Waterbuffalo
07-28-2008, 04:07 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008075202_sundaybuzz270.html
Clash of the 400-foot towers
Two years ago, when it increased building height limits downtown, the Seattle City Council also adopted rules banning towers from being built too close together in much of the central city.
This past week those rules — intended to protect views, privacy and sunlight — got their first test before the Downtown Design Review Board, an advisory group.
It showed no inclination to compromise.
The protagonist here is Seattle developer Intracorp. Back in 2006, when the downtown condo market was white-hot and the new tower-spacing rules weren't yet in force, it won city approval to build a 240-foot condo tower on Second Avenue between Stewart and Virginia streets, across from The Josephinum and the Moore Theatre.
That project never broke ground. "By the time we got ready to put it under construction, the market had tanked," project manager Andrew Miller said.
Now Intracorp has come back with a new plan for a 400-foot apartment tower on the site, to take advantage of the increased height limits.
But the new rules say that, from 125 feet on up, that tower must be at least 80 feet from any other tower. And The Justen Co., another Seattle developer, has applied for permits to build another 400-foot hotel-condo tower at Second and Virginia — right next door.
Since it's farther along in the permitting pipeline, the Justen project has priority.
The tower-spacing rules do allow Diane Sugimura, director of the city's Department of Planning and Development, to grant exceptions. Last week Intracorp proposed to the design review board that it be allowed to build its tower as close as 56 feet to Justen's.
Architect Wolf Saar presented renderings showing that some corners of the Intracorp building had been cut back to let in more light and allow better views from Justen's building. The views would be almost as expansive as with 80-foot spacing, he said.
But neighborhood representatives raised objections, as did Justen principal William Justen. He said the issue wasn't just views from his building, but views from farther away.
Design review board members took a straw vote. Intracorp lost, unanimously. Members said the developer hadn't offered any benefits to offset the impact on view corridors.
If Intracorp got an exception, Chairman Wilmot Gilland said, it would be difficult to enforce the tower-spacing requirements anywhere.
All this seems to leave Intracorp with three choices:
• Continue to pursue the exception. Sugimura isn't required to follow the board's lead, but bucking its advice could be problematic.
• Build its new tower 80 feet from Justen's. Saar said that would make each floor 1,000 square feet smaller, making the project "very challenged in terms of the economic viability."
• Build the 240-foot tower for which it already has permits. But project manager Miller told the board that rising construction costs and holding costs have eroded its economic viability as well.
What will Intracorp do? After last week's meeting, it wasn't returning calls.
Clash of the 400-foot towers
Two years ago, when it increased building height limits downtown, the Seattle City Council also adopted rules banning towers from being built too close together in much of the central city.
This past week those rules — intended to protect views, privacy and sunlight — got their first test before the Downtown Design Review Board, an advisory group.
It showed no inclination to compromise.
The protagonist here is Seattle developer Intracorp. Back in 2006, when the downtown condo market was white-hot and the new tower-spacing rules weren't yet in force, it won city approval to build a 240-foot condo tower on Second Avenue between Stewart and Virginia streets, across from The Josephinum and the Moore Theatre.
That project never broke ground. "By the time we got ready to put it under construction, the market had tanked," project manager Andrew Miller said.
Now Intracorp has come back with a new plan for a 400-foot apartment tower on the site, to take advantage of the increased height limits.
But the new rules say that, from 125 feet on up, that tower must be at least 80 feet from any other tower. And The Justen Co., another Seattle developer, has applied for permits to build another 400-foot hotel-condo tower at Second and Virginia — right next door.
Since it's farther along in the permitting pipeline, the Justen project has priority.
The tower-spacing rules do allow Diane Sugimura, director of the city's Department of Planning and Development, to grant exceptions. Last week Intracorp proposed to the design review board that it be allowed to build its tower as close as 56 feet to Justen's.
Architect Wolf Saar presented renderings showing that some corners of the Intracorp building had been cut back to let in more light and allow better views from Justen's building. The views would be almost as expansive as with 80-foot spacing, he said.
But neighborhood representatives raised objections, as did Justen principal William Justen. He said the issue wasn't just views from his building, but views from farther away.
Design review board members took a straw vote. Intracorp lost, unanimously. Members said the developer hadn't offered any benefits to offset the impact on view corridors.
If Intracorp got an exception, Chairman Wilmot Gilland said, it would be difficult to enforce the tower-spacing requirements anywhere.
All this seems to leave Intracorp with three choices:
• Continue to pursue the exception. Sugimura isn't required to follow the board's lead, but bucking its advice could be problematic.
• Build its new tower 80 feet from Justen's. Saar said that would make each floor 1,000 square feet smaller, making the project "very challenged in terms of the economic viability."
• Build the 240-foot tower for which it already has permits. But project manager Miller told the board that rising construction costs and holding costs have eroded its economic viability as well.
What will Intracorp do? After last week's meeting, it wasn't returning calls.