Genuflecting to the high rises by David Brewster (Crosscut - Seattle) - The Diigo Meta page

• 14 Feb 08
  

  Yule Heibel

  Crosscut's publisher, David Brewster, calls out the Seattle P-I and the Seattle Times for their gushing endorsements of two major downtown Seattle development proposals (Fifth Ave. twin condo towers by Ishmael Leyva Architects and, also on Fifth Ave., the United Methodist Church block by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca). Brewster points to the curious alliance btw developers and eco-density champions, which is wearing a bit thin in Vancouver, acc. to an article by Frances Bula, which Brewster references (see http://tinyurl.com/333ehj ). In Vancouver, there's talk of putting density & height in formerly sacrosanct areas, like Gastown & Chinatown, too. Some interesting comments showing up in the comments board, too.

  architecture crosscut development downtown eco_density seattle urban_design

  • 

  • We get a shower of superlatives: $900 million, according to the New York financiers, 550 feet tall, 200 hotel rooms, and 400-500 condos.

    But not to worry: These massive buildings will be "designed for neighborhood," meaning shops along the streetfront. The developers, with the engaging name of Hummingbird Advisors, are going to take a pretty dead block and "make it into a vital, vibrant pedestrian area." Of course, much of the lower level will be a blank wall concealing hotel ballrooms, but that's OK because the Monorail already blocks those views. (The architects' drawing artfully turns the Monorail into gossamer.)

  • 5 more annotations...
  • • 
    • The developer deserves credit for coming up with a scheme to save the old sanctuary (no uses have yet been found), but one wonders at the tradeoffs. A few years hence, if not already, we are going to wonder why downtown Seattle has become such a lightless, windswept, glassy canyonlands. But more vibrant? The office tower will be mighty quiet evenings and weekends. And the amenities of the new condo-hotel towers (open-air arboretum, lots of recreation space) may turn these abodes of "urban aspirationals" into self-contained zones.

      • 

        Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14

        I think Brewster is on to something in asking after the amenities. They have to be first-class and work well, especially if these aren't residential towers (and therefore dead after hours, as he points out).
    • The reason for all this genuflecting is the alliance of environmentalists, enchanted by the density created; developers eager to cash in on Seattle's "underpriced" real estate market; low-income housing advocates, who get millions in mitigation payments from these luxury towers; and City Hall, salivating over the tax receipts.

      • 

        Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14

        ...interesting...
    • But now there is some sign that the ecodensity coalition is beginning to feel some internal splits. A good illustration is Vancouver, B.C., where residents are grumbling that the amenities supposed to make all this density tolerable (libraries, transit, affordable apartments) are just not showing up.
    • We're tired of our city being raped, razed and regurgitated as just one more homogenized, condo-canyoned McCity stripped of our unique character, style and gritty working class charm.

      • 

        Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14

        Oh brother... this sounds familiar. Define "charm," please...

Public Stiky Notes

• 
  Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14
  I think Brewster is on to something in asking after the amenities. They have to be first-class and work well, especially if these aren't residential towers (and therefore dead after hours, as he points out).
• 
  Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14
  ...interesting...
• 
  Yule Heibel on 2008-02-14
  Oh brother... this sounds familiar. Define "charm," please...

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.