oak
• kitchen cabinets: rift tcut white oak w/ mahogany stain
• bedrooms: constantine carpet (should be good quality)
• kitchen counters: inca basalt tile
• kitchen backsplash: terazzo tile
• penthouse cabinets: kirei board (http://www.kireiusa.com/whatis.html)

Overall I still think it will be an interesting project, but with the amount of money they spent on food and drinks tonight, they should have at least printed off some enlarged plans and made finish boards so you could really see things in detail!

by guest contributor Rachel

We got there around 6:45 or so (official start time was 6:30). There was a short line to check in, which took about 10 seconds since I had RSVPed. They just found my name on the list and checked me off. We were not given any materials, but were told to just find someone with a dog tag. We walked into the restaurant (cool place with a great loft) and found Edward. He told us the project was green so they were avoiding paper as much as possible, but that anyone with a dog tag could answer questions and that there were computers with all the floorplans (basically the web site that will be up tomorrow) on them. Edward told us about the reservation and buying process, which was all in the email (you posted it already). He also told us that when you go to actually purchase the unit in April, you will be able to physically see the loft before you sign. That seemed pretty impressive. There were only two computers, so it was slightly complicated to get close enough to see one. But we managed to see the floorplans, which were categorized (I through IV) into price ranges. I thought that was very helpful. It will all be on the Trace Lofts site tomorrow.

Some of the dog tag people knew more than others. We found out that there is gas for cooking, the 4th and 5th floors are all new. Floors 2 and 3 will have exposed original brick. The decks on the 4th floor will be the original building roof. The units will have floor to ceiling windows. The building will have a rooftop deck and a bar/lounge on the first floor designed by the people who did Top Pot doughnuts. There will be access to the bar from the building. When I asked if there were other amenities I was told that the neighborhood is the amenity.

There was no info about Trace North (the new building) except that the units will be up for purchase in April at the same time as Trace Lofts and that they will be less “open” and less “lofty” since its all new construction.

Update: Elsewhere on the web you can find a report on the party from Wendy, Trace Lofts update.